Acronyms became new words in Russian during the Soviet era
‘Kolkhoz’, ‘VUZ’, ‘Komsomol’: These and many other words ceased to be perceived as abbreviations over time.
After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, not only the state system changed in Russia, but also the language. The new country needed to name a huge number of organizations that hadn't existed before: ‘kolkhozes’, the Komsomol, the CPSU.
The official names of scientific institutes were especially long and it's no surprise that they were replaced simply with acronyms.
Over time, some of these abbreviations became independent words (acronyms). For example, the word ‘беруши’ (‘earplugs’) comes from ‘береги уши’ (‘protect your ears’), while ‘самбо’ (‘Sambo’) comes from ‘самозащита без оружия’ (‘self-defense without weapons’).
