Shares of Russian companies are rapidly dwindling on the stock exchange

Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that a military operation has been launched over the situation in Donbass has induced a drop in the shares of major Russian companies.

Earlier, it was announced that the Moscow and St. Petersburg stock exchanges were closed.

Giants such as Gazprom, Ozone, Sberbank, Polyus and Nornickel are among the companies whose shares have abated in price. Particularly, Gazprom shares fell by 11.50%, Sberbank shares by 28%, Ozone shares by 24.74% and Nornickel shares by 12.39%.