Western countries will keep sanctioning Moscow and damaging their own economies, former Russian president says Europe is in the grip of an energy crisis and the situation will only get worse as the West attempts to ban Russian energy imports, the country’s former president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

The world’s 500 richest people have lost a cumulative $1.4 trillion since the beginning of the year, according to Bloomberg’s ‘Billionaires Index’. According to their calculations, the globe’s most wealthy became poorer by $206 billion on Monday alone.

The Russian currency has continued to strengthen against the dollar and the euro in spite of sanctions The ruble soared on the Moscow Exchange on Tuesday, setting new highs against the dollar and the euro. The rally comes as Russia’s central bank has restored its key interest rate to pre-war levels.