Second Russian Civil War

"Welcome to the new Russia, Captain Price."

- Sergeant Kamarov

"We've got a civil war in Russia. Government loyalists against Ultranationalist rebels, 1500 nukes at stake."

- Gaz

The Second Russian Civil War was a conflict in 2011 that was primarily based in Russia 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. However, after the Ultranationalist leader Imran Zakhaev was assassinated by a joint British SAS, Russian Loyalist, and US marine force, sympathy for the Ultranationalists spanned the globe, and resulted in Ultranationalist victory.

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 purchasing spent fuel rods salvaged from the ruined Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant. 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 hit Zakhaev's left arm.

Shortly after, the sniper team is compromised and after shooting down a rebel Mi-28, they escaped the building and proceeded to Extraction Point Four, a nearby amusement park. On the way, another Mi-28 appeared and it too was 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. After a fierce standoff, the two snipers managed to hold back waves of Ultranationalists long enough until the extraction team of US Marines arrived in a CH-46 Sea Knight and safely evacuated 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. It would also be the most likely cause of his hate towards the western world.

Coup D'etat in Arab Peninsula
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.

Estonian Freighter with Nuclear Weapons is Destroyed
Around the same time period as Al-Asad's coup came an SAS assault on an Estonian freighter, registration number 52775, in the Bering Strait. Utilizing intelligence gained from a Loyalist informant on an Ultranationalist camp, a small squad of SAS 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 Cpt. 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 also 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, 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 would evidently fail to defuse the nuclear warhead, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that cost the lives of 30,000 U.S. marines. This would lead to the next war, five years later&mdash;after General Shepherd became rogue&mdash;in an attempt by him to show off the true power of the U.S. military.

Al-Asad in Azerbaijan
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. Cpt. Price and his team, Bravo Team, would then infiltrate several houses in Azerbaijan in a desperate attempt to find him. This would succeed, and Al-Asad would be captured and interrogated. The team would learn that the nuclear warhead was actually supplied by Imran Zakhaev, the leader of the rebellious Russian political party, the Ultranationalists. Al-Asad was then executed by Price with an M1911 pistol. Price remembers 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 would attempt 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, would then force all U.S. and British forces to exit Russia immediately, or suffer the consequences.

The SAS and USMC team would then storm an 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 missile detonations and destroy the missiles with zero civilian casualties.

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

- SSgt. Griggs, USMC

The team would board vehicles in an attempt to escape the facility. This would also involve getting through a highway with heavy Ultranationalist defenses. An Ultranationalist helicopter would blow up a bridge while their vehicles were on it, thus causing the team to be stranded. After fierce fighting and heavy Ultranationalist reinforcements, an exploding gas tanker would knock 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 would not be able to make it in time.

Imran Zakhaev himself would then enter the scene, executing one member of the team. His plow through the remnants of the USMC/SAS team would be cut short when Loyalist gunships barged in an began to fire upon Zakhaev's forces. It would be then that John "Soap" MacTavish would execute Zakhaev with an M1911 pistol that Cpt. Price slid to him while both were on the ground behind him.

Loyalist helicopters would drop in allied reinforcements and evacuate the team. Cpt. Price was seemingly dead (later, it was revealed that he was alive) and "Soap" passed out while on a stretcher being lifted to the helicopter.

Ultranationalist Victory
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 they gained national sympathy for the loss of their 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, 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.

Cpt. Price would be alive and imprisoned within a Russian Gulag, and would play a major role in the beginning stages of the Russo-American War 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 unnammed Middle Eastern country resulted in deaths of 30,000 U.S. military personnel and set the events of Modern Warfare 2 into motion.

Notable military operations

 * Initial Attempt to Assassinate Imran Zakhaev
 * Assault on the Estonian freighter
 * Execution of President Al- Fulani
 * Rescue of Codename: Nikolai and liberation of a Caucasian village
 * First Attempted capture of Al-Asad
 * Operation: War Pig
 * Capture of Arabian city
 * 2nd attempted capture of Al-Asad
 * Destruction of Arabian area
 * Successful capture and execution of Al-Asad
 * Attempted capture of Victor Zakhaev
 * Assault of the Nuclear Facility and attempted capture of Imran Zakhaev
 * Successful execution of Imran Zakhaev
 * Capture of Russia