Rouble rebounds from brink but Russians wary

Moscow

RUSSIANS sighed with relief when the rouble rebounded in recent days, but with painful memories of the financial crisis still fresh, many are rattled and fear the respite could prove short-lived.

The rouble has been sliding for months, but it turned into a plunge at the beginning of the month, with the currency losing nearly 10 per cent of its value in the space of just a few days amid renewed tensions over Ukraine and a fall in global oil prices that threatens Russia's finances.