Russian President Vladimir Putin has watched the decline of the rouble as international sanctions bite the Russian economy and oil prices fall. Photo: AP

Moscow: Dark times call for dark humour, especially in Russia, where wags are saying the rouble has now fallen below the psychologically important threshold of "I no longer give a damn".

The Russian currency was in freefall on Tuesday, hitting an unprecedented low of 59 roubles to the dollar, 80 roubles to the US dollar and 100 to the euro.

The new drop made one of the most popular gags about the rouble, oil and 62-year-old Vladimir Putin, all converging on 63, out-of-date overnight.

A man walks into a building, past a board showing currency exchange rates in Moscow. Photo: Reuters

Brent Oil has since dropped to $US59 ($71.90) a barrel, further piling on the misery.

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The rouble plunged more than 11 per cent against the dollar on Tuesday in its steepest intraday fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998 as confidence in the central bank evaporated after an ineffectual rate hike.

The rouble opened around 10 per cent stronger against the dollar after the central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty 650 basis points - moving it from 10 to 17 per cent - to try and halt the currency's slide, but it reversed gains in volatile trade and repeatedly set new record lows.  

Russian roubles, which have fallen 50 per cent in value this year, and a US dollar bank note sit together. Photo: Reuters

It has now fallen close to 20 per cent this week, taking its losses this year against the dollar to over 50 per cent and raising memories of the crisis in 1998 when the currency collapsed within a matter of days, forcing Russia to default on its debt.

The new jokes popped up on social media, as Russians again fell back on gallows-humour to ride out yet another economic storm, amid falling oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's support for a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.

"Two roubles ago I brewed my tea and it is still warm," quipped one Russian on Twitter.

Protesters hold placards during a picket in central Moscow. The people, who took mortgages in foreign currencies, now face larger risks due to the weakening of the rouble. Photo: Reuters

"While I typed this tweet, the dollar went up by three roubles," quipped another.

Predictably, many in war-torn Ukraine, where the hryvnia has lost half its value this year, could not but gloat.

"A man runs into a currency exchange booth in Moscow," goes a joke posted by Kiev-based Aleksey Solntsev on Twitter.

"Do you have any dollars or euros? No! So what do you have? Hryvnia. That will do!"

Many needled Russia's youthful prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who lost much of his influence after voluntarily ceding his Kremlin seat in favour of his mentor Vladimir Putin in 2012.

"Medvedev suggested that Russia drop the rouble," went one joke.

"In response, Russia suggested that it drop Medvedev."

Some of the humour cut rather close to the bone.

"When oil and gas run out soon, roubles can be used to heat people's homes."

And some of the exchanges in the Russian capital these days sound like jokes, except that they are not.

"I have 100 euros," a guy told a young woman in the Moscow metro on Tuesday.

"Hey, in five years you'll be a millionaire," she replied.

While many are panicking about the future, the collapse in the rouble also brought about wistful reflections on bygone days.

"If you could turn back the clock, what would you change about your past?" goes one question.

"Roubles, of course," being the answer.

AFP, Reuters