Just saw hidden figures and stranger things 3, and both Katherine’s children and the main cast of stranger things called them “Russians” instead of soviets. Originally, I thought that it was simplified for a modern audience, but then I remembered that Russia still existed as one of the states within the Soviet Union, and had a huge presence before the country was turned communist. So what did civilians (particularly in the US) refer to the Soviet Union as? Was it just more of a title for the country as a whole? Was “Russians” more of a nickname like “Yanks” in the civil war? Or is it just Hollywood simplifying it for the modern audience more familiar with modern-day Russia?
Russians was a term used by soviets to refer to ethnic Russians in the USSR. Soviet Jews (officially classified as Jews) who were discriminated against, often chose to list “Russian” in their passports if they had the option. Otherwise, the USSR was referred to as “the union” (Soyuz) or the Soviet Union. As far as I know, it wasn’t common to refer to it as Russia.