Most likely coincidence. The sanctions came into effect and their respective lawyers took about the same time to come up with a policy that complies with them. There's nothing more to the story that would make it weird.
The Linux project removed maintainers who were Russian or were using Russian e-mail addresses, probably to comply with sanctions. Linus hasn't talked about the legal details because he doesn't know if he can (and because Daddy Vladdy's Dick Chuggers are out in full force).
I don't think so. It's been making the tech waves for the past year. As a multinational, my company went department by department, ensuring we clean up and remove anything potentially connected to Russia. I'm guessing it's never been newsworthy enough for the average person.