The Russian government claimed that it fulfilled its obligations in foreign currency on two of its bonds Tuesday, one day before they were due. The Finance Ministry announced that an order had been made to payment agent Citibank in London. If the claims are accurate, the country would have avoided its first default since 1998 and the first international debt default since the Bolshevik Revolution more than a century ago. Moscow was due to execute $117 million in dollar-denominated coupon payments on March 16. Foreign bondholders revealed that they had not received confirmation of payments from Russia, Reuters reported. Russian bonds contain a 30-day grace period. If the Kremlin does not make a payment by April 15 on its international market debt, Moscow would formally declare default for the first time in about a century. However, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told state-owned Russia Today that it is now up to …