1. (

• Soviet_Union ,
• Russia ,
• Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics ,
• USSR

) a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991 ;

2. (

• Soviet_Russia ,
• Russia ,
• Russian_Soviet_Federated_Socialist_Republic

) formerly the largest Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR occupying eastern Europe and northern Asia ;

3. (

• Russia ,

) a former empire in eastern Europe and northern Asia created in the 14th century with Moscow as the capital; powerful in the 17th and 18th centuries under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great when Saint Petersburg was the capital; overthrown by revolution in 1917 ;

4. (

• Russia ,
• Russian_Federation

) a federation in northeastern Europe and northern Asia; formerly Soviet Russia; since 1991 an independent state ;