[1] Indoor athletics at a national level began to take shape in the Soviet Union from 1940 onwards, in the form of winter indoor matches between teams from Moscow and Leningrad, then expanding to cities including Kiev, Kharkov, and Odessa.

The competition also featured a team element, with athletes' performances counting towards a points total for the Soviet Republic or major city that they represented.

[3] The following athletics events featured as standard on the main Soviet Indoor Championships programme: Indoor versions of the 110 metres hurdles and 100 metres hurdles were held at the first three editions, before being dropped.

The 1976 programme had a one-off change, dropping the 400 m in favour of men's and women's 300 m and 600 m races.

Combined track and field events were held jointly at early editions of the competitions.