Soviet Union

Soviet Union
The Soviet Union is a neutral country that joins the Allies at the 12 minute mark. The Soviet Union is a major faction in game. At 30 seconds after the start of the game the Soviet Union will declare war on Finland to fight the Winter War. If the Soviet Union successfully convinces Finland to surrender, Finland can join the Allies, ending the Winter War and ceding cities to the Soviet Union. The main role of the Soviet Union is to focus on economy in the early game all the while teching up for the inevitable confrontation with East Germany.

Strategies
Until Operation Barabossa starts Axis and the Soviets can't attack each other. It is advised to be wary of straying your army into German territory. Axis players can remove your army by using the "kill all neutrals around the city" button on each city. The Soviet Union main concern at the beginning of the game is ecoing up for the inevitable confrontation with the Axis. It is generally advised to build your industry and factories in Siberia first, as well as your war factories and barracks not too close to the frontline. Reinforcing the defences around your borders with bunkers and tank traps might also be a good move.

Fighting Finland
Most Finland players feel dwarfed by the Soviet player and will subsequently join Allies. However if they join Axis, in the hands of a competent player they can easily crush you and take Moscow if you don't leave suitable defences around Leningrad. If you can hold your city in the north on the west side of the river, you can use it as a suitable staging ground to build up your forces and attack Finland from behind. You can choose to ignore Finland by making sure you have suitable defenses on your border by bunkering up on your side, If you must destroy Finland, attacking through the northern corrider where the defences are weaker is better. However it is easy to overextend and have your army caught and destroyed by a Travistova, leaving you open to counterattack. Another way is to build artillery and tanks and prepare for a long protracted war across the border from Leningrad. Building a battleship at Leningrad will allow you demolish a lot of defences leaving Finland open to attack. If you demolish Finland's defences before they join Axis, Finland can join Allies, ending the war and giving up some cities for your troubles.

Onwards to Germany
In the meantime you should be focussing on your economy for inevitable confrontation with East German command. Focus on construction materials first then industry. Switching your policy to Huge education investment will allow you to rush for Medium Advanced Tanks tech. Doing so will give you access to T-34-85s, one of the best Medium Advanced Tanks in the game. If Turkey joins the Axis, put some bunkers and defences along the pass that leads to the border with Turkey. The opening few minutes of Operation Barabossa would be tense as your economy wouldn't be fully online yet. However if you can hold off the Axis incursion for a few minutes you can spam T-34-85s and roll over Europe for an easy victory.