In Russia, there appears to be a new rule: Don¡¯t mention the war in relation to the ruble.

Russian media and analysts in state-controlled banks have stayed largely silent on a possible link between the 9% fall of the ruble against the U.S. dollar and Ukraine¡¯s surprise attack on the Kursk region.

The ruble¡¯s slide started on Aug. 6, the first day of the attack ¡ª the biggest by a foreign power on Russian sovereign territory since World War Two.