Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country located in Asia and Europe on Earth. Formerly known as the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, it was part of the Soviet Union from 1922 until its dissolution in December 1991.

History[]

Viking Raids[]

During the late 8th to late 11th centuries, the Vikings raided and traded from their Scandinavian homelands across wide areas of northern and central Europe. One of these raid routes took them though the Volga River in Russia. In the 21st century, this particular route was considered by Skye as one of the possible locations for the Berserker Staff, as Elliot Randolph suggested searching Viking routes for its possible location.^[1]

World War II[]

HYDRA Desertion[]

According to one of HYDRA's maps, Russia was among the countries planned to be invaded following the destruction of the United States, specifically targeting Moscow.^[2]

United States Embassy[]

Jack Thompson contacted a man who met in primary school that had been destined to the United States embassy in Moscow, in order to search for Leet Brannis, one of their main suspects in their search for Howard Stark and his technology.

Thompson's contact discovered that Brannis was a member of the Soviet 478th Rifle Division during World War II, and that the entire battalion was wiped out during the battle of Finow in Germany. The contact informed Thompson that Brannis was declared deceased in 1944 with the rest of his battalion.

Thompson contacted him again to determine if the man whose hotel room key was found near the Brannis' corpse was also Russian, and the contact managed to identify him as Sasha Demidov, another member of the Soviet 478th Rifle Division that was declared deceased but turned out to have survived.^[3]

Leviathan Recruitment[]

In 1944, a group of four men, including Doctor Johann Fennhoff, were kidnapped and taken to a covert facility. Inside, a woman removed their hoods and a Russian Officer named Fyodor congratulated them for having been selected to Leviathan, something they should consider an honor. Fyodor acknowledged that they would soon know the glory of devoting your life to what he called "a greater good", but he offered them the chance to decline. Pasha, one of these men, claimed that he had a wife and four daughters that needed him, and Fyodor acknowledged that he would like to be with his family. Fyodor subsequently ordered the woman to release Pasha, and she used a knife to stab Pasha on the throat. Fyodor told the rest that his family would join him soon, and asked the other three men if any of them wished to reunite with their loved ones.^[4]

Imprisonment of Anton Vanko[]

Siberia was the place chosen by Soviet authorities to imprison Russian physicist Anton Vanko after he was deported back to the U.S.S.R. in 1967. The Soviet government sent Vanko to a prison in Siberia, serving for 20 years, due to being unable to develop the Arc Reactor technology by himself, given that he developed it in the United States with Howard Stark, the man who ordered his deportation. Vanko left Siberia and returned to Moscow following Premier Gorbachev's call for democratization in January 1987, living in poverty with his son, Ivan Vanko.^[5]

Birth of Emil Blonsky[]

Russia was the birthplace of Emil Blonsky, although he was raised in England and become a member of the Royal Marines.^[6]

Birth of Sofia[]

The city of Saint Petersburg in Russia was the birthplace of the woman who would become the mercenary known as Sofia. Sofia spent her childhood as an orphan and a runaway on the streets of Saint Petersburg, until she was snatched to Bulgaria by the members of a human trafficking ring.^[7]

Birth of Natasha Romanoff[]

Stalingrad is the birthplace of Natasha Romanoff, who went to become one of the world's most talented spies and assassins, first for the Russian KGB and, eventually, for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Samuel Sterns, mutated by Bruce Banner's blood, requested Romanoff's assistance in escaping the authorities and securing his work. In order to convince her, he correctly guessed her birthplace as Stalingrad, recognizing faint traces of her accent, and offered her the home she hadn't had in many years.^[8]

Aborted S.H.I.E.L.D. Mission[]

Hank Pym, a consultant with S.H.I.E.L.D., was assigned a mission in June 1989, requiring him to go to Moscow, Russia. Howard Stark confronted him with this when it was revealed Pym had instead taken a detour through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research & development laboratories, uncovering their attempt to replicate his formula. Pym was furious about the attempt to duplicate his work, and resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D. on the spot instead of heading to Moscow to complete his assignment.^[9]

Winter Soldier Program[]

With HYDRA having infiltrated the newly formed espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. after World War II, Arnim Zola and Soviet scientists experimented on Sergeant Bucky Barnes, who was found by HYDRA. At a covert HYDRA facility in Russia, Barnes was turned into an enhanced assassin for HYDRA as he was often used to eliminate any deemed threats to HYDRA.

