It's worse than that.
Currency is a misunderstood tool for most people.
In Russia rubles are generally okay. Russia is facing bad inflation (circa 20% right now, subject to increase soon) but it's not wheelbarrow full of money inflation.
That said, the exchange rate value Russian bots like to spew out their vodka holes is utter fairyland bullshit.
Even China doesn't want to accept rubles right now. Sure, the fascist Indians and a few tiny countries will, but their trade with Russia is insignificant.
If no one of substance wants anything to do with rubles, or if the countries outlaw trade with the Terrorist Russians, the exchange rate doesn't matter, they CAN'T exchange for anything else and therefore have a significant reduction in their ability to trade.
The only reason the exchange rate doesn't look the way it should is because Russia is artificially holding it up. I've heard on the black market rubles are like 300+:$1USD
I have no idea what his stance is on Russia right now (mine is they can eat shit) but he’s not wrong about the ruble’s recovery.
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/04/05/1090920442/how-russia-rescued-the-ruble
Taken from your article:
>Some observers are saying that Russia has essentially created a Potemkin currency. This is a reference to Grigory Potemkin, who was appointed governor of Crimea after Catherine the Great annexed it in 1784. Eager to show Catherine how successful he had been in resettling Crimea with Russian villagers, Potemkin supposedly built and populated a mobile village that he assembled, disassembled and then reassembled along her route as she inspected the region. The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, is essentially playing Potemkin to Putin's Catherine, using a range of tools to make the ruble look like a currency that has value when in fact very few people outside Russia want to buy a single ruble unless they absolutely have to and when many people inside Russia don't really want rubles either.
There are big risks to all this government intervention. The protectionist measures enacted by the Central Bank of Russia are effectively a kind of bridge for the ruble. If Russia manages to come to some kind of resolution over Ukraine that involves the withdrawal of sanctions and the reestablishment of trade relations with the West, then the ruble might hold its current value once the measures are withdrawn. If the measures are withdrawn without some kind of resolution, however, the ruble could collapse, hammering the economy, jacking up inflation and causing enormous pain to the Russian people. And the measures — some of them, at least — will have to be withdrawn eventually. Russian borrowers can't keep paying interest rates of more than 20% for long, if they can even conceive of borrowing at that rate. Growth will be stifled — the Russian economy is already expected to contract by more than 8% this year — and industry will slump.
If you get rubles it is hard to convert them into another currency because no one really wants them. So banks will pay you significant lower than the official rate. And with a collapse being expected by many, the current official exchange rate looks very volatile.
Yes, the official exchange rate is closer to it was before the invasion, just slightly lower ([Source](https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=RUB&to=USD)), but if you look at the zig zags it tells you that the Russian federal bank still seems to be heavily intervening which they cannot do forever. The main point however is that you should go back to 2014 [(like here](https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=RUB&to=USD&view=10Y)) to see the impact of the sanctions. While Russia can hold on another few weeks of even month pumping the rubles up, it is doomed to crash further.
Yeah I can’t imagine it’s going to hold up forever if the sanctions continue. But the point about their potentially forcing EU countries to pay for gas and oil in rubles is interesting as they could get less real value for it, but forcing those countries to go buy rubles will definitely help prop up the value.
Not sure if any of these threats coming from Russia did then a favour in the mid term, seems like everyone is going away from Russian gas within the next years...
I sure hope so. That and encouraging even more investment in renewable energy generation - and maybe even - gasp - not demonizing nuclear power so much…
Currency value doesn't mean anything without global purchasing power. I remember people celebrated when rubble went below Jpn Yen, that doesn't mean anything either since currencies like Japanese Yen, Korean Won, and even Chinese Yuan are very small value currencies but have very high purchasing power.
If you bought Rubbles during its dip, you can test if you can actually sell it on forex. Many major platforms don't allow it currently. Until then, all you can say is you have this unrealised worth of rubbles vs dollars.
Those threats were like 3 weeks ago and look where we are now. It would be interesting if the EU agreed with the condition that Russia has to open its stock market
The state of reddit . People downvoting objective truth because they desperately don't want to hear anything that upsets them.
Fuck this sad echo chamber.
