I wondered about that myself. Maybe it has something to do with the transition from WWII allies to cold war antagonists. I know - that’s a stretch considering the NYT history.
USSR usage
Maybe related to UN usage? Also they gained a lot of satellite countries after the war so a “polite” way of what to call the satellite countries?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union
A member of the United Nations at its foundation in 1945, the Soviet Union became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which gave it the right to veto any of its resolutions (see Soviet Union and the United Nations).