Under Vasily Karpov's orders, Barnes assassinated Howard Stark and Maria Stark, who developed models the Super Soldier Serum. The medicine was used to enhance the abilities of five assassins, who became new candidates for the Winter Soldier Program. However, the five eventually rebelled against their HYDRA handlers during a training session, which resulted in them being kept under Cryostasis Chamber.^[12]

Imprisonment of the Ranskahov Brothers[]

Brothers Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov were arrested and imprisoned at Utkin Prison to serve their sentence, due to their illegal activities in Moscow. They were heaped in a cell with inhumane conditions along with other inmates named Alexei and Oleg during three years.^[13]

Breakout at Utkin Prison[]

Anatoly Ranskahov was tortured along with Oleg, however, only Anatoly survived, and taken back to his cell, where his brother, Vladimir Ranskahov was also kept with the rotting corpse of one of their former cellmates, Alexei. Vladimir asked where Oleg was, and when he answered that he had died, Vladimir told him they only needed each other. However, Anatoly was not sure about his own survival. Vladimir promised they would leave together that night, and showed him a weapon made from one of Alexei's ribs. Anatoly wondered where could Vladimir have obtained it, and he said it was a gift from Alexei, telling him that the guards should not have left him there from the rats, and proceeded to take another rib to make a second weapon. Anatoly wanted to return to Moscow and regain their status there, but Vladimir told him they should head to America, promising they would rule as kings.^[13]

Birth of Whiplash[]

Anton Vanko settled in Moscow after being deported from the United States in 1967 accused of spying and sent to Siberia imprisoned. His son, Ivan Vanko, settled with him after he served 15 years in a prison for selling plutonium to Pakistan. Anton died years later in extreme poverty, blaming his situation on Howard Stark and his family. Ivan then created his Whiplash Armor using his father's blueprints for an Arc Reactor, as a weapon to be used to kill Howard's son, Tony Stark. Upon finishing the armor, Ivan met an agent of the Ten Rings to obtain a forged ID and travel documents for confronting Tony Stark in Monaco.^[5]

Chechnya's Reputation[]

During the Chechen Wars, Chechnya was a hotspot for rebel activity and guerrilla warfare for independence from the Russian government until its reincorporation into Russia after the Second Chechen War.^[14] Additionally, Chechnya has a reputation amongst the international community of being one of the best places in the world to train a mercenary. As such, Phil Coulson named Chechnya as one of the possible places where Thor received the training needed to subdue the multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he defeated while trying to gain access to the heavily guarded Mjølnir in New Mexico.^[15] However, Chechnya has a reputation for being an extremely unsafe place, where crimes such as the kidnapping of babies and children are very common.^[16]

Infiltration into the Burkov Mining Facility[]

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Massacre at the Hotel Inessa[]

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Illegal Weapons Dealing[]

Undercover[]

S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff was ordered to go undercover in Moscow and approach Russian arms dealer Mikhail Fjodorov to interrogate him about missing bootleg StarkTech from Hammer Industries. During her mission, an assassin disguised as a dancer, and going by the name of Sofia, killed Fjodorov and blamed Romanoff as the culprit. Romanoff was forced to flee to the hotel she was staying, while the Moscow City Police began cordoning the area of the assassination and emitting an arrest warrant for Tatiana Sokolova, which was Black Widow's alias during her mission. While Agent Phil Coulson, who was acting as control for Romanoff's mission, began setting an extraction in Gorky Park, Romanoff was attacked at her hotel by four mercenaries from Eaglestar hired by Sofia, who were carrying a SIM card so that Black Widow could contact her after defeating the mercenaries. In the subsequent call, Sofia revealed that she took that alias because Sofia was the city where she first saw Black Widow. She also revealed that, while wanting to become the new Black Widow, the reason for killing Fjodorov was simply that her employer wanted him dead. Sofia agreed to reveal the location of the technology to compete with Romanoff for the mantle of Black Widow, but only under the condition that she worked alone and without S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support. Romanoff subsequently took herself off-line, and, as roads, trains and airports were under surveillance for Fjodorov's murderer, she left Moscow riding a Railbike to use the high-speed rail connecting the capital to Sochi.^[7]

Mantle of Black Widow[]

Natasha Romanoff traveled to Sochi using the high-speed rail being constructed to connect Sochi to Moscow for the 2014 Winter Olympics. When she arrived in Sochi, Romanoff established an alibi cover, posing as a TV producer before being discovered by henchmen sent by General Starodoub. Fjodorov's partner. Sofia met Romanoff face to face after killing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Perez and Gerber, who were following her under Agent Phil Coulson's orders.

