A news ticker in the province of Siberia broke away from Russian conventions and lambasted Vladimir Putin amid ongoing economic woes in Russia on Monday.
The furious message was released just after the Russian rouble fell to its lowest value in 17 months, according to CNN.
According to the Financial Times’ Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon, this news ticker in Surgut, a Siberian oil town, solely blamed the Russian president for this crisis.
Seddon’s translation of the message read: “Putin is a dickhead and a thief.
“100₽/$ – you’ve lost your fucking mind.”
On Tuesday morning, Bloomberg reported that just one US dollar was worth 98 Russian roubles, having been at 100 roubles per one dollar on Monday.
It’s not clear if the ticker was actually hacked, but any scepticism towards the authoritarian president usually leads to severe punishment.
Putin’s main political opposition, Alexei Navalny, is currently behind bars after exposing corruption in the Russian state.
The more roubles per US dollar – the most powerful currency in the world – the weaker the Russian currency is in value. For instance, on Monday it would take just one US penny to buy a whole rouble.
The country is struggling with its economy because of the far-reaching sanctions the West imposed last year, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The ongoing war is also draining the nation’s bank account because of the extensive military spending, as the Kremlin strives to keep up with the West’s investment of Ukraine.
The rouble first fell when Putin first ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it briefly bounced back due to capital controls and oil and gas exports, before declining again more recently.
While Russia officials have suggested there is nothing to be concerned about, the country’s central bank is holding an emergency meeting to discuss a possible rate rise today.
Russia’s budget is in deficit and it’s relying on imports from China and Turkey, after so many countries chose to come off Moscow’s fossil fuel supplies.
The country is not part of the international payment system SWIFT, either, having been cut out back in February last year.
US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen told CNN that Moscow’s financial troubles are a sign that the West’s sanctions are “causing a drain on the Russian economy”.