Ahead of the reserves sell-off, the ruble had hit lows not seen since the country's devaluation crisis in 1998. The currency's problems had promoted several analysts to warn of capital controls to limit the damage.
"This is unbelievable stuff...the Ministry of Finance has $7 billion to sell in 'residual accounts.' I thought this was the job of the Russian Central Bank to manage the exchange rate. And why if the CBR has $413 billion in reserves, is the MOF being called on to put its hand in its pocket for some small change?," he said in a note following the move.
"I don't think I have ever seen any currency go through such extreme gyrations in all my time in the industry," Ash said, adding, "The ruble is fast becoming untradable - maybe that is what the CBR wants.