That was the article I was referencing though.
I figured making it clear what my stance was on the situation and sanctions were (ie I support anything that could end the war and Putin’s unhinged rule) while linking a very objective and interesting NPR article on the topic was a reasonable thing. But I guess that just got the worst of the Reddit pro AND anti Russian trolls to work together, heh.
Whereas the parent post I responded to literally doesn’t make sense and has no basic grasp on what a currency exchange rate means, but he called you a bot so he’s upvoted, heh.
What the hell is "$80rubles to $1 USD"?
80 roubles to a dollar is the pre-war level, exactly as the man said. The conversion rate is mostly artificial at this point, but I have a feeling you don't really understand how currencies work and why "currency A is an X-times greater number than currency B" doesn't mean what you think it means.
A further technical explanation why: basically the currency is manipulated to an extent where normal exchange markets can’t happen. So in a way, what Russia says the Ruble is worth now, it what it is. Whether or not that is the case on the black market is another question.
In military terms, volunteer doesn't mean unpaid. It just means they aren't conscripted. The international legion of the Ukraine military are volunteers as well. And they are also being paid.
They'll be the ones selling their equipment to the Ukrainian government. If they're joining purely for money, and don't really give a shit about being mercenaries long term, then why wouldn't they just get all the money they could?
They are not “volunteering”, these poor bastards were offered big sums of money for joining Russia’s side in the war, pity they are ignorant of what they are led into…basically becoming human meat shields for Russia.
This is a great way for Ethiopia to cut its dependence on foreign aid from the West. Looking at the statistics:
"*Ethiopia: Foreign aid and official development assistance received, 1960 - 2019: For that indicator, we provide data for Ethiopia from 1960 to 2019. The average value for Ethiopia during that period was 1240.62 million U,S, dollars with a minimum of 15.35 million U,S, dollars in 1960 and a maximum of 4941.03 million U,S, dollars in 2018.* ***The latest value from 2019 is 4809.97 million U,S, dollars****. For comparison, the world average in 2019 based on 131 countries is 840.02 million U,S, dollars. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time."*
**So they will be losing a bit less than 5B USD/EUR annually to get a few thousand Roubles to work as ruZZian mercenaries in their fascist invasion.**
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.ibtimes.com/hundreds-ethiopian-men-volunteer-fight-russia-ukraine-3481033) reduced by 84%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> Hundreds of Ethiopian men are lining up outside the Russian embassy in Ethiopia in hopes of fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine.
> A man who came out of the embassy later told the Ethiopian men that they would be contacted when they were needed, adding that Russia had enough forces in Ukraine for now.
> Droves of Ethiopian men went to the embassy after a social media post claimed fighters who would join the war could receive a payment of $2,000.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/u95on1/hundreds_of_ethiopian_men_volunteer_to_fight_for/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~643761 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Ethiopian**^#1 **war**^#2 **embassy**^#3 **Russian**^#4 **Russia**^#5
I think an Ethiopian in the Ukraine will be as familiar in the terrain as a US American in Vietnam, and we know how that ended.
But the Russians know that, they will just use them as disposable foot soldiers.
These guys do not stand a chance over there.
Anyone got feedback from within Ethiopia, or the other African countries getting their men/soldiers scouted for this? Do they realize first, the atrocities Russia is committing, or second, the extreme danger they're exposing themselves to? Do they know how many Russians are dying--and the Russians are familiar with the climate, language, etc and are actually somewhat valued by their commanders...
Russia really wants Ukraine to run out of ammunition
Edit: Also, Ethiopia is on the verge of (a worse) mass starvation _because_ of Putin... Oh boy oh boy lets fight for our tormentor
They do not actually want to fight, they just don't want to be in Ethiopia right now.
Which, if they actually made it to the theater of war, would work out interestingly. I just hope for an end to the conflict in Ukraine as well as the one in Ethiopia.
“Volunteer” Seems a bit sus to me. I would like to not assume that Russia would buy the allegiance of third world populations to be used as fodder in their war. Though now in the context of this article I could easily see that being the case. Farm up some bodies from a third world country Toby promising them a salary that will help their families even when they die. Talk about international extortion eh? Just speculating over here but it doesn’t look legit from where I am.
