DW's Monday Morning press burst from the gates with a will to push RU collapse into existence.

Russia's economy in crisis as sanctions bite, beginning with RUB DEPRECIATION

Russia's currency, the ruble, fell by around 30% to record lows after the latest sanctions, although it did recover slightly in recent hours.

supra Understanding on-shore, off-shore FX demand

The currency collapse has led to long lines outside ATMs across Russia, with fears rising over further plunges in the value of the ruble. The below tweet shows a video of a line outside ATMs in Moscow at 5 a.m. On Monday, the central bank announced that the Moscow Stock Exchange would not open.

ATM? supra Understanding domestic and int'l intrabank payment networks; and customary EME (eg. GR, VZ, AR, BR, TR, CN, etc) central bank capital controls and "plunge protection teams"
CBR, Exporters to sell foreign currency revenues in all cases
CBR Operation of Moscow Exchange on 28 February 2022
SPFS/FMS
List of SPFS users of the Bank of Russia

However, if Russia struggles to buy rubles [?!] with its foreign reserves, pressure on the currency will intensify and long lines at ATMs could evolve into more panicked runs on banks. The exact details of how the central bank will be blocked are yet to be revealed.

wut. CBR exists to print RUB, finance domestic purchase of goods with FX reserves settled in foreign denominations; NATO external finTech obviate imported RU *flation.

Around 15% of its foreign reserves are held in China, and the Chinese government may be willing to help. Russia also holds one of the largest stockpiles of gold in the world, around 2,300 tons -- worth around $142 billion at current prices. However, Sergei Guriev [!], an economist [!] with Sciences Po university in Paris, told the Financial Times [!] that such options were fraught with uncertainty as well.

"Whoever says it will be easy to sell gold or yuans [sic] must be kidding. Chinese state banks are already blocking financing of Russian oil sales [?]. China is afraid [?] and rightly so of secondary sanctions.

supra first-order capital control: RMB instrument for FX instead of PBOC-issued yuan tender; "afraid" is an impolitic turn of phrase, considering relentless US "currency manipulator" charges, tariff retaliation, AND sordid "secondary sanctions" currently afflicting ASEAN members arising from specious JCPOA and WTO penalties primarily orchestrated by US to block IMF adding China to its SDR basket.
second-order currency control: Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payments System CBIBPS aka CIPS

However, until it is clear which banks will be hit, it is difficult to make a meaningful assessment of the impact. Russia has built its own alternative to SWIFT, known as SPFS. It already accounts for around 20% of domestic Russian transactions [sic; see SPFS/FMS], but it has struggled to attract overseas banks.

Russia Briefs
Russia's Alternative To SWIFT, 15 Dec 2021
Pakistan's Prime Minister Khan Meets Putin, Discusses Trade, 25 Feb 2022