Russia's currency has fallen sharply, putting pressure on the country's strained financial system. On Wednesday, Russia's central bank announced it would stop foreign-currency purchases to try and strengthen the currency and ease pressures on financial markets.

The Russian ruble dropped to its lowest level since the start of the Ukraine war, presssured by fears that new U.S. sanctions will gum up Russia’s already constrained trade channels. The ruble'

Russia’s economy is taking punches it can’t dodge, with the ruble nosediving to its lowest point in over two years. On Wednesday, the currency crashed to 114 against the U.S. dollar—levels unseen since the early days of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

By Ben Aris in Berlin It’s not often you get to describe central banking decisions as “wild”, but some of the choices being made in Moscow at the moment are completely out of the box. The famed macro-economic management team are making some extreme choices in what may be one of the most audacious experiments ever.