The Russian government has been a historic opponent of bitcoin, banning its use for domestic payments, but has recently come to see the potential benefits of virtual currencies for evading U.S. and Western sanctions.

Ukraine has announced "sanctions and other solutions" to block Russia's unwanted cryptocurrency payments. Source: Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Advisor to the president of Ukraine and Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Details: Vlasiuk recalled that Russian companies started using Bitcoin and other digital currencies for international payments after changes in legislation allowed such transactions in order to counter Western sanctions.