ANKARA

Russia's ruble hit its strongest level in four years against the US dollar on Monday, owing to Moscow's steps to back the currency.

Having sunk as low as 150 to the greenback in early March after the launch of the war on Ukraine, the Russian currency later gained ground with the dollar/ruble exchange rate reaching 57.1 at around 12.30 GMT.

The ruble became the world's top performing currency this year with the help of capital controls and other financial measures by the Russian government.