Ultranationalists (Original)

"It's the Ultranationalists. They're killing the villagers."

- Russian Loyalist in Safehouse

The Ultranationalists are a revolutionary terrorist organization in Russia who wish to return the country back to what it once was during the days of the U.S.S.R. They believe that the Russian Federation does not have the best interests of the Russian people at heart, siding with Western interests both philosophically and economically, which they perceive to be destroying or weakening Russia. The Ultranationalists idealize the old Soviet state out of a sense of wounded national pride, though their actual commitment to Communist political and economic ideals are left rather vague. In this mad crusade for what they consider to be national restoration, the Ultranationalists consider the powers of the Western world, specifically the United States of America and the United Kingdom, to be major obstacles in their path, as well as any Russians who do not support their aims. Their funds come from several criminal activities such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, hijackings and kidnappings. They are also supplied in weapons by several arms dealer around the world, such as Alejandro Rojas or Imran Zakhaev himself, who was an arms dealer before becoming the organization leader. It seems that, in 2016, Ultranationalist's military strenght had decreased as that, rather than open war to the West and the Russian governement, they seems to rely on various terrorist activities such as terror bombings, assassinations and hostage takings. They also had to participate in various criminal dealings to finance their cause, and must rely on low-level arms dealers such as Alejandro Rojas.

They seem to be based in the southern edge of Russia, close to central Asia and the border to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Their influence extends far beyond Russia's borders, with an airfield hidden in Kazakhstan, several contacts in the Middle East, and one known contact in Brazil.

Leadership
The political head of the Russian Ultranationalist party is Imran Zakhaev, a former arms dealer who operated out of Ukraine, selling spent uranium rods from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor (whether this was to provide funds for his party, simply to enrich himself or for some other purpose is never made clear). He was reported killed after losing his arm to a .50 BMG round fired by a British sniper team, but resurfaced to head the Ultranationalist party during the Russian Civil War. His son, Victor Zakhaev, is commander of the Ultranationalist military forces on the ground and takes orders directly from Imran. After the deaths of both Victor and Imran, the Ultranationalists were left leaderless until Vladimir Makarov took control of the party.

Named personnel

 * Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
 * Imran Zakhaev - Leader of the Ultranationalist Party, killed in Game Over
 * Khaled Al-Asad - Middle Eastern Commander of the OpFor, killed in Safehouse
 * The First Horseman - Associate of Al-Asad, assumed to be killed in Shock and Awe.
 * Victor Zakhaev - Commander of the Armed Forces, killed in Sins of the Father
 * Sasha - POW guard, killed in Blackout
 * Viktor - POW guard, killed in Blackout


 * Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
 * Vladimir Makarov - "The Shadow of Zakhaev", new leader of the Party
 * Petrov - Russian military base commander, killed in Cliffhanger
 * Rojas - Brazilian arms dealer, apprehended by Task Force 141
 * Faust - Associate of Rojas, shot in the leg by Sgt. Gary "Roach" Sanderson
 * Alexei Borodin - Member of a terrorist squad that fought under Makarov, killed in No Russian when discovered to be a CIA agent.
 * Viktor - Member of Makarov's squad in the terrorist assault on the airport.
 * Lev - Member of Makarov's squad in the terrorist assault on the airport.
 * Kirill - Member of Makarov's squad in the terrorist assault on the airport.
 * Anatoly - Member of Makarov's squad in the terrorist assault on the airport.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare conflict
The Ultranationalists have been engaged in open warfare with forces loyal to the Russian Federation for some time prior to the start of Call of Duty 4. While their greatest influence appears to be in the former Soviet states in the Causcaus Mountains and Central Asia, they present a clear threat to the Russian state and have designs on taking over the rest of the former Soviet Union. Aside from fighting in Russia, the Ultranationalists have a presence in Al-Asad's unnamed Middle-Eastern nation, providing them with arms and equipment including at least one nuclear warhead (and the attempted delivery of a second warhead, as shown in Crew Expendable). They also have a presence in Azerbaijan. They are the ones behind Al-Asad's rise to power, and later become the primary antagonists during the last two acts of the game.

The Ultranationalists appear to have complete disdain for the Geneva Conventions or any of the rules of war, using very brutal methods to achieve their military and political goals. These include the massacre of entire villages, making no distinction between civilian and military targets, the use of infantry and rocket attacks to deliberately kill civilians, torture and a variety of other acts classified as war crimes. This is done to spread fear among the Russian population and force them to submit to the Ultranationalists. With the death of Imran Zakhaev, news stations had reported that a leadership struggle had taken place, suggesting the party was close to collapse prior to Modern Warfare 2.

