EVA's done on the Russian side have a long history!
In the beginning, there was only one in 1965 (Leonov) and one in 1969 (transfering from Soyuz 4 to 5) and then none until 1977 (Salyut 6) when there was one, like in 1978 (one) and 1979 (one). So, until Salyut 7, very few cosmonauts spent much time outside.
One iwith Salyut 6 was in fact an unplanned one when Ryumin had to disconnect and kick an antenna away from the station.

With Salyut 7, cosmonauts got more and more time outside, erecting masts, placing solar panels. Spacewalks were part of the space station activities.
Salyut 6, with 2 docking ports, allowed for a crew to get refurbished and to be replaced while up there, keeping the station permanently manned.
With Mir, 6 docking hatches allowed not only for permanent occupancy, but also for growth. All this without real need for a shuttle.

An unplanned spacewalk by Soloviev (Anatoly, not Sacha) and Balandin was meant to repair the Soyuz heat protection that had ripped open and was preventing using a sextant for a safe return. Opening the hatch, they didn't realize there still was a bit of air inside and the hatch slammed open. They repaired the Soyuz, came back to realize they couldn't shut the hatch again, from inside (A third crewman would have been totally helpless, inside). So, they went to another hatch (on the other side of the station) which they got open and re-integrated the station safely. They spent a record 7 hours in space, but also scary moments!

Here are some spacewalkers using Russian spacesuits (Haignere and Reiter)