if the article tells the truth I do not know, but the political system of russia is a very shady political system and it does not seem to me that russia intends to see bitcoin being adopted en masse in its country, it seems to me that what the Russian government want is greatly reduce the number of people using bitcoin so that the Russian government has more control over the small number of people who use bitcoin in their country. This is something expected of governments that have a shadowy political system, for this kind of government to remain in power is because they control and manipulate their people.
Russia isn't interested to see Bitcoin massively adopted in the country (whatever the reason it has) but the government is interested to use it when it's about to fund its cyber war to interfere in the US. elections (
Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential ElectionDo you see the irony? It's like saying Bitcoin isn't good for you, only for me". I am pretty sure there are other countries using Bitcoin too behind the scene.
The Russian government is slowly choosing to completely ignore the rights of its citizens. Moreover, the violation of these rights, as always, is explained by concern for them. I am just surprised that people in Russia are now so intimidated by their government that they almost don’t go to mass protests. They actually take away the right to use the Internet and cryptocurrency, and they are inert. In any other European country, such anti-people actions would mean the political death of their government. It is a pity, of course, that this happens in a country as big as Russia. We are losing this country for the development of cryptocurrency there.