Monday 28 February 2022 6:58 am

Not a good morning for Putin: 500 Russian soldiers killed, rouble crashes, bankrun in Moscow, Russia kicked out of SWIFT

Tens of thousands of Russians are trying to take out cash across the Russian capital of Moscow, while the Russian rouble is down by nearly 30 per cent cent against the US dollar this morning after Western nations moved to block Russian banks from the SWIFT global payment system.

The rouble was trading at a record low 105.27 per dollar (£78.95), down from about 84 per dollar (£63) late on Friday.

Restrictions on the Russian central bank target its access to more than $600bn dollars (£450bn) in reserves the Kremlin has at its disposal. They hinder Russia’s ability to support the rouble as it plunges in value.

Sanctions announced earlier had taken the Russian currency to its lowest level against the dollar in history.

Norwegian wealth fund to dump all Russian holdings following Ukraine invasion

The news comes as UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said over the weekend that more than 450 Russian troops had been killed, as a fierce resistance meant Moscow “failed” on the main objective on the first day of fighting.

Media in Eastern Europe report this morning this number has climbed to around 500. Russia has not responded to any of these reports.

Over the weekend, Japan joined the moves by the US and other western nations to impose more sanctions against Russia.

Russia’s economy is set to descend into turmoil after an alliance of Western nations over the weekend launched a sweeping set of sanctions to hobble the country’s financial system.

The measures prompted Russia’s central bank yesterday to plead with the country’s citizens to exercise calm amid growing concerns among Russian citizens that their money could soon disappear.

Putin’s war in Ukraine must make us wonder about our military capabilities

In other developments, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said this morning missiles have hit a radioactive waste disposal site in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

In a statement, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi said Ukrainian authorities informed his office about the overnight strike, but there are no reports of damage to the buildings or indications of a release of radioactive material.

He said his agency expects to soon receive the results of on-site radioactive monitoring.

The report came a day after an electrical transformer at a similar disposal facility in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was damaged.

Such facilities typically hold low-level radioactive materials such as waste from hospitals and industry, but Mr Grossi said the two incidents highlight a “very real risk”.

He said if the sites are damaged there could be “potentially severe consequences for human health and the environment”.

It comes as Russian troops drew closer to the Ukrainian capital whose mayor warned the city was encircled, and President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces to be put on high alert

In an interview with the Associated Press (AP) on Sunday, after a gruelling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city, mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for several seconds when asked if there were plans to evacuate civilians if Russian troops managed to take Kyiv.

“We can’t do that, because all ways are blocked,” he finally said. “Right now we are encircled.”

A senior US intelligence official has also said Belarus is expected to send troops into Ukraine as soon as Monday to fight alongside Russian forces that invaded last week.

Belarus has been providing support for Russia’s war effort, but so far has not taken a direct part in the conflict.

Meanwhile, in the port city of Mariupol, Ukrainians are trying to fend off a Russian advance.

An ambulance raced into a city hospital on Sunday, carrying a six-year-old girl who was mortally injured in Russian shelling.

She was pale. Her brown hair was pulled back with a rubber band. Her bloody pyjama pants were decorated with cartoon unicorns. She was brought in with her wounded father, his head bloodied and bandaged.

A medical team pumped her chest, fighting desperately to revive her. Her mother stood outside the ambulance, weeping.

“Take her out! Take her out! We can make it!” a hospital worker shouted, pushing a gurney to the ambulance.

The girl was raced inside and doctors and nurses huddled around her. One gave her an injection. Another tried to revive her with a defibrillator. A nurse wept.

A doctor in blue medical scrubs, pumping oxygen into her, looked straight at the camera of an Associated Press video journalist who had been allowed inside.

“Show this to Putin,” he said angrily. “The eyes of this child, and crying doctors.”

The girl, whose name was not immediately known, could not be saved. The doctor reached gently over her face to close her eyes.

Her body was left alone in the room, covered by her brightly coloured polyester jacket, now spattered with blood.

Street fighting also broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and strategic ports in the country’s south came under pressure from the invading forces.

Russia-Ukraine conflict to accelerate trend toward de-globalisation, says Goldman Sachs

Share this article

Subscribe to the City A.M. newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.