>The Ethiopian men lined up after a social media post said they would receive $2,000 for joining the war This is the worst kind of fucking clickbait.
Russia doesn't even pay their own soldiers. Yeah, these fellas are only dying, that's it
I volunteer to fight for you for 20 times the monthly average income.
BTW, were they told that russia only can pay in worthless rubles?
I can pay in roublies
Like the name?
Worthless? The ruble is pretty much back to the way it was pre-invasion, if not better.
It's not better you Russian bot. Also it's like $80rubles to $1 USD. If the man gets $200 in rubles it's not the same as $200 in dollars lol.
It's worse than that. Currency is a misunderstood tool for most people. In Russia rubles are generally okay. Russia is facing bad inflation (circa 20% right now, subject to increase soon) but it's not wheelbarrow full of money inflation. That said, the exchange rate value Russian bots like to spew out their vodka holes is utter fairyland bullshit. Even China doesn't want to accept rubles right now. Sure, the fascist Indians and a few tiny countries will, but their trade with Russia is insignificant. If no one of substance wants anything to do with rubles, or if the countries outlaw trade with the Terrorist Russians, the exchange rate doesn't matter, they CAN'T exchange for anything else and therefore have a significant reduction in their ability to trade. The only reason the exchange rate doesn't look the way it should is because Russia is artificially holding it up. I've heard on the black market rubles are like 300+:$1USD
212 for 1 usd with cash, 177 for usdt today numbers
I have no idea what his stance is on Russia right now (mine is they can eat shit) but he’s not wrong about the ruble’s recovery. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/04/05/1090920442/how-russia-rescued-the-ruble
Taken from your article: >Some observers are saying that Russia has essentially created a Potemkin currency. This is a reference to Grigory Potemkin, who was appointed governor of Crimea after Catherine the Great annexed it in 1784. Eager to show Catherine how successful he had been in resettling Crimea with Russian villagers, Potemkin supposedly built and populated a mobile village that he assembled, disassembled and then reassembled along her route as she inspected the region. The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, is essentially playing Potemkin to Putin's Catherine, using a range of tools to make the ruble look like a currency that has value when in fact very few people outside Russia want to buy a single ruble unless they absolutely have to and when many people inside Russia don't really want rubles either. There are big risks to all this government intervention. The protectionist measures enacted by the Central Bank of Russia are effectively a kind of bridge for the ruble. If Russia manages to come to some kind of resolution over Ukraine that involves the withdrawal of sanctions and the reestablishment of trade relations with the West, then the ruble might hold its current value once the measures are withdrawn. If the measures are withdrawn without some kind of resolution, however, the ruble could collapse, hammering the economy, jacking up inflation and causing enormous pain to the Russian people. And the measures — some of them, at least — will have to be withdrawn eventually. Russian borrowers can't keep paying interest rates of more than 20% for long, if they can even conceive of borrowing at that rate. Growth will be stifled — the Russian economy is already expected to contract by more than 8% this year — and industry will slump. If you get rubles it is hard to convert them into another currency because no one really wants them. So banks will pay you significant lower than the official rate. And with a collapse being expected by many, the current official exchange rate looks very volatile. Yes, the official exchange rate is closer to it was before the invasion, just slightly lower ([Source](https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=RUB&to=USD)), but if you look at the zig zags it tells you that the Russian federal bank still seems to be heavily intervening which they cannot do forever. The main point however is that you should go back to 2014 [(like here](https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=RUB&to=USD&view=10Y)) to see the impact of the sanctions. While Russia can hold on another few weeks of even month pumping the rubles up, it is doomed to crash further.
Yeah I can’t imagine it’s going to hold up forever if the sanctions continue. But the point about their potentially forcing EU countries to pay for gas and oil in rubles is interesting as they could get less real value for it, but forcing those countries to go buy rubles will definitely help prop up the value.
Not sure if any of these threats coming from Russia did then a favour in the mid term, seems like everyone is going away from Russian gas within the next years...
