A tank manned by Wagner soldiers in front of the headquarters of the Russian Army’s Southern Military District. picture alliance/dpa/TASS | Eric Romanenko
The ruble fell as much as 3 percent against the US dollar during the day Monday, hitting its lowest level in 15 months.
The slump followed the Wagner group’s march on Moscow over the weekend.
This caused Russian demand for foreign currency to increase to 70-80 percent in some regions.
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The Russian ruble fell as much as three percent against the US dollar on Monday after the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow prompted Russians to stock up on alternative foreign currencies.
The ruble fell as low as $87 during the day, its lowest in 15 months, and later narrowed the loss to about 1 percent.
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The volatility followed an unexpected uprising in Russia over the weekend. On Saturday, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ordered his troops to march on the country’s capital after the Russian military reportedly bombed his men in Ukraine.
Wagner conquered the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and was only a few hours away from Moscow. Later in the day, however, the warlord announced his troops would turn back to avoid further bloodshed.
Over the weekend, 15 regions saw a significant increase in demand for foreign currencies, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said, according to Reuters.
“On average, it was about 30 percent, but the most active increase in cash demand was recorded in the southern regions – in Voronezh, Rostov and Lipetsk, as well as in the big cities,” he said. “Demand there increased by around 70 to 80 percent.”
During the mutiny, Russian banks lowered the ruble rate to over 100 per dollar, but have since lowered rates again.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the ruble was also exchanged for tether, a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, leading to a nearly $15 million surge in trading volume on Saturday. That’s compared to Friday’s $4 million, the newspaper said, citing CCData.
While the crisis has de-escalated, President Vladimir Putin has yet to comment publicly amid growing doubts about his regime’s ability to handle a similar revolt in the future.
Prigozhin said Monday he has no ambitions to overthrow the Russian government.
“Our decision to turn back was based on two important factors,” he said in a voice recording: “First, we didn’t want to shed Russian blood. Second, we marched to demonstrate our protest, not to overthrow the government.”
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