The cost to Russia of its troubled, nearly two-week invasion has mounted, with its central bank limiting withdrawals of foreign currency to protect the crashing rouble.
The Central Bank of Russia has announced new rules for foreign-currency accounts in Russian banks, including one that allows owners to withdraw only up to 10,000 in dollars, with the rest having to be taken out in roubles.
The measures seemed intended to curb the ability of Russian citizens to convert their roubles into other currencies as the national currency continues to decline.
US intelligence officials
assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would intensify his assault, which has so far failed to seize any of Ukraine’s biggest cities despite exacting a monumental toll on civilians.
Ukrainian officials expressed alarm over a reported loss of power at the defunct Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is now in control of Russian soldiers.
But the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the loss of electricity was not an immediate threat.
The Pentagon has rejected an offer from the Polish government to send its MiG-29 fighter planes to a US base in Germany for eventual use by Ukraine.