It's an interesting phenomenon in The US. The most patriotic nation in the world.[footnote]A Finn saying something like "I love my country", "It's the best country in the world" in Finland, without being completely ironic, would label you quite immediately as a some kind of racist rube or just plain stupid.[/footnote] Still it seems lots of people define themselves as Italian, Irish, Polish, Russian, what have you. Even if the only current connection is knowing one's (great great great) grandfather came to the country with a dream some decades ago. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, quite the opposite with the better things; as that gives one a fascinating context, the feeling of belonging to something greater, traditions, background, "own people", defining factors, and so on.
Mm. A tattoo in a language you can't speak, probably written in cyrillic signs I'm guessing you can't read. Frankly, that's a bit pretentious. Especially as you're approaching it with looking for a good enough phrase, instead of finding a Russian saying which you like so much that you want to get it tattooed, just for the sake of what it has meant and will mean to you.
Talking about the catches of these kind of tattoos: Anyone seeing it recognizes it's cyrillic/chinese(/latin/french), but most won't know what it means so it serves as giving a bit of mystery, and it serves more on it's aesthetic qualities. At the same time it's slightly encrypted. That also means you're looking for people to come and ask you what it says, making it also a permanent mobile icebreaker / conversation piece.
By the way, if it's going to be a full band on your bicep, it's going to be very difficult to read. If you're set on doing it, at least quadruple check it from different sources, and find out what's it's message. That way you won't end up with something like "They will never be able to stop me", coined by a soldier, actually referring to hemorrhoids, while slaughtering the Tsar's family.
