By Lidia Kelly and Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW/PEREVALNOYE, Ukraine (Reuters) – Russia paid a financial price on Monday for its military intervention in neighboring Ukraine, with stocks, bonds and the rouble plunging as President Vladimir Putin's forces tightened their grip on the Russian-speaking Crimea region. The Moscow stock market fell by 11.3 percent, wiping nearly $60 billion off the value of Russian companies in a day, and the central bank spent $10 billion of its reserves to prop up the rouble as investors took fright at escalating tensions with the West over the former Soviet republic. Interfax news agency quoted a Ukrainian Defence Ministry source as saying Russia's Black Sea fleet had given Ukrainian forces in Crimea until 0300 GMT on Tuesday to surrender or face a military assault. Oleh Chubuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian navy, said: "We know nothing about this." Ukraine said Russia was building up armored vehicles on its side of a narrow stretch of water closest to Crimea after Putin declared at the weekend he had the right to invade his neighbor to protect Russian interests and citizens.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-builds-armor-near-crimea-russian-assets-plummet-085909887–finance.html

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