Bonzaman & Satco
The difference between Russian and western AI is that in the Russian one, the aircraft symbol moves, while the face of the instrument is stationary with respect to the aircraft.
In Western AIs the aircraft symbol is stationary with respect to the aircraft and the face assembly moves to align with the horizon.
What that means is that in Russian AIs the aircraft is above or below the perceived horizon, not the horizon above or below the nose of the aircraft - as you would see in visual flight.
The motion of the aircraft appears opposite to intuition in Russian AIs. But the AI construction is much simpler - and thats why the Russian AIs dont topple in aerobatics - the weight of the little aircraft symbol is easier to move around compared to the entire gyro assembly I guess!
The way I would read it would - black or brown - you're heading for the ground. Blue heading for the sky!
Indian Air Force pilots have been transitioning from one system to the other without significant problems, but there was a crash of an acquaintance of mine, who had transitioned from Jaguars to Mig-29s and was fatally disoriented. This was caused it was believed by some difficulty in adjusting and his inexperience on Russian types and (ironically) too much experience on Western aircraft. It was unusual for someone of his experience to transition from Western stream to Russian stream aircraft.
Worf