Russian, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Russian n.

also Rooshian

1. (Aus.) a wild horse, wild cattle [? pun on rush around].

1849		A. Harris Emigrant Family I 260: The two mobs [...] often stay together in the flat for half a day at a stretch, when the ‘Russians’ come down to the creek to water.
1957		J. Greenway ‘Australian Cattle Lingo’ in AS XXXIII:3 168: rooshians, n. Wild cattle.

2. (US black) a newly arrived southern black who has moved to the north. [pun on rush-in; many blacks moved north during WWII to work in war-related manufacturing industries].

1942		Z.N. Hurston ‘Story in Harlem Sl.’ in Novels and Stories (1995) 1005: ‘One of them Russians, eh?’ the girl retorted. ‘Rushed up here to get away from a job of work.’.
1979		Maledicta III:2 171: Russian n [DAS 1942] Southern Negro in the North; from play on ‘rush in.’.
1983		I.L. Allen Lang. of Ethnic Conflict 48: Personality and Group Character: russian [1942. From a pun on rushing, as in ‘rushin’ away from hard work, ’ ‘rushin’ up North, ’ etc.].

3. in S. Afr. use [negative image of Russia during the Cold War].

(a) any of the gangs from the south townships in South Soto known for their violence and terror from 1940s.

1951		Drum (Johannesburg) Oct. 8: A favourite device of the Russians is to use a woman to attract their victim [DSAE].
1952		Drum (Johannesburg) May 37: Russians wear black blankets with white stripes and a white or black hat with an ostrich feather, and gaberdine trousers ... They carry sticks, which are hollow in the centre for screwing an axe, which they call a ‘re-inforcement.’ ... Most Russians are Basutos but many other tribes are to be found among them [DSAE].
1960		C. Hooper Brief Authority 293: Worse than Russia-gangs. [Note] Gangs of Basuto, mostly in the urban areas round Johannesburg, who attacked Africans of other tribes, driving them from their homes, and popularly known as ‘Russians.’.
a.1977		Casey ‘Kid’ Motsisi in Casey and Co. (1978) 103: To the south of Western Native Township vibrates Newclare, home of the faction fight-happy blanketed Basutos, known as ‘Russians.’.
1988		Daily Dispatch (S. Afr.) 29 July 23: ‘The Russians’ are a gang of blanket-clad men who habitually carry knobkerries [DSAE].

(b) any south Sotans.

1974		Sun. Times 20 Oct. (Mag. Sect.) n.p.: The South Sotho, known in Soweto as the ‘Russians’ because of their distinctive blanket dress, have built a reputation for wild parties [DSAE].
1977		P.C. Venter Soweto 184: He says my mother’s parents were real Russians. That is what we call the South Sotho people, because of the way they wear their blanket.
1989		Readers Digest Illus. Hist. 390: Evaton’s desperately poor Basotho group – called the ‘Russians’ [DSAE].
1990		in Lynx 275: Hlalele was a member of a notorious gang of Basuto men who were known as the ‘Russians’. It was not quite clear how they had acquired that name, but it had stuck to Basuto men working in Johannesburg ... We came to associate the name ‘Russians’ with violence [DSAE].

4. (US) intercrural intercourse whereby the man rubs his penis between his partner’s thighs but does not enter the vagina.

1981		A.K. Shulman On the Stroll 133: Save your body; stick to Swedish massages (by hand), or French (by mouth), and only go Spanish (between the breasts), Russian (between the thighs), American (a body roll), or danish (inside) if it’s worth the money.
2009		J. Stahl Pain Killers 137: But they would do[...] Greek, Russian, bareback oral or facials.

In phrases

high Russian (n.)

(gay) simultaneous anal and oral sex.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 106: high Russian (kwn Texas, ’70) act where a homosexual is fucked and sucked simultaneously by his acrobatic partner.
1979		Maledicta III:2 232: He also may or may not know the following words and expressions: [...] high russian (both kinds of ‘sodomy,’ anal and oral, simultaneously; it takes a trapeze artist).
1986–7		Maledicta IX 60: Russian, high n [R] Simultaneous fellatio and anal intercourse; homosexual slang.