A Raja bi zen maybe in a republic of the Soviet Union (10)

I believe the answer is:

azerbaijan

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'republic of the soviet union' is the definition.
'azerbaijan' can be an answer for 'republic' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'of the soviet union' bit.

'a raja bi zen maybe' is the wordplay.
'maybe' indicates anagramming the letters.
'raja'+'bi'+'zen'='rajabizen'
'rajabizen' is an anagram of 'zerbaijan'.
'a'+'zerbaijan'='AZERBAIJAN'

'in a' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for azerbaijan that I've seen before include "in Asia" , "republic" , "Country in the South Caucasus" , "Baku's country" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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