Okay, this is now getting weird.
I mentioned before I was in contact with someone in Moscow after a webinar they held. Out of courtesy let the person know I received the PPR. Here's what came out of this:
Russian law (apparently) does not allow passports to be sent across borders (actually outside the eurasian economic zone). The courier companies should not be accepting them and they could be held up at customs. (But if they do - shrugs?)
Moscow did not seem to be aware that Warsaw was doing this. The usual procedure is that the VAC offices send them to Embassy in Moscow for the visa printing. And the Embassy is currently printing some visas when needed in covid times. (I.e. only for those with the exemptions).
So, situation normal, all screwed up - that Warsaw/Moscow are not aware what each other is doing would be funny in different circumstances. My spouse is out of town so we can't submit right now anyway, so I'll look into this in the interim. (And maybe the VAC will open, seems the only restriction is excessive caution on the part of Canada)
So a question: any Russian (based) applicants sent their passports to Warsaw by courier and received them back? Did the courier companies ask about the passport issue?