[He claimed that they changed their name because their were many in the old country that wanted them dead.]
This is the thing. Stalinism was such a shock that I believe a lot of people could have developed such traditions as a survival mechanism.
The Russians who might do this are not liars.
The person who said "watch your back"...low class Americans exist in the same number as low class Russians. I am well aware of the tricksters in Russian society, speak the language very well, and would not be dating a woman with a "xitri" character for more than a few weeks.
If anything, we are dealing with an honest family that just has a false tradition developed for emotion survival during the Stalinist years.
What was also interesting is that I discovered the alledged Foster parents of Alexi was Veerman, which is close to Vrooman. In fact they sound similar when said.