Ruble hits record low, Euro skids as Russia attacks Ukraine

The Russian ruble tumbled to a record low on Thursday, while the euro sank to a multi-year low to the Swiss franc after Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast.

Riskier commodity-linked currencies like the Australian dollar also tanked as Ukraine said Russia had launched a full-scale invasion.

Safe havens such as the yen and U.S. dollar were in demand amid reports of explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and gunfire near the city`s main airport.

The rouble weakened as much as 5.77% to an unprecedented 86.1198 per dollar.

The euro fell as much as 0.84% to $1.1209, the lowest level since Jan. 31.

Against other traditional haven currencies, the euro declined as much as 1.28% to a nearly one-month low of 128.37 yen and as much as 0.84% to 1.0292 Swiss franc, the weakest since May 2015.

The Australian dollar dropped as much as 0.90% to $0.7167 and the New Zealand dollar slid as much as 1.00% to $0.6706.

"The situation certainly looks like it`s going to get worse before it gets better, and that means the commodity currencies can weaken," said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"If things get real bad," Aussie could test $0.70, and if the euro is poised to fall "quite a bit more," he said.

Sterling was relatively more resilient, skidding 0.41% to $1.3490, the lowest since Feb. 15.

The U.S. dollar index, which gauges the greenback against six major peers, rose as much as 0.60% to 96.762 for the first time since Jan. 31.

Beyond its status as a safe haven, the dollar has been buoyed by expectations for the Federal Reserve to start a rate hiking campaign next month, although the rising risks around Ukraine had traders paring back bets of a bigger half-point increase then to 16%, from 25% earlier in the day.