Stands at the event now promote opportunities to invest in territories of east Ukraine that have been occupied by the Russian army. Far-right activists including the philosopher Alexander Dugin have been given time on stage. And foreign visitors who do attend have been urged to bring dollars and euros in cash because of banking prohibitions on foreign credit cards.

Here in the United States, there was once a rebel movement called “the Confederacy” that tried to issue its own money. When their military efforts floundered, their currency was not worth anything.