2 Roubles V. Y. Struve

Vasily Struve founded the Pulkovo Observatory outside St. Petersburg in 1839 and directed it for nearly two decades, establishing it as one of the premier astronomical institutions in the world. His measurement of the Struve Geodetic Arc — a chain of survey triangulations stretching from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean — was a landmark in determining the precise shape and size of the Earth, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This coin was issued as part of the Bank of Russia's long-running "Outstanding Personalities of Russia" series. Struve's arc involved 258 main triangles across ten countries.