User blog comment:Dempsey141/bad intel/@comment-1260687-20100224165042

Political turmoil and the national instability led to the Ultranationalists propping up Zakhaev as a national hero, a visible symbol of how Russia was wronged by the West - with Zakhaev achieving in death what he strove for in life. Makarov was acting as a puppet of Shepard, and was discarded as soon as he was no longer of any use.