MOSCOW— Vladimir Putin woke up this morning to a piece of good news and a piece of bad news.

The good news? Russians had named their president Man of the Year for the fifteenth year in a row. The bad news? The country’s currency, the ruble, had continued its downward spiral, hitting its lowest level since the beginning of the year. At 3:13 p.m. local time, a ruble was worth less than one euro cent, according to Moscow Exchange data.

See also: Russia hikes interest rate after ruble reaches new lows

The ruble's drop on Monday marked its worst one-day plunge since the Russian financial crisis of 1998, when the country defaulted on its debt; its continued slide on Tuesday, made it the worst performing currency in the world in 2014, even surpassing the Ukrainian hryvnia.

On Tuesday, Apple even stopped its online sales in Russia because of the currency's fluctuations.

While the ruble's tumble is certainly bad news for the government, it's the ordinary Russians who are the hardest hit.

On Tuesday, some braved the blustery weather to line up at ATMs and withdraw whatever money they could get their hands on — even trying several machines consecutively. Some withdrew all their savings.

woman in front of me at atm spent 10 mins taking out tens of thousands of rubles in thick wads — James Marson (@marson_jr) December 16, 2014

Shoppers could also be seen queuing at high-end Moscow boutiques to snatch up designer wear, either as an investment or to get the garb before it rocketed to astronomical prices. There has also been a run on refrigerators, washing machines and televisions.

I just apologised to a Russian friend for teasing her last year for withdrawing some salary every month, changing to $ & stashing in a safe. — Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 16, 2014

Rustem Bulatov, a 34-year-old rock-musician, said the weak ruble was getting in the way of his holiday plans.

"I planned to take a vacation in Europe and its budget has doubled," he said. "It’s completely clear to me that those most responsible are the speculators. Politically, Russian and Western authorities are to blame equally."

Those waiting in lines at currency exchanges appeared nervous and expressed worry about the future. And while some Russians said sanctions was behind the ruble’s collapse, not everyone was ready to blame the west.

"My personal budget was cut in twice and will be cut three times in few weeks," said Dmitry Syrovatskii, a 29-year-old web-designer from St Petersburg. Still, he said, "I'm thankful for the sanctions that make our authorities feel their responsibility for the annexation. So I blame them for what they have done and what caused the sanctions."

Russians wait in line outside a bank in Moscow to exchange currency on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

State television, which has struggled to explain the ruble's demise in recent weeks, urged viewers on Tuesday not to panic, and instead painted the weakened ruble as a good thing for Russia's economy, saying it will stimulate domestic production and make exports cheaper.

Responding to a reporter's question about whether President Vladimir Putin would convene a meeting of officials to devise a way to stem the ruble's slide, a spokesperson said, "the need to convene a special meeting is not necessary."

Russians shouldn't worry. Everything will be ok - kremlin spokesman #russia #Crisis — Matthew Chance (@mchancecnn) December 16, 2014

The U.S. and the European Union have levied sanctions against Russia in response to its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in March, and its support of pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. The measures have hit the country's financial sector especially hard, restricting its banks' capacity to operate in the global financial system.

And it could get worse. President Barack Obama appears ready to sign legislation passed by both chambers of Congress last Thursday that will slap Russia with even harsher sanctions. (The bill would also allow for defensive weapons to be sent to Ukraine to combat the separatists in the east.)

Timothy Ash, head of emerging market research for Standard Bank in London, called the ruble's collapse "incredible."

Tim Ash: "The most incredible currency collapse I think I have ever seen in the 17 years in the market, and 26 years covering Russia/CIS." — Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 16, 2014

"You kind of expect it from emerging market economies with 1-2 months of import cover, and twin deficits....but not for a credit like Russia with a huge wall of FX reserves and still running budget and current account surpluses," Ash wrote in a note to investors.

"To see the ruble hit 80 against the [dollar] today was simply incredible, and reflects lower oil prices, yes, but failed policy responses from the [Central Bank of Russia], and also underlying market unease over the direction Putin's Russia has been moving over the past year, and the geopolitical spat with the West, over Ukraine and more generally."

"It has only to be a matter of time before the rating agencies respond with ratings downgrades, likely to junk status," Ash added.

The fall in the value of the ruble is also due to the fact that the price of oil has fallen through the floor. Russia is a major exporter of oil.

Russia's central bank drastically raised the interest rate overnight from 10.5% to 17% to try to defend the ruble — a move that spurred some ridicule.

Oh, look, Russian Central Bank is trying to intervene. pic.twitter.com/kRtSNHEBUH — Russian Market (@russian_market) December 16, 2014

Topical Russian joke: "you should keep your money in roubles, because no one will look for it in a bag full of roubles". — Oliver Bullough (@OliverBullough) December 16, 2014

In recent weeks there have been small protests over healthcare cuts as a result of the country's ailing economy. But Russians generally appear to trust that the government will be able to right the financial ship.

Perhaps to assuage any concerns, the pro-Kremlin television channel Life News had an astrologer predict what is in store for Russia's economy.

Pavel Globa, who shot to fame in Russia earlier this year after he (accurately) foresaw the dismemberment of Ukraine, predicted that the ruble won't fall below 100 to the euro and that the economy will recover by 2017. "We won't see a default in 2015, although next year won't be easy for us," he added.

The astrologer also predicted better financial times globally by 2020, "since, according to the forecast, Jupiter and Saturn will connect."