After a brief introduction, Sofia plunged Romanoff into sinking into the freezing waters under an ice hockey rink, feeling betrayed for the interference of the agents. She revealed the location of the technology to Natasha while she was about to die from hypothermia. Coulson was able to save Romanoff, who located her by having both Perez and Gerber follow Starodoub's goons, and inadvertently sending them to their deaths as Sofia assumed they were following her per Romanoff's request. Subsequently, Romanoff went undercover as international model Marya Konn in a party hosted by Yuri Klementiev, another of Fjodorov's partners. She came across Klementiev, who tried to seduce her thinking she was one of the models he is used to have on his boat, but she quickly dismissed him. After that, Romanoff approached fellow Agent Gennady Markov, who had been posing as one of Klementiev's bodyguards for weeks, and obtained information to try to locate the technology. Starodoub]] was seen in the party talking to Mohammed Yavari, a member of the Iranian intelligence interested in buying the StarkTech. Romanoff located the technology and was able to retrieve it from a guarded cabin inside the yacht where the party was being hosted. However, she was forced to hand the technology to Sofia when she took Gennady Markov as a hostage, killing him to allow her to escape. Realizing how dangerous Sofia's games were for other people instead that only for herself, Romanoff vowed to kill Sofia by herself.^[7]

Sojourn Enterprises[]

Richard Frampton founded Sojourn Enterprises, a transport multinational with a space tourism division, that in reality was a cover for some of the Ten Rings activities, and located its headquarters in Vladivostok. One of Frampton's terrorist acts for the Ten Rings was to acquire Hammer Industries' version of Stark Industries Jericho missile. He tasked the mercenary only known as Sofia to retrieve it, killing Russian arms dealer Mikhail Fjodorov and at least three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the process, traveling to Vladivostok to hand the technology to Frampton. When S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson discovered that Sofia's employer was the billionaire Richard Frampton, Agent Natasha Romanoff infiltrated Sojourn Enterprises headquarters in Vladivostok. There she discovered that he has made a Jericho missile that would explode near the border between Russia and North Korea, greatly destabilizing the world peace.^[7]

Ten Rings[]

Natasha Romanoff boarded a train containing the last shipment to the launch site of one of the Jericho missiles constructed under orders of Richard Frampton, an industrialist and member of the Ten Rings terrorist group, that tried to destabilise the region launching the missile near the border between Russia and North Korea. Frampton oversaw the assembling of the missile in one of the facilities of Sojourn Enterprises destined to space tourism. When the final cross-check was finished and the missile was ready to be launched, Frampton congratulated all the personnel involved, especially Sofia, the mercenary who retrieved one of the most elusive pieces needed to assemble the missile. The train carrying the post-launch recovery equipment approached the facility, but as it was hijacked by Romanoff, it crashed against the facility. Romanoff emerged from the train and killed many of the security guards to approach the manual control of the targeting mechanism for the missile, just twenty seconds before its launch to avoid them being redirected to their intended target. Sofia, under Frampton's orders, tried to kill Romanoff, and the two women began an intense fight.

When it seemed that Romanoff gained the upper hand, Sofia pulled out a pair of guns and aimed at Romanoff, explaining how she admired the Black Widow so much upon witnessing one of her missions before joining S.H.I.E.L.D., and become obsessed with taking over the mantle of the Black Widow. Romanoff simply answered that she was not a good person when they first met, and waited until Sofia finished, realizing that she was next to the rocket engines of the missiles. When the countdown reached zero, the missile was launched and killed Sofia, burning her alive under the engine. As Romanoff changed the target of the missile to hit the same launching site, most of it was destroyed by the ensuing explosions that also killed Frampton.