Al-Asad was executed in Azerbaijan by Captain Price after detonating the nuclear bomb in The Middle East, killing thousands of US Marines. After the execution, the Ultranationalists attempted to retake Al-Asad's body, and Bravo Six escaped from the village. The SAS/Marine task force planned to lure Imran Zakhaev out of hiding by capturing his son, Viktor Zakhaev. Once he was cornered, Viktor commited suicide and Zakhaev retaliated by taking control of an ICBM launch facility in the Altay Mountains and launched the warheads to impact on the US East Coast. The effect would kill nearly 41,000,000 civilians. The joint force of SAS/Marines assaulted the launch facility and stopped the countdown. As the task force attempted to flee, the Ultranationalists cut off their exit on a bridge, and the ensuing battle led to the death of Zakhaev at the hands of Soap MacTavish. It was soon rumored that the Ultranationalist Party had apparently collapsed after the death of Zakhaev, with the News media citing a "leadership struggle".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 conflict
Five years after the loss of Imran Zakhaev, a former associate of his named Vladimir Makarov assumes control of the Ultranationalists and succeed in conquering Russia. Makarov has been described as a violent, almost psychotic person with his own ambitions. Zakhaev had held Makarov in check while alive, but with him gone, Makarov was left free to take over the Party. Makarov portrayed Zakhaev as a martyr to gain support for his organization among the Russian populace, and has rebuilt the Ultranationalist Party with the help of contacts in Rio de Janiero, Russia and Afghanistan. The Ultranationalists thus become a massive army, with state of the art equipment and training, in essence becoming the Russian Army. Prior to Modern Warfare 2, the CIA has been keeping an eye on him, as he's committed numerous terrorist incidents in Europe and has worldwide media attention. Amongst the actions of the Ultranationalists under Makarov is a bloodbath at a Russian airport, in which hundreds of civilians are gunned down by an armed squad led by Makarov himself. What at first appears to be a rash of terrorist incidents propels into a horrific war culminating in an attack on US soil, with Washington D.C. burning and the White House under siege. They seem to have connections with the OpFor in Afghanistan.

Equipment
They utilize many weapons of a conventional armed force, including air and armor assets. Quite similar to the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, the Ultranationalist militants are fairly well organized and equipped for an unofficial military entity. Primarily, the Ultranationalists use Soviet-era weaponry (at least in Call of Duty 4) such as the AK-47, RPD, Mi-24 and T-72. They also have access to nuclear weaponry and late in the game take over an ICBM Launch Facility in the Altay Mountains. Under Makarov, the Ultranationalist arsenal is extremely diverse, as several NATO weapons (and others) are given out to soldiers, such as the FAMAS, UMP .45, and M240. As Makarov has more international contacts, he can gather resources from across the world.

The full list of Ultranationalist arms and vehicles in the single player campaign is as follows:

Small Arms

 * AK-47
 * AKS-74U
 * G3
 * G36C
 * SVD
 * Mini Uzi
 * MP5
 * RPD
 * M60
 * Winchester Model 1200
 * M1014
 * RPG-7
 * Beretta M9
 * M72 L.A.W (Not used, but can be seen on character models)
 * Desert Eagle (Used only by Imran Zakhaev and 1-3 enemies in Crew Expendable)
 * USP .45 (Never directly used but seen in a weapons stash in Charlie Don't Surf )
 * Skorpion
 * P90
 * AUG HBAR
 * FAMAS
 * SPAS 12
 * UMP .45
 * Vector
 * W1887
 * Striker
 * M240

Vehicles

 * Mi-8
 * Mi-24
 * Mi-28
 * UAZ-469
 * BMP-2
 * T-72
 * BM-21
 * Ural-4320
 * Snowmobile
 * BTR-80
 * MiG-29

Multiplayer
In the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty 4, the Ultranationalist faction is represented by the Russian Spetsnaz. This is because according to the game's story, several Russian military divisions sided with Imran Zakhaev's organization, while the rest of the Russian military opposed him and remained loyal to the true government. The troops that joined the Ultranationalists likely included several members of the Spetsnaz, while the opposing soldiers became the Russian Loyalists. In the multiplayer mode, the Ultranationalists deploy small squads of Spetsnaz, their best forces.

Trivia

 * The Ultranationalist soldiers in GP-5 gas masks still have the plug in the filter, which would not allow them to breathe.
 * In Call of Duty 4, the Ultranationalists have a few fairly new German weapons, which is unusual being that they are still in use by the Bundeswehr, such as the MP5, G36C, and G3, although the G3 is an exception as its a surplus weapon.
 * The Ultranationalists seem to use more than one camouflage pattern at a time, such as combining woodland and arctic camouflages.