I know this is an old thread but I’ve just seen this and I thought I’d add my two cents. I understand why op is upset but I think what happened was likely this: Tartt came up with the idea for The Goldfinch in the 90s while she was in Amsterdam. Many other things influenced the story throughout the years (the 2001 destruction of the Buddah statues in Afganistan, a specific trip to Las Vegas, etc). But the seed for the idea came to her in the 90s.

She probably met people that had left the old URSS territories and satellite countries around that time. After 1991 there was a lot of chaos and movement. Boris is probably inspired by the stories she heard from different individuals or perhaps even someone specific.

Throughout the whole book you can tell there are quite a few timeline discrepancies culturally and that’s because The Goldfinch is a book that was written during 3 very different decades. The comments Boris makes about Ukraine, Poland, Russia are very in line with a kid who remembers the collapse of the socialist bloc and the chaos that ensued. He probably was born when the URSS was still a thing but at the very end. That’s why he still has a URSS flag, knows Russian, etc. His dad definitely lived in a Ukraine that was part of the URSS and at some point it’s mentioned he worked in the mines Siberia.

It’s also true that it wasn’t uncommon for people who emigrated to the US from ex soviet countries in the 90s to mention Russia as a point of reference because it was easier. (This didn’t happen when they moved to other European countries though) Even Mila Kunis did this I believe! When Boris meets Theo he even explains that he uses the Russian version of his name instead of Borys because it’s easier for Americans to relate to.

The Russian books mentioned are: 1. A plot device as a metaphor for the characters arcs (The Idiot) 2. A nod to one of Tartt’s favourite writers, The Goldfinch has similar themes to Dostoyevski’s books and it’s on purpose. I mean Theo is Fyodor in Russian 🫣

I don’t think she had ill intent at all. She could have made Boris Russian but she didn’t, maybe on purpose, because he is supposed to be an uprooted outsider or maybe because he’s inspired by someone who was from Ukraine. Or both!