Putin’s senseless warmongering is destroying the Russian economy
By 
This is a catastrophe:
Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 20% from 9.5% after the country was hit by powerful new Western sanctions over the weekend.
“External conditions for the Russian economy have changed dramatically,” the central bank said in a statement.
Over the weekend, ATMs saw long lines as consumers made a dash for cash. Early Monday, the Russian ruble plunged around 20% to 105 rubles to the dollar from around 83 last week.
The sharp rate increase follows an earlier announcement by Russia’s central bank that it would temporarily ban brokers from handling sales of securities by nonresidents and could decide to halt trading in some markets, as it seeks to contain the turmoil created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Bank of Russia said it would delay trading in some markets and announce at 1 p.m. local time if they would open.
The invasion of Ukraine is a particularly powerful reminder that war is a negative-sum game. There are better and worse outcomes for both countries, but there is no outcome that is good for either. And Putin bears the entire responsibility for this.