Russia on verge of $150B debt default as sanctions cripple economy

Russia is spiraling closer to a historic debt default that could ripple throughout the global economy after the U.S. and its European allies hit the Kremlin with a slew of crippling financial sanctions. 

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine nearly one month ago – the biggest attack on a European state in decades – elicited a raft of economic penalties from Western nations, including cutting off a key part of the Central Bank of Russia by preventing it from selling dollars, euros and other foreign currencies in its roughly $630 billion reserve stockpile.

The financial fallout has prompted credit rating agencies to downgrade their long-term debt rating for the Russian government to "junk" status, with Fitch warning that international sanctions have brought a "huge shock to Russia's credit fundamentals." It noted additional sanctions remain a distinct possibility.