Many S.H.I.E.L.D. Strike teams led by Phil Coulson arrived in the aftermath of the explosion to arrest the surviving members of the Ten Rings and interrogate them about their other activities in Russia. Nick Fury approached Romanoff and asked her if she was alright, and Romanoff answered how similar Sofia was to how Romanoff was before redeeming herself, feeling that many would have thought that Romanoff was not worth saving as Sofia was.^[7]

S.H.I.E.L.D. Mission[]

Interrogation of Georgi Luchkov[]

In 2012, at Solenski Plaza, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff investigated General Georgi Luchkov for his crimes as an illegal weapons dealer. In order to obtain information about his contacts, Romanoff let Luchkov discover her identity and submit her to an interrogation. Romanoff let her captors beat her to make them think they had the situation under control, but she was able to turn the interrogation and Luchkov revealed the true identity of his contacts. Phil Coulson made a call to the phone of one of Luchkov's men, threatening Luchkov to obliterate the building with a F-22 Raptor, and demanding to speak to Romanoff. Romanoff freed herself while fighting Luchkov and his men, easily defeating them despite being tied to a chair and then picked up the phone to speak with Coulson.^[17]

Undercover Mission[]

S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Shaw infiltrated a Russian underground prison in Siberia in order to collect information about a separatist group in South Ossetia and a weapon they managed to obtain, the Overkill Device. Phil Coulson got himself captured and brought to the same prison, in order to provoke his captors and being interrogated, as the interrogator was none other than agent Shaw. Coulson revealed to Shaw his cover had been blown and needed to escape. Melinda May and Grant Ward defeated the guards and escaped from the facility, using a motorized sled to arrive at the Bus.^[18]

Infiltration into the Russian Inhuman Sanctuary[]

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Invitation to Fight[]

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Avengers Civil War[]

Sokovia Accords[]

In May 2016, Russia was one of the many countries who subscribed the Sokovia Accords for the registration of superpowered individuals.^[12]

Battle at the HYDRA Siberian Facility[]

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes flew the second Avengers' Quinjet to the HYDRA Siberian Facility in Siberia. They found out that the Winter Soldiers had been shot in their chambers. Shortly, they were met by Tony Stark and together found themselves confronting Helmut Zemo.

After Zemo had played an old HYDRA recording of Stark's parents' death, an enraged Stark turned on Barnes and Rogers and a fight ensued. The fight ended after Rogers used his shield to power off Stark's Mark XLVI Armor. Rogers and Barnes then departed, and as they did, Stark told Rogers he didn't deserve the shield, in which Rogers paused and dropped it to the ground.

Outside the facility, T'Challa, who had arrived secretly, stopped Zemo from killing himself and told him how vengeance had consumed him.^[12]

Fall of the Red Room[]

Escape from the Seventh Circle Prison[]

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Visiting Melina Vostokoff[]

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Destruction of the Red Room[]

To be added^[20]

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Blackout[]

To be added^[21]

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Kidnapping of Jeffrey Mace[]

To be added^[22]

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Post-Blip[]

Global Repatriation Council[]

In 2023, following the Blip, Russia joined the Global Repatriation Council.^[23]

Blizzard in Siberia[]

In 2024, Siberia experienced a blizzard.^[24]

Alternate Universes[]

A.I.M. Operative Controller[]

Robbery of the Russian Nuclear Facility[]

In an alternate universe, A.I.M. attacked a nuclear facility in Russia, hoping to steal the nuclear power sources to power their recreation of the Iron Man armor. Tony Stark heard about the attack and learned that A.I.M. was his highest buyer when he sold weapons, so he flew to the base and attacked the A.I.M. soldiers there. The soldiers opened several dry casks, which Stark then closed to prevent the radiation from leaking. Stark defeated the soldiers, but several others had loaded the nuclear power sources on a train and left. Stark stopped the train and continued through the base, where he was confronted by Boris Bullski in his own radioactive armor. Stark defeated Bullski.^[25]

Hijacking and Retaking of the Air Force Ship[]

The United States Air Force drove one of their ships, which had been designed by Stark Industries, into Russian waters, where it was taken over by A.I.M. forces led by Basil Sandhurst. Tony Stark appeared and fought Sandhurst's soldiers, resisting his mind control and freeing the Air Force soldiers which were held prisoner. Stark then prevent A.I.M. from stealing the nuclear power sources in the ship and returned to California.^[25]

Capture of Arnim Zola[]

