Most Russian characters in media, at least since the Cold War started, are depicted as hard fightin', heavy-drinkin', manly, boorish creatures. Even their females border on being The Baroness or the Femme Fatale. So what's a troper to do? Even those times when you do see a soft, sophisticated Russian, they're evil. So much, in fact, that a non-evil, cultured Russian character is a rarity. And before the Cold War it was a Wild Communist, and even before, in XIX century, it was a hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guy in furs, with a wild beard and a pet bear. So this trope predates the television by some 150 years (it goes all the way back to 1813, in fact). And it would be probably even older if people outside the country itself before 1813 had registered Russia's existence.