It would seem that The New York Times has been a little off-base lately in their assumptions about Russia. I don't know, but this may be more of a political calculation than it is an objective news article. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be more likely that this is a political piece?
Russian have shown a lot of interest in bitcoin and mostly the blockchain technology and they have been studying it for a long time now. they also said something about setting the industry standard for blockchain technology or something like that which this article has been using to exaggerate the situation and create some sort of drama out of it.