The value of Ukraine’s hryvnia to the dollar plummeted as Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24, falling to just under UAH30 to the dollar.  

The national currency had been strengthening for most of 2021 as the economy recovered from the coronacrisis and climbed to its strongest of UAH26.1 on November 10, 2021. But after reports appeared at the end of October that Russia was planning an invasion it quickly began to weaken.  

After staging a rally in January after the first meeting on January 10 between the US and Russia to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, it began to fall again from UAH27.9 on February 9  after it became increasingly clear there would be no quick breakthrough from the negotiations.  

However, the value of the hryvnia has tumbled sharply in the last weeks and again in the last hours as it became clear that the European effort started by French President Emmanuel Macron had failed, dropping from UAH28.4 on February 18 to UAH29.9 as of mid-morning on February 24 following the invasion of Ukraine reports.  

In the cash market, the average quotations of the hryvnia against the dollar are UAH29.829-UAH30.22, reports epravda, and the euro buy offers are at UAH33.15 and sell at UAH34.21.  

The National Bank weakened the official exchange rate of hryvnia against the dollar by 51 kopecks, setting it at UAH28.99 hryvnia on February 23.

Banks have also imposed limits on the amount customers can withdraw from ATMs up to UAH1,000 ($33) and exchange bureaus in Kyiv are limiting exchange to $100 per person, according to reports.