Donbas War: Militants to Withdraw UAH from Circulation and Replace with RUB

The Russian-led occupation authorities in the territories of Donbas uncontrolled by the Ukrainian government withdrew the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) from circulation and have removed any mention of the Ukrainian currency.

According to Ukrainian media, in the so-called “DPR” all the references to the Ukrainian currency were removed from the “documents,” ostensibly to harmonise everything with the “current legislation.”

In particular, in the rules of postal services and remittances providing, the words “hryvnia” and “national currency” were replaced by “Russian ruble.”

To recap, the Russian Federation’s currency was accepted, as the “single accounting currency” in autumn of 2015. Until then, the militants allowed the operation of the so-called multi-currency zone, when people could use hryvnia, ruble, USD and euro.

The Ukrainian side considers the usage of the ruble to be proof of the Ukrainian territory’s occupation by Russia.

Bohdan Marusyak