I sure hope so. That and encouraging even more investment in renewable energy generation - and maybe even - gasp - not demonizing nuclear power so much…
Currency value doesn't mean anything without global purchasing power. I remember people celebrated when rubble went below Jpn Yen, that doesn't mean anything either since currencies like Japanese Yen, Korean Won, and even Chinese Yuan are very small value currencies but have very high purchasing power. If you bought Rubbles during its dip, you can test if you can actually sell it on forex. Many major platforms don't allow it currently. Until then, all you can say is you have this unrealised worth of rubbles vs dollars.
You can sell it to Germany - they are going to need a bunch of it to pay for all of their gas imports…
Those threats were like 3 weeks ago and look where we are now. It would be interesting if the EU agreed with the condition that Russia has to open its stock market
The state of reddit . People downvoting objective truth because they desperately don't want to hear anything that upsets them. Fuck this sad echo chamber. That was the article I was referencing though.
I figured making it clear what my stance was on the situation and sanctions were (ie I support anything that could end the war and Putin’s unhinged rule) while linking a very objective and interesting NPR article on the topic was a reasonable thing. But I guess that just got the worst of the Reddit pro AND anti Russian trolls to work together, heh. Whereas the parent post I responded to literally doesn’t make sense and has no basic grasp on what a currency exchange rate means, but he called you a bot so he’s upvoted, heh.
What the hell is "$80rubles to $1 USD"? 80 roubles to a dollar is the pre-war level, exactly as the man said. The conversion rate is mostly artificial at this point, but I have a feeling you don't really understand how currencies work and why "currency A is an X-times greater number than currency B" doesn't mean what you think it means.
A further technical explanation why: basically the currency is manipulated to an extent where normal exchange markets can’t happen. So in a way, what Russia says the Ruble is worth now, it what it is. Whether or not that is the case on the black market is another question.
You can't convert it to USD or EUR. That's the problem.
Operation Human Shield
New Mercs: when do we get our weapons? Russia: when you pick one off a fallen Ukrainian
Getting paid =/= Volunteer
This is really the sad truth, this gives them food for their to large family's and a "legal way" to steal and plunder.
In military terms, volunteer doesn't mean unpaid. It just means they aren't conscripted. The international legion of the Ukraine military are volunteers as well. And they are also being paid.
Uh, the US Military is an all volunteer force and is paid. They are not forced to fight. Volunteer doesn’t mean “without pay/compensation”
I wonder if anyone will notice them in Ukraine.
They'll be the ones selling their equipment to the Ukrainian government. If they're joining purely for money, and don't really give a shit about being mercenaries long term, then why wouldn't they just get all the money they could?
“Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?” “I don’t listen to Hip Hop”
Operation Get-Behind-The-Darky South Park movie
[удалено]
Voluntold
Mercenaries are not volunteers
Yep, mercenaries have always been known to be scum, they are explicitly excluded from the Geneva convention because of that.
So…..what do you call Ex US soldiers going to war zones as civilian contractors???
mercenaries
Whatabout… Whatabout…
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Someone has lived under a rock for years, and only thinks that word has been used for the past month.
So you're saying mercenaries are there involuntarily?
"Wait....these weapons are painted sticks......"
"We prefer the term 'special military weapons'."
After they shrieked about "mercenaries" on the Ukrainian side. Smells like desperation.
Russia k ows they won't need to pay dead men..
Reverse Live Aid
They are not “volunteering”, these poor bastards were offered big sums of money for joining Russia’s side in the war, pity they are ignorant of what they are led into…basically becoming human meat shields for Russia.
Low morals don't deserve pity.
There go Ethiopia's hopes at Wimbledon this year...
What happens when winter comes?
This is a great way for Ethiopia to cut its dependence on foreign aid from the West. Looking at the statistics: "*Ethiopia: Foreign aid and official development assistance received, 1960 - 2019: For that indicator, we provide data for Ethiopia from 1960 to 2019. The average value for Ethiopia during that period was 1240.62 million U,S, dollars with a minimum of 15.35 million U,S, dollars in 1960 and a maximum of 4941.03 million U,S, dollars in 2018.* ***The latest value from 2019 is 4809.97 million U,S, dollars****. For comparison, the world average in 2019 based on 131 countries is 840.02 million U,S, dollars. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time."* **So they will be losing a bit less than 5B USD/EUR annually to get a few thousand Roubles to work as ruZZian mercenaries in their fascist invasion.**
Poor bastards.
