Russia’s first debt default since 1998; Putin pays hefty price for Ukraine war

• In a bitter culmination of tough Western sanctions over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Russia defaulted on its foreign-currency sovereign debt for the first time in a century. On Sunday, the grace period on about $100 million of snared interest payments due May 27 expired. The deadline is considered an event of default if missed. Russia has pushed back against the default designation, saying it has the funds to cover any bills and has been forced into non-payment. The last time Russia fell into default vis-a-vis its foreign creditors was more than a century ago. During Russia’s financial crisis and ruble collapse of 1998, President Boris Yeltsin’s government defaulted on $40 billion of its local debt. Watch this video for more details.