The fly-half was in sensational form and played a major hand in five tries as Argentina played a man down for the best part of an hour after Marcos Kremer’s red card.
Los Pumas led 8-7 at that point, Matias Orlando having responded to Sione Tuipulotu’s opener.
But from there, Scotland seized control, Russell instrumental in tries for Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham.
Matias Alemanno crossed as Scotland led 19-15 at the break, but Russell continued to pull the strings after the break to put Graham in for his second.
Los Pumas then lost both Alemanno and second-row colleague Tomas Lavanini to the sin-bin in a matter of minutes, leaving them playing with 12.
Despite that, Emiliano Boffelli got over for Argentina, before Tuipulotu’s second appeared to make the game safe.
The cards kept coming, Thomas Gallo and Scotland skipper Jamie Ritchie departing for ten minutes, before Russell’s grubber put Cam Redpath in for the try that definitively clinched it.
The home side kept piling on the pressure, with Stuart Hogg getting over for their seventh before Graham completed his hat-trick and Ignacio Ruiz had the final say for the visitors.
Argentina had made the better start, Boffelli slotting a penalty after an early breakdown infringement.
But Scotland hit the front after a clever offload from Russell, out of the back of the hand to Tuipulotu, who showed pace and power to force his way over for a first Test try.
Russell converted but Argentina hit straight back. Pablo Matera’s grubber forced Van der Merwe to carry the ball over his own line. From the resulting scrum, Santiago Carreras tried a kick through that did not come off. But as Russell looked to clear, he was tackled and from the quick recycle, the ball was spread to Orlando to score.
Boffelli missed the conversion but Argentina led by one and looked to have settled into the game. They were helped by Scotland’s inaccuracy in the opposition 22, a week after it cost them dear against New Zealand.
RUSSELL PUNISHES 14 MEN
Matera made one huge turnover just as Scotland looked dangerous, and not long after, it was Argentina who were attacking again. One counter looked particularly threatening, but a dangerous clearout from Kremer saw him dismissed and Argentina’s job became much harder.
Scotland made the most of their extra man with Russell revelling in the extra space. He darted between two forwards before offloading to Van der Merwe to score.
Two minutes later, it was Russell again finding the gap, and despite Chris Harris ignoring a huge overlap, his blushes were spared by Graham, who picked and forced his way over.
Argentina finished the half well though, Alemanno powering over from close range as they trailed by just four points despite their numerical disadvantage.
Russell continued in the same vein in the second half, ghosting around one tackle before a slick offload that ended with Hogg putting Graham over.
ARGENTINA DOWN TO 12
At 24-15, the game looked to be going only one way when Alemanno then Lavanini were sent to the bin for a dangerous clearout and then a collapsed maul in the space of two minutes.
Yet, it was the 12 men who somehow managed to strike. From a Jack Dempsey knock-on, Orlando scooped and got away before a brilliant inside pass to put in Boffelli. Out of nowhere, Argentina were back to within two.
The problem was that they were still three men down, and Scotland finally took advantage as Argentina just ran out of defenders and Tuipulotu got in for his second. Russell converted to push the advantage back to nine points.
It was on the verge of boiling over, with referee Karl Dickson giving final warnings after one too many scuffles. When another broke out, he had run out of patience, Gallo and Ritchie dispatched to the sin-bin.
SCOTLAND PULL CLEAR
Argentina were defending desperately, and did well to hold Redpath up over the line on one attack. But it was only temporary respite, as the replacement was quickest to Russell’s grubber through.
Scotland were running rampant, and from a lineout move, opened up space for Hogg to get over before Graham continued his stunning scoring streak, Russell converting from the touchline to cap off a stunning display.
The action kept coming, Scotland losing Tuipulotu to the sin-bin for a tip tackle, before Ignacio Ruiz completed the scoring.
