These zones were basically states or countries in Eastern Europe which would later on be called “satellite states”. This empire included Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, Yugoslavia and Albania. Although, the latter two countries have different cases.

How many satellite states were there?

In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world's most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics–Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, ...

What were the six satellite states?

This empire included Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. Each had a Communist government. In the West they were called satellites because they clung closely to the Soviet Union like satellites round a planet. Stalin was able to create this empire for a number of reasons.