China is also a country that is not friendly to cryptocurrencies, but they are a strategic partner and ally of Russia. So I don't think Russia is using crypto to avoid sanctions and Western countries are being aggressive with crypto because of Russia.
Russia and China are using crypto, including USDT for transactions with one another. This way they avoid sanctions and make payments much faster and more unnoticeably to the outside world.On the official agenda, they may be against cryptocurrencies, but this does not mean that they do not use them for personal gain.