Second Russian Civil War

"Welcome to the new Russia, Captain Price."

- Sergeant Kamarov. The Second Russian Civil War was a conflict primarily based in Russia, Central Asia, and areas in the Middle East. It involved Russian Loyalists, heavily supported by British and American forces, against the Ultranationalist rebels and their Middle Eastern allies, codenamed OpFor (Opposing Force), led by Khaled Al-Asad.

Background
In 1996, the British government authorized its first assassination order since the second World War on Imran Zakhaev, a Russian arms dealer who was selling spent fuel rods salvaged from the ruined Chernobyl Nuclear Power-plant. The mission was to be carried out by Alpha Team, a two-man SAS sniper team comprising of Captain MacMillan as sniper team leader, and Lieutenant Price as the shooter. The team's first objective was to sneak into the abandoned city of Prypiat, Ukraine and set up a sniping position in the Hotel Polyssia. After arriving at their destination, they utilized the previously-airlifted M82A1 Sniper Rifle to kill Zakhaev, blowing off his left arm.

Shortly after the sniper team is compromised and after shooting down a hostile Mi-28, they then escape the building and proceed to Extraction Point Four, a nearby amusement park. On the way, another Mi-28 appears and it too is shot down; however, the chopper went down "hot", and when it crashed, shrapnel crippled Captain MacMillan. Lieutenant Price carried him to the extraction point near a ferris wheel with Ultranationalists hot on their trail. The two snipers manage to hold back waves of Ultranationalists long enough until the extraction team of US Marines arrive in a CH-46 Sea Knight and safely evacuate both snipers.

Imran Zakhaev permanently lost his arm, but managed to survive the encounter. This would slowly lead him to become known as a leader within Russia, and head of Russia's Ultranationalist political party.

Coup D'etat in the Middle East


Before the war, Imran Zakhaev realized that a Russian Civil War, with 15,000 nuclear weapons on the line, would gain a high level of western attention. In order to cause a diversionary war, he contacted his Middle Eastern ally, Khaled Al-Asad. Al-Asad would launch a coup d'état against the government of an unnamed Arab nation, all funded and supported by the Ultranationalist party. Al-Asad's forces would become known as OpFor, or Opposing Force, by the United States military.

Al-Asad's coup d'état was completed with the execution of the President Yasir Al-Fulani on national television. His country, despite advertising an upcoming peace within the nation, was remarkably unstable. This was seen in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare when OpFor soldiers are seen executing civilians who did not support Al-Asad's leadership.

Operation Expendable


Around the same time period as Al-Asad's coup, SAS launched an assault on an Estonian freighter, registration number 52775, in the Bering Strait. Utilizing intelligence gained from a Loyalist informant in an Ultranationalist camp, the strike force, Bravo Team, led by Capt John Price with Gaz and Sgt John "Soap" MacTavish, discovered nuclear WMD's being transported, along with a document written in Arabic. They barely managed to escape after "fast movers", enemy MiG-29's, performed an airstrike on the freighter.

The War Begins
"Good news first: the world's in great shape. We've got a civil war in Russia, Government Loyalists against Ultranationalist Rebels, and 15,000 nukes at stake."

- Gaz

American Assault


Prior to the USMC's mission, a joint British SAS-Russian Loyalist force, commanded by Cpt. Price and Sgt. Kamarov respectively, launched a small assault on an Ultranationalist camp. They soon split up, with Sgt. Kamarov taking the town and Capt. Price rescuing a valuable informant. A little while after that, an AC-130 gunship supported Cpt. Price's team's evacuation to USMC helicopters.

The United States, unknowingly being fooled by Zakhaev's diversionary plan, launched an attack on a coastal city on the Arab Peninsula, located in the unnamed Arab country. Here in a local television station, Al-Asad was supposedly spreading nationwide propaganda.

The television propaganda was revealed to be a recording, as there was no sign of Al-Asad.

Attack on the Capital City


"It looks like we're rolling in with everything we got. We get Al-Asad, we end this war right here, right now. Lock and load, Marines."

- Lt. Vasquez

The war would continue in the Middle East as U.S. Marines continued their push towards the Capital City, where Al-Asad was cornered.

The U.S. forces then led a massive offensive campaign on the capital city, using Force Recon and Wild Weasel units to take down Al-Asad's air defenses. The British Special Air Service had informed the U.S. Marines of captured intelligence which indicated that Al-Asad may have a Russian nuclear warhead, possibly for use in a last-ditch, "scorched earth" situation.



NEST teams, covered by SEAL teams, were then deployed in an attempt to find and defuse the nuclear warhead. Soon, the nuke was discovered and all U.S. forces were recommended to evacuate and reach a minimal safe distance from the center of the city, where the warhead was recovered. One notable team within 1st Force Recon, Bravo Team, would attempt to rescue a downed Cobra pilot even after they were informed that they would not reach the safe distance in the event of nuclear detonation.

The NEST teams failed to defuse the nuclear warhead, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that cost the lives of 30,000 U.S. Marines and civilians. This would lead to the next war, five years later &mdash; after General Shepherd became rogue in an attempt by him to show off the true power of the U.S.

Al-Asad in Azerbaijan
"Why'd you do it? Where did you get the bomb?!"

- Captain Price to Al-Asad

The British SAS gained intelligence from Nikolai that Al-Asad had not acted in a suicidal attempt to escape the U.S. assault, but instead that he escaped prior to nuclear detonation into a small village in Azerbaijan. Bravo Team then infiltrated several houses in the village in a desperate attempt to find him. They succeed, and Al-Asad is captured and interrogated. The team learns that the nuclear warhead was actually supplied by Imran Zakhaev, the leader of the rebellious Russian political party, the Ultranationalists, after he calls Al-Asad and Price hears his voice. Al-Asad was then executed by Price with an M1911 pistol. Price recounts his assassination attempt on Zakhaev fifteen years previously.



