| The decline of the ruble is the result of Western policy. The question now is how will Putin respond? The Russian economy was already in the running for having the worst year in 2014, sandwiched somewhere between Congressional Democrats and Sony Entertainment Pictures.
Then the price of oil—the commodity upon which the Russian economy is built—began to fall sharply, draining the nation’s economy of foreign money and crimping its growth. This dynamic drove the ruble sharply lower, culminating in an 11% drop on Monday, which forced Russia’s central bank to raise interest rates by a whopping 650 basis points, all but assuring a deep and painful recession in 2015............................................Full Article: Source
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