Vladimir Putin likes to maintain control of everything, and this includes cryptocurrencies. In 2017, he announced that the government (the Russian one, in case there's any doubt) would begin issuing CryptoRubles, unlike other currencies such as Bitcoin, which are separate from any government or banking institution.
Currently under development, CryptoRubles will have the same value as the regular ruble, and the two will be exchangeable. It's been speculated that another reason the CryptoRuble is attractive to the Russian government is that it will make it easier to stay under the radar of international transactions to avoid sanctions for any wrongdoing.
The question is: will they use CryptoRubles to meddle in the next U.S. election? We hear Vlad loves Oprah.