Russia

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a communist state which existed in Eastern Europe and Asia before the Great War.

Background
Due to divergence in the Fallout universe, the USSR did not dissolve in 1991 and continued to exist well into the 21st century, up until the Great War in 2077. While the exact reasons for the USSR’s survival are unconfirmed, certain factors can be presumed to have played a large role; the relative warming of relations between east and west would have allowed the US–Soviet arms race to subside at least partially, putting less of a strain on the Soviet economy. The difference in history between universes leaves many of the USSR’s affairs between World War II and the Resource Wars (a period of over 100 years) a mystery, or at least unconfirmed within Fallout canon.

The Soviet Union is known to have had a consular service and foreign service and even maintained strong consular relations with the United States. There was a Soviet consulate in Los Angeles (which Natalia Dubrovhsky's grandfather worked at), suggesting that Soviet–American relations were good enough in 2077 that American and Soviet citizens were able to visit each other's countries. Russian diplomats were even able to book spaces in Vault-Tec Corporation vaults over American citizens. However, there is evidence that the USSR was still considered at odds with the west, and was at the very least suspected of espionage by a part of the American populace.

During the Resource Wars, the Soviet Union was in no direct conflict with the United States, with no real evidence suggesting it played much of a role in the international situation at all. The USSR had access to sufficient reserves of petroleum and uranium (particularly within the Caucasus region and the central steppes, as well as in the satellite state of Romania), and likely pursued policies of isolationism and economic protectionism, consolidating its energy sources and weathering the storm of shortages on its own, consigned not to invade other nations so long as it was not invaded itself.

It is unknown what role the USSR played in the Great War, as it considered both sides of the war far from its allies. The Soviets and Chinese remained hostile throughout the 2000s, and there was always deep distrust between the US and USSR, as had been the status quo between communist and capitalist nations for over a century. The possibility of a war between the eastern and western powers was still present in the minds of the people, and considered by some to be a real threat, with the Defense Intelligence Agency going as far as to run simulations of a hypothetical China/USSR attack scenario in 2067, using the Predictive Analytic Machine. There is no evidence suggesting Soviet support for either side of the Sino-American War, although they were doubtlessly drawn into the subsequent thermonuclear exchange, as it involved every major world power. Given the international situation, it is likely that in the final hours of modern civilization, the Soviets found themselves pitted not only against China or the western powers, but in a mutual destruction scenario with both factions at once.

The reason for China’s status as the primary communist power and enemy of the west in the Fallout universe is not canonically stated, but a connection can be assumed to the Sino-Soviet Split and subsequent improvement of Soviet–Western relations – the latter of which is necessary to explain the survival of the USSR and Warsaw Pact and therefore maintain the Cold War culture and feel central to the Fallout world.

Units
The Spetnaz, a Russian Special forces unit, is mentioned in the description for the Scorpio submachine gun found in Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel.

Equipment

 * AK-112 assault rifle
 * Scorpio

Known locations

 * Russia
 * Moscow (mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas)
 * Red Square (mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas)
 * The Kremlin (mentioned in Lonesome Road)
 * Abandoned oil refineries
 * Re-education Colony
 * Steppes villages

Appearances
The Soviet Union is mentioned in Fallout, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and its content update Wastelanders, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. It was also meant to appear in the cancelled game Fallout Extreme as an explorable area.

Behind the scenes
When R. Scott Campbell was asked why China was the U.S. enemy and not the Soviet Union, he answered that it was because he heard the Russian mob firing their guns in the street while he was telephoning a Muscovite. After that, he had a difficult time believing that the U.S.S.R. would be in a position to threaten the world any time soon.