DUSHANBE, September 2, 2014, Asia-Plus -- The Russian ruble fell to a historically low level against the dollar on Friday on fears that Russian moves in Ukraine would provoke further Western sanctions.

Reuters reported on August 29 that at 0629 GMT the ruble was at 37.02 against the dollar, down 0.7 percent on the day and exceeding the ruble''s previous low of 37 rubles set in March.

Meanwhile Radio Liberty reports that the Russian ruble fell to a new record low of 37.39 against the dollar on September 1.  The ruble reportedly also slid to a five-month low of 49.27 to the euro.

Russian stocks joined the downturn, with the MICEX index closing down 0.59 percent and the dollar-denominated RTS slumping 1.06 percent.  Both indexes had even sharper decreases on August 29.

The decreases were blamed on the threat of sanctions and the reports of Russian involvement in the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

VTB Capital said the Russian foreign-exchange market “remains focused on geopolitical risks.”