It has become very difficult or even impossible to make direct payments from China to Russia after the latest round of US sanctions, even when using yuan, said top executives at three commodities exporters. All three asked not to be identified as the information is sensitive.
- Russian Firms Find It Increasingly Harder to Get Paid by China

Three firms out of thousands?

In fact, EU vassal states are still buying energy from Russia and doing so DIRECTLY. This should be no surprise as the Great Satan is ALSO trading with Russia:

Russia supplies 35% of U.S. nuclear fuel. Kazakhstan supplies 25%.
- The New Gold Rush: Unlock Uranium's Soaring Demand

Perhaps it's a denial of what's coming:
Unlike virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, the digital ruble is an electronic form of the Russian national currency issued by the Central Bank and backed by traditional money. Regulators say that the digital ruble is intended to ease making money transfers and payments both inside and outside Russia, as it will not depend on bank restrictions such as commissions and limits.
- Putin outlines new digital currency policy

Along with the mBridge project, BRICS+ nations will be able to trade without intermediate banks, so the banks won't be subject to Great Satan sanctions. The Anglo/Jew propaganda often point out that trading from one currency to another often uses the "worthless paper" USD as an intermediary because it's cheaper. But the CBDCs will be far more convenient, quicker and cheaper, which presumably is why one Zero Hedge article called mBridge the dollar-killer. As the CBDC ledger is not distributed, it could also provide privacy and therefore immunity from the Great Satan's sanctions. Switzerland's banking laws have been violated by the Great Satan's FATCA, whilst the poodle-state paid a bankster for a stolen client-list of a Liechtenstein bank. So propaganda suggesting Russia is isolated appears to be trying to deny that the "worthless paper" USD hegemony has been holed beneath the water-line. In fact, with the yield on Panda bonds about half those on the equivalent AAA-rated Great Satan bonds, the PBOC is considering shorting panda bonds to keep interest rates high:

China’s central bank is readying a bold new experiment in global monetary policy — taking a leaf out of the hedge fund playbook and arranging to short sell bonds.
- China Central Bank Uses Hedge Fund Tactic to Tame Bond Bulls