The Russian ruble plunged to its lowest level since early 2016 on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine, in a move that prompted the Moscow Stock Exchange to suspend trading.
The ruble fell 3.6% against the dollar to 84.0750 minutes after the opening at four o'clock UTC, and fell 3.9% to 95.2425 against the euro, hitting a record low before trading was suspended quickly, according to Reuters.
While the Moscow Stock Exchange suspended trading, Russian banks raised foreign exchange rates sharply.
Alfa Bank offered to buy the dollar and the euro for 91.44 and 101.11 rubles, respectively.
RIA reported that Sberbank (the country's largest bank) offered to buy the euro for 116 rubles.
And by 05:42 UTC, the ruble fell 10.5% in interbank transactions to $ 89.71, its lowest level ever.
The Russian Central Bank said it decided to intervene in the foreign exchange market to help stabilize the situation.
The Russian Stock Exchange suspended its trading after declining by 11.3% as a precautionary measure after its decline in light of the escalation of tension due to the Ukrainian crisis, according to the Middle East Agency.
The Moscow Stock Exchange took the decision after a sharp decline in its indexes, along with the decline of the Russian ruble.