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The Russian Ruble and Oil
The Russian Economy relies heavily in its oil production, so it is pretty much obvious why the Russian Ruble is hugely affected by the Oil. The truth is that the rest of the world is getting advantage from the drop in the prices of oil, but for Russia the price of oil is the same which is not advantageous for their industrial production sector.
There is definitely a link between oil prices and the Russian Ruble, but not as strong as you suggested. As for the devaluation of Ruble this occurs regardless of what happens in the oil prices. The prices in Rubles are rising but devaluation of the currency is good for exporters, who are more competitive. It’s also a good sign, for the people who produce something competing with import. It’s good for government, who get more rubles from taxes on gas and oil.
The correlation between the Ruble and oil is basically like a hidden string that ties together, this correlation persists for many reason, including resource distribution. Crude oil has upticks and downticks which generates immediate adjustment between the Dollars because it is commonly quoted in U.S. Dollars and numerous Forex crosses.
These movements in the market trends have less correlated in nations that have doesn’t have crude oil reserves, like Japan but Russia being one of the largest crude oil producers, Russian Ruble is almost affected directly.
Conclusion
Crude oil shows, tight correlation with the Russian Ruble because of three main reasons, the first is that the contract is quoted in U.S. so the pricing of oi will have an instant impact on Ruble. Second, High Dependence, on crude oil export levers national economies to uptrends and downtrends in the energy markets. And third, collapsing crude oil prices may trigger alarming declines on industrial commodities.