Russia experienced the 1998 stock-market crash after its government defaulted on domestic debt and devalued the ruble.
On August 17, 1998, Russian authorities announced a restructuring of ruble-denominated debt, a temporary moratorium on some foreign-debt payments, and a widening of the ruble's trading band. The measures followed falling oil prices, fiscal problems, and pressure on the currency.
Russian financial markets plunged, banks faced severe stress, and the crisis spread internationally through investor risk aversion. The collapse also affected countries and institutions exposed to Russian debt.
The episode is sometimes confused with the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which preceded it, or with the 1998 failure of Long-Term Capital Management in the United States. Those events were connected through global finance but were not the same crisis.