To commemorate the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s central bank released a commemorative banknote on Thursday. On one side, three troops are shown hoisting the national flag.
The image of two hands tied together with tape on the reverse of the 20 hryvnia ($0.54) note appears to be a reference to the purported war crimes that Kiev has charged Russian forces with committing in Ukraine. The claims have been refuted by Russia.
The central bank in Kyiv presented the new banknote. On the occasion, Andriy Pyshnyi, governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, said,”To mark the anniversary of the war, we decided to launch a commemorative banknote which will depict on a small piece of paper a year of emotions, patterns, content and iconic things.”
Since the full-scale invasion on February 24 of last year, the central bank has made a concerted effort to keep the economy viable and preserve stability.
It fixed the hryvnia’s exchange rate to 36.57 to the dollar last summer, and it has frequently acted on the foreign exchange market to support the currency.
Ukraine’s hard currency reserves have increased to almost $30 billion, slightly more than at the beginning of the conflict, thanks to billions of dollars in foreign assistance from Western allies.
Additionally, Ukraine has sanctioned financial organizations in Russia.
New notes to serve as ‘visual record’ of war
The new note, which Pyshnyi claimed has cutting-edge security measures, will have a circulation of 300,000.
The design and production of the note, according to central bank officials, took about eight months. The bank also plans to issue a number of commemorative notes to serve as a visual record of the conflict.
They claimed that new notes to celebrate the triumph and the reconstruction of Ukraine were already in the works.
“During this year, Ukrainians have realized their force, their significance, their ability not only to withstand but also to win, to win without forgiving a single military crime, a single ruined house.” This victory will be at a very high price but it will happen and it will be ours,” Pyshnyi said.