Eight hours later, the SAS soldiers were attacked by Zakhaev's men, who were supposedly looking for Al-Asad. Bravo Team managed to hold off the offensive and escape on USMC helicopters. The USMC and SAS would then perform a variety of joint operations against the Ultranationalists.

Battle of the Altay Mountains
"Zakhaev's son. Commander of the Ultranationalist forces in the field. Rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree... The loyalist Kamarov has got a location on the kid."

- Captain Price

The joint USMC/SAS/Russian Loyalist force then got a location on Imran Zakhaev's son, Victor. They planned to capture him and question him on the whereabouts of his father. After taking over an Ultranationalist-controlled checkpoint, they ambushed him. Victor attempted to escape, and ran from the team until he reached a dead end at the roof of a five-story building. Before the team was able to restrain him, he fired his M1911 at his jaw, killing himself.



Zakhaev's Reaction
"It's quite simple. Either we retake the launch facility or we won't recognize the world tomorrow."

- Captain Price

With their last lead as to where Zakhaev was gone, the team decided to wait. Imran Zakhaev, infuriated by his son's death, took over an ICBM launch facility to force all U.S. and British forces to exit Russia immediately, or suffer the consequences.

The SAS and USMC team then stormed the Ultranationalist-controlled missile launch facility. However, shortly prior to their arrival, Zakhaev launched two RT-2UTTH Topol-M ICBMs, each containing six separate nuclear warheads. Eight of these were targeted towards U.S. cities, with the ability to cause the death of an estimated 41 million American civilians. The other four would supposedly be targeted towards the UK.



After receiving the missile abort codes from Loyalists, the team infiltrated the facility. After heavy fighting, they managed to abort the missiles over the Atlantic with zero civilian casualties.

Imran Zakhaev's Death
"It's just too hot, man... but room temperature? Please. A beer should be ice cold."

- SSgt. Griggs, USMC

The team boarded vehicles in an attempt to escape the facility. This also involved getting through a highway with heavy Ultranationalist defenses. An Ultranationalist helicopter blew up a bridge along the escape route while their vehicles were on it, thus causing the team to be stranded. After fierce fighting and heavy Ultranationalist reinforcements, an exploding gas tanker knocked out a majority of the team. Meanwhile, a Loyalist force made their way to the bridge to provide gunship support to their allies, but they were not able to make it in time.

Imran Zakhaev himself then entered the scene, executing Gaz, while other Ultrantionalists shot other teammates. Their plow through the remnants of the USMC/SAS team was cut short when a Loyalist gunship barged in and began to fire upon Zakhaev's forces. It was then that John "Soap" MacTavish executed Zakhaev with an M1911 pistol that Capt. Price slid to him while both were on the ground behind him.

Loyalist helicopters drop in allied reinforcements and evacuated the team. Capt. Price was unconscious and "Soap" passed out while on a stretcher being lifted to the helicopter. All other team members were dead.

Ultranationalist Victory
"Place is filled with living casualties of the last war... which I swear I thought we'd won."

- Soap, in the opening cut scene of The Gulag.

Some time between 2011 and 2016, the Ultranationalists would win the war. How they managed to do it without a leader is unknown, although it is a common belief that due to the citizen's unpopularity of the Loyalist government, the Ultranationalists gained national sympathy for the loss of their leader after a major protests which ousted the current government leader. Another belief is that they launched a coup d'état of the Russian government. Both of these are possible. Boris Vorshevsky would then become the new elected president of Russia.

Aftermath


The Second Russian Civil War would cost the lives of over 30,000 U.S. Marines. It would also force a strained U.S.-Russian relationship after the Ultranationalists took power, and it is often implied that a second Cold War took place between the two countries. The result of the war between the U.S. and the OpFor in the unnamed Arabic country is not clearly stated.

In October 2013, a joint Task Force 141/Delta Force mission (Operation Kingfish) was launched to eliminate Zakhaev's successor, Vladimir Makarov. The mission ended badly as the base turned out empty and Ultranationalist reinforcements swarmed the team. Soap MacTavish was wounded and evacuated with the rest of the team. Captain Price stayed behind to buy them time. He was slightly wounded, and captured.

Capt. Price would be imprisoned within a Russian Gulag, and would play a major role in the beginning stages of the World War III as part of Task Force 141, before becoming an international criminal. Soap would return to the UK and become the field commander of Task Force 141, also becoming an international criminal alongside Price. The detonation of the nuclear device in the unnamed Middle Eastern country resulted in deaths of 30,000 U.S. military personnel and set the events of Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3 into motion.

Notable military operations
Initial Attempt to Assassinate Imran Zakhaev Operation Expendable Coup d'état Battle of the Caucasus Mountains Battle of the Capital Operation Safehouse Attempted capture of Victor Zakhaev Battle Of Ataly Mountains
 * UK victory
 * UK victory
 * OpFor victory
 * President Al-Fulani executed
 * OpFor seize control of country
 * UK/Loyalist victory
 * Codename: Nikolai rescued
 * Caucasian village saved
 * Indecisive; OpFor claims victory
 * both sides suffer heavy casualties; estimates place US casualties around 30,000
 * UK/Loyalist victory
 * Capture and execution of Al-Asad
 * Indecisive
 * Zakhaev commits suicide
 * UK/Loyalist/US victory
 * Imran Zakhaev executed

References