S&P Dow Jones is removing Russia stocks from indices, stripping country of emerging market status

An employee looks at a stock price index graph showing plunging stock prices on an electronic information screen at the headquarters of the Micex-RTS Moscow Exchange.

Russia is being isolated from the global economy because of the country's invasion of Ukraine, according to the S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The removal affects Russian American depositary receipts, as well as S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Russia will be declassified as an emerging market and categorized as a separate group by the firm.

As Russian forces attacked Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine early Friday morning, a fire broke out at an adjacent training facility. The attack was called a war crime by the U.S. embassy.

The exchange halted trading in three Russian exchange traded funds.

Russian stocks have been in a tailspin. It was the worst day since the fund's inception in 2010, with a tumble of 33.4%.

The VanEck Russia exchange traded fund ended the month of February down 54.9%, its worst month ever.