Russian ruble: Ruble to dollar, pound, euro today and why Russian ruble’s value is crashing on Moscow Exchange

The impact of Russia’s removal from the SWIFT messaging network helping financial institutions in the country connect with global banks has been reflected in a further plummet for the Russian ruble in Monday morning trading.

After already crashing in the wake of financial sanctions on Russian banks as President Vladimir Putin intensified the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine, the ruble fell to all time lows on Monday as markets opened in Russia and Europe.

The UK’s leading stock index, the FTSE 100, was also trading down on Monday by more than one percent but the pound is performing well against the ruble so far, along with the dollar, as UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlines further financial sanctions on Russia taking aim at its central bank.

Here’s why the ruble is crashing today and the latest price comparisons between Russia’s ruble and the pound, dollar and euro.

The ruble began to fall as Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday February 24, launching strikes by air, land and sea on the country in the early hours of Thursday morning.

An estimated $150 billion (£112bn) in value was wiped off the Moscow Exchange MOEX index in Thursday’s selloff as the Russian index closed 33% lower and equities were down by 50% on their record high in October 2021.

The impact of sanctions from the European Union, UK and United States saw the ruble tumble by approximately 30% last week as Russian banks and companies with Russian operations on foreign stock exchanges bore the brunt of Western allies’ financial measures.

The ruble was trading down by a further 20% in pre-market trading late on Sunday night UK time and in the early hours of Monday in Europe, with the ruble crashing to its lowest value to date as markets opened on Monday.

After BP confirmed on Sunday (February 27) that following Russia’s actions and pressure from Western governments it would be relinquishing its 20% stake in Russian state-owned oil conglomerate Rosneft, Russia’s central bank was ordered to place a ban on foreign sales of securities from 4am GMT.

The Moex exchange is offline and inaccessible to the majority of countries worldwide as of 9.30am on Monday, with the Russian central bank doubling its interest rates from 9.5% to 20% on Monday to prevent the ruble’s collapse.

As trading opened on Monday morning, the ruble to pound value sharply dropped in line with the Russian currency's expected crash.

1 ruble was worth £0.00090 before trading opened this morning, but this fell to £0.00067 at 7.20am UK time.

£1 is currently worth ₽134 as of 9.49am, rising steeply from 111 rubles to the pound before trading began on Monday.

This comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a fresh crackdown on the Russian central bank on Monday, with the Treasury banning transactions and dealings with Moscow’s financial institutions.

The Chancellor said the move was part of an allied effort to “devastate” Russia’s economy and demonstrate a "steadfast resolve in imposing the highest costs on Russia and to cut her off from the international financial system so long as this conflict persists".

Echoing the pound’s increased performance against the ruble amid its latest price fall, Russia’s currency plunged by almost 30% against the dollar on Monday.

One dollar was equal to approximately 101 rubles at 10am on Monday morning – up from 83.53 on Sunday – as the value of one ruble sank to 1 cent or $0.01.

Meanwhile, the euro is struggling along with the ruble as the EU feels the weight of its own sanctions on Russia.

Several EU leaders had been resistant to cutting off Russia from the Swift network in fearing its potential repercussions and impact on supply chains.

The euro is currently worth £0.84 on the pound but is up to ₽114 from ₽94 on Sunday.

As of 10.12am UTC on Monday, one ruble is worth €0.0088 – down from €0.011 on Sunday.