‘This is a bumpy long road’: the mood among Moscow residents

Like many of her friends, Tatyana, a barista at the fashionable Moscow coffee-shop chain Skuratov, was glued to the screen of her mobile phone as Vladimir Putin addressed the nation.

"Usually, I don't watch television, especially when our president speaks. But I felt like I had to tune in this time. I was witnessing history in the making," she said, smoking an e-cigarette. "But I am not sure yet if history is going in the right direction."

The day after the Russian leader's late-night speech, in which he recognised the independence of the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk, Muscovites were digesting what Putin's decision could mean for them and their futures.

While he ended his address by "congratulating" fellow Russians on the recognition of the two territories, a celebratory mood was absent in the capital, with many fretting about the political and economic consequences his decision might have.

"If the recognition brings peace to the region, fine, why not do it," said Andrei, a regional director at a large logistics firm in Moscow. "But it is already costing me money. I have invested a lot of my savings in shares of Russian companies."

Russia's financial markets sank to their lowest levels in more than a year on Tuesday, after Putin ordered troops into the two territories the previous day. The country's markets have been extremely volatile of late, with major state banks like Sberbank having lost more than half their value since the start of the Ukraine crisis.

As Putin was delivering his address, the Russian independent TV channel Dozhd posted a live feed of the country's rouble sliding to a near two-year low.