Russian-backed rebels claim they have opened 89 bank offices in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in east Ukraine amid a growing economic crisis that has seen a black market for cash flourish and the value of the Ukraine currency sink. A report March 3 claimed the rebels' Central Republican Bank was operating the banks that featured 24-hour currency exchange counters and "each office of the bank provides welfare benefit and pension payment services in accordance with the decrees of the DPR head," according to Itar-Tass, a Russian state media outlet.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
International Business Times: Rebels reportedly open Donetsk banks amid economic collapse, growing black market for cash
A man walks past a currency exchange shop in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on March 1, 2015.
