If anyone thinks that the Russian authorities have any problems with cross-border payments, they are mistaken. There is a wide variety of cross-border transfers even without the use of cryptocurrencies, so it is rather naive to assume that the Russian authorities use Bitcoin for cross-border payments. There are a huge number of companies and countries in the world that can help with any issues related to circumventing sanctions. A good example is Iran, which has been under sanctions for about 40 years and where you can buy almost anything.
This is true, Russia may have had some difficulties with cross-border payments as they have historically relied heavily on US and European transaction systems such as SWIFT or SEPA. But that doesn't mean they have no other way and just depend on bitcoin, they have no shortage of ways to do it.
The proof is that Russia has been under sanctions since the war broke out (2022), but it is only now that they have started experimenting with bitcoin and crypto. This shows that they have more than 1 solution and they are just testing each one to find the best one. The use of Bitcoin and crypto as payment methods is still in their experimental phase.
