Russia raised interest rates to 20% at the beginning of the war to support the ruble, they also had built strong foreign capital reserves to support their curre

Russia raised interest rates to 20% at the beginning of the war to support the ruble, they also had built strong foreign capital reserves to support their currency, they've also instituted capital controls. The average person in Russia can't buy dollars, and the average person outside of Russian unable to sell any of their shares or short any stocks. Essentially, the Ruble suffers when people flee to USD, but since both the US and Russia are preventing this, the Ruble is stronger. This is then further supported by extremely high gas prices, which allows Russia to run a trade surplus, exporting expensive oil but unable to import anything. People are claiming this as a win for Putin - but if you look below the surface there's an obvious fact: The Ruble is only strong because no one is allowed to sell it.