Those aren't necessarily all negative stereotypes, or stereotypes with only negative connotations, though. At the very least they're some combination of physically tough, glamorous and/or extremely cunning. They might stare at you like they were about to kill you after some verbal misstep you didn't even realise you'd made, but then throw back their head and roar with bear-like laughter, slap you on the back so hard your drink spills, pour your another drink, pour themselves another five drinks, and then demolish you at chess. The women are inevitably supermodel-standard beauties or kindly babushka types with wrinkled smiles and cheeks like little red apples, depending on age. Etc. ect. etc. They are, at any rate, rarely stupid, boring or ridiculous, whereas Americans are often all three. Oh, and obese, too.
(And is anyone going to quibble with the fact that there actually is a fuck of a lot of organized crime in Russia?)