BEWARE OF THE HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS: It is not actually working  so one should learn to read through the smoke! THose currency attacks didn't down Argentina, Iran, etc. so these are transitory smokes to feed the propaganda machine which nobody takes seriously anymore anyway. Things are not what they seem. THere are hidden wars there: while the propaganda goes that Russia is hurt by the low oil prices, there's a bigger casualty actually, the bandied shale revolution of the US which was supposed to be its economic salvation from its bankruptcy (meaning, its dire economic straits will be forever). So was Russia really hurting or was this one of those judo maneuvers of Putin where he seemed at a disadvantage only to use that to his advantage to throw down the enemy, (like what happened to the Maidan coup d'etat when he used it to get what he wanted).

REad this to get a clearer grasp on the propaganda smokes:


As hard as it is to believe - given the strength of the "Russia-is-doomed" meme - Crude oil prices for Russia (in Rubles) are unchanged since February... This is important as all costs are Ruble denominated while revenues are USD denominated, leaving Russian oil companies’ margins insulated despite the dollar decline in price. In addition, the Russian government is easing the export taxes which further improve the profitability of Russian oil. So as US Shale Oil sector is destroyed by its USD costs, it appears Putin's core energy industry is somewhat insulated... and America's late-80s "defeat The Sovet Union" playbook is failing.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-15/what-america-does-not-understand-about-russia-oil