This is all I could find:
Russian originates from Slavic, the language of the Slavic tribes in the Balkans. It is one of acknowledged languages in the United Nations, and it used in international events as well. It is spoken by more than two hundred million Russians, and one hundred and fifty million people in the Asian Islamic republics that were formerly parts of the Soviet Union. Russian is also the second language of eight Eastern European countries. Because of Russia’s important political, industrial, and technical role in the world, and because of the ties between Russia and the Arab world, the Russian language became so important. In addition, learning this language will reinforce the economic relations, and the exchange of expertise between Saudi Arabia and Russia. As for the Islamic countries newly independent from the former Soviet Union which played an important role in the Islamic culture and sciences in the past, learning Russian will help in improving the understanding of Islamic beliefs of the people of those countries
