Financial panic is starting to spread in the Russian Federation as efforts by the Russian Central Bank have failed to halt the free-fall of the Russian ruble. The rapid devaluation of the ruble has sent currency markets in Russia into a crisis, after the ruble fell 10 percent in value on Monday. Despite the Central Bank's hike in interest rates late last night, the ruble's value fell to record lows today.
Worldwide oil price decreases and economic sanctions place on Putin's regime have combined to weaken the Russian economy, which relies extensively on oil and gas exports. Whether next year will mark Putin's political demise remains to be seen, but his territorial ambitions and dreams of a greater Russia will almost certainly be severely curtailed.
