For two days in a row, the Russian ruble has been hitting historical lows reminding of the 1998 crisis when the country announced a debt default. Yesterday, the national currency reached the psychological limit of 100 rubles per 1 euro and 80 rubles per US dollar.

Bloomberg took a look at how local media reported on the dramatic events on the currency exchange market which saw the ruble collapse in a matter of minutes:

For ordinary Russians, what they learned about the ruble’s collapse depended greatly on where they turned for information.

While independent media said the central bank should have intervened more directly, and that the increase of the benchmark interest rate to 17 percent could create a crisis in the banking system, government-run outlets steered any criticism away from President Vladimir Putin and portrayed the government as ready to take firm action, the agency reports.

Since coming to power in 2000, President Putin has regained government ownership of every major TV station. With television serving as the main source of news for most Russians living outside major cities, that’s given the state incredible power to shape the news citizens receive.

“The state-run media has a totally different task,” said Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies. “Their job isn’t to inform people, but to carry out propaganda. And so they’re trying to reassure.”

The ruble plummeted into a freefall yesterday, losing as much as 19 percent in the biggest one-day drop in 16 years, as panic swept across Russian financial markets after a surprise interest-rate increase (from 10.5% to 17%) overnight failed to stem the run on the currency. The currency is being hammered as the global price of crude oil, Russia’s main export, plunged below $60 a barrel for the first time in five years.

Media owned by the state or allies of Putin focused on the government’s response to the crisis, if they reported on it at all. Rossiya 24 TV and Izvestia highlighted an interview with Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina saying she would act to defend the ruble. Rossiyskaya Gazeta and REN TV carried optimistic coverage that the ruble had strengthened after its decline.

Russians like Vladimir Rudenkov from Voronezh, a city about 500 kilometers (311 miles) from Moscow, were ignoring the government-media assurances and taking action. Rudenkov transfered a portion of his savings into dollars this morning and said he regretted that he didn’t transfer it all.

“The situation is catastrophic,” said Rudenkov, a 35-year-old manager. “I don’t believe that the ruble collapse is happening only due to the falling oil prices. The government is the one to blame as it didn’t defend the national currency.”

Putin opponents took to social media to criticize his policies such as the seizure of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, which has brought economic sanctions from the European Union and U.S.

“Supporters of war with Ukraine must recognize that their backing” of Putin has “brought about the collapse of Russia’s economy and financial system,” Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and now opposition leader, wrote on Facebook.

For all the government’s control of media, Nadezhda Kostenko, a 65-year-old pensioner from Volgograd, still wasn’t buying the message.

“We have a feeling that something bad will happen,” Kostenko said. “The prices are rising on the ruble’s drop and this bothers people a lot. And there’s a feeling that the government is guilty in it.”