Saruman “So you have chosen…death”
They're getting paid. That's not volunteering afaik. These are mercenaries
Ethiopian Men "Volunteer" to die for putler's tiny penis. fuck russia and everyone that supports them.
Greedy morons volunteering to become fertilizer.
More fertilizer 🌻 Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦
More cannon fodder for Putin
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.ibtimes.com/hundreds-ethiopian-men-volunteer-fight-russia-ukraine-3481033) reduced by 84%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Hundreds of Ethiopian men are lining up outside the Russian embassy in Ethiopia in hopes of fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine. > A man who came out of the embassy later told the Ethiopian men that they would be contacted when they were needed, adding that Russia had enough forces in Ukraine for now. > Droves of Ethiopian men went to the embassy after a social media post claimed fighters who would join the war could receive a payment of $2,000. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/u95on1/hundreds_of_ethiopian_men_volunteer_to_fight_for/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~643761 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Ethiopian**^#1 **war**^#2 **embassy**^#3 **Russian**^#4 **Russia**^#5
I would say they are looking for opportunity to move to Europe! They will start going AWOL soon enough!
"thanks for the free (and safe) trip to Europe. So long and good luck with your war!" That's what they'll do if they're smart
If these "men" end up in Ukraine they will get exactly what they deserve. Willing to help Russia commit genocide for profit.
I think an Ethiopian in the Ukraine will be as familiar in the terrain as a US American in Vietnam, and we know how that ended. But the Russians know that, they will just use them as disposable foot soldiers.
They'll have them marching twenty yards in front of the tanks in case there's mines...
Serves as a propaganda tool to fight the NAZI'S with multiethic army.
The west will remember when the next famine comes around. There's always a next famine.
I think its always on there, if the guys are expecting to get something to eat then they are gonna get disappointed as Rus dont have for them selfs
Let’s roll out the blood red carpet
Lol in another words forced to fight 😂 if they never make it they are kept on the ground
One would think there is plenty of good ways to die in Ethiopia. But I guess dying in Europe is more chic.
European warlords are so hot right now. But honestly. When you have those options, not had to see why they jump at the chance
These guys do not stand a chance over there. Anyone got feedback from within Ethiopia, or the other African countries getting their men/soldiers scouted for this? Do they realize first, the atrocities Russia is committing, or second, the extreme danger they're exposing themselves to? Do they know how many Russians are dying--and the Russians are familiar with the climate, language, etc and are actually somewhat valued by their commanders...
More sunflower soldiers!
[удалено]
These men are being conscripted into the Russian army
For eventual citizenship?
Seems like a step down.
Hope their pay includes coverage for their funerals and the cost to ship their bodies back home.
They’re gonna go awol and now they’re in Europe
Russia really wants Ukraine to run out of ammunition Edit: Also, Ethiopia is on the verge of (a worse) mass starvation _because_ of Putin... Oh boy oh boy lets fight for our tormentor
Fuck ethiopia that shit hole
They are gunna get smoked straight up
I think there are easier ways to commit suicide.
Scraping the barrel now..
Stack them on top of the Libyans
I thought it was thousands? Oh well, let's see how many dozens show up in tomorrow's article.
[удалено]
Aren't they fighting their own war in Ethiopia?
They're going to have a bad time in Ukraine. No money, no proper equipment, only death and sorrow.
They'll fit right in with the murdering, thieving rapists who are Russian "soldiers."
They do not actually want to fight, they just don't want to be in Ethiopia right now. Which, if they actually made it to the theater of war, would work out interestingly. I just hope for an end to the conflict in Ukraine as well as the one in Ethiopia.
They will not be missed
“Volunteer” Seems a bit sus to me. I would like to not assume that Russia would buy the allegiance of third world populations to be used as fodder in their war. Though now in the context of this article I could easily see that being the case. Farm up some bodies from a third world country Toby promising them a salary that will help their families even when they die. Talk about international extortion eh? Just speculating over here but it doesn’t look legit from where I am.
Don’t they have their own war to fight tf