In the world of "Cyberpunk 2077," the Soviet Union survived the 1990s and continued into 2077, while the old United States had long since fragmented. The Soviet Union still uses the abbreviation USSR, but its full name has changed from "Union of Socialist Republics" to "Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics."
This alternate history traces back to the 1980s. After suffering a famine, the Soviet Union received grain aid from Europe, leading to warmer relations with the European Economic Community. Meanwhile, the United States launched an economic war, attempting to undermine the Eurodollar system through market manipulation; when the plan was exposed, it backfired, ultimately causing the nation's collapse and the dissolution of its intelligence agencies.
The relevant settings can be traced back to the tabletop game "Cyberpunk 2013," released in 1988. At that time, the real-world Soviet Union had not yet dissolved, and subsequent creators built upon this premise to further flesh out the history of this timeline.
The surviving Soviet Union has also undergone profound changes. The oil giant SovOil emerged from the restructuring of the fuel industry, subsequently achieving independence and privatization. It signed contracts with the government on nearly equal terms, creating a structure where corporations wield significant power over the state.
Based on the Fourth Corporate War, dialogue from Ripperdoc Nina Kowalski, and related gigs, this region is calmer than Night City but still faces issues such as pollution and the power struggle between corporations and the government.