In an alternate universe, Steve Rogers and the Howling Commandos heard of a train that HYDRA owned which would be traveling through Russia towards one of their bases with weapons. They watched the train approach, and Rogers zip-lined onto it along with Bucky Barnes and Gabe Jones. As Jones worked to stop the train, Rogers and Barnes searched for explosives. They were suddenly attacked by a large HYDRA trooper. Rogers and Barnes fought and defeated the trooper together. Meanwhile, Jones captured Arnim Zola.^[26]

Party Thor[]

In an alternate 2010, Carol Danvers brought Thor to Siberia in order to defeat him without causing much damage to Earth. However, Frigga appeared via hologram and told Thor that she was on his way to him, prompting Danvers to abandon her plan and let Thor go.^[27]

Age of Ultron[]

In an alternate 2015, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton traveled to Moscow in order to get to the KGB Archive Building. As they were making their way there, they were intercepted by Ultron Sentries and were forced to fight them off. After the Sentries were defeated, Romanoff and Barton went to the building. Inside, they looked through boxes until Romanoff found the box containing Arnim Zola's analog file. The file sent them to the HYDRA Siberian Facility in Siberia. After making their way to the facility, they located Zola's databases and eventually got Zola to agree with their plan. Barton then used his arrow to download Zola's consciousness onto it. Romanoff then lured the Sentries to the facility, while Barton ambushed them, shooting one with his arrow and Zola was able to take control over the Sentry. As they made their escape, Barton sacrificed himself to kill off the Sentries, allowing Romanoff to escape with Zola. However, Zola realized that the hive mind was not in their universe, thus leaving Romanoff stranded in Siberia.^[28]

Known Presidents[]

• Boris Yeltsin - 1st
• Vladimir Putin - 2nd and 4th
• Vladimov

Citizens[]

• Yelena Belova (formerly)
• Emil Blonsky (also British/English)
• Dreykov †
• Kurt Goreshter (also American)
• Georgi Luchkov
• Anatoly Ranskahov † (formerly)
• Vladimir Ranskahov † (formerly)
• Natasha Romanoff † (formerly)
• Alexei Shostakov
• Ivan Vanko †
• Melina Vostokoff
• Fyodor
• Johann Fennhoff
• Pasha †
• Dottie Underwood
• Ivan Vanko †
• Anton Vanko †
• Dimitri Olshenko
• Androvich †
• Anton Ivanov †
• Andrei Veznikov
• Grigori Veznikov
• Vasily Karpov †
• Vladimir Putin

Alternate Realities[]

• Kurt Goreshter † (also American)
• Natasha Romanoff (formerly)
• Natasha Romanoff (formerly)
• Natasha Romanoff † (formerly)
• Natasha Romanoff † (formerly)
• Natasha Romanoff (formerly)

Appearances[]

Appearances for Russia

In chronological order: Agent Carter Season One Time and Tide (mentioned) The Blitzkrieg Button (mentioned) The Iron Ceiling (mentioned) A Sin to Err (flashbacks) Season Two The Lady in the Lake (mentioned) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Seven Alien Commies from the Future! (mentioned) Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey Captain America: Civil War (flashback) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Four The Man Behind the Shield (flashbacks) What If...? Season Two What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper? (mentioned; alternate universe) Daredevil Season One In the Blood (flashbacks) The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season One New World Order (flashback) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Two Melinda (picture in flashbacks) Iron Man: Teen Novelization (mentioned; alternate universe) The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (mentioned) Iron Man 2 (concurrent events) Iron Man 2 Read-Along Storybook and CD (concurrent events) Thor (concurrent events) (mentioned) The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes The Avengers Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season One Pilot (mentioned) The Hub The Well (mentioned) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (mentioned) What If...? Season One What If... Ultron Won? (alternate timeline) Daredevil Season One Into the Ring (mentioned) In the Blood (flashbacks) World on Fire (mentioned) Iron Fist Season One Immortal Emerges from Cave Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Three Laws of Nature (mentioned) The Inside Man (mentioned) Parting Shot Captain America: Civil War Black Panther: The Junior Novel Avengers: Infinity War Prelude (concurrent events) Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey (flashback) Black Panther: The Junior Novel (mentioned) Black Widow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Four The Patriot (mentioned) The Man Behind the Shield What If...? Season One What If... Thor Were an Only Child? (alternate timeline) Daredevil Season Three No Good Deed (mentioned) Helstrom Season One The One Who Got Away (newspaper) WandaVision Season One On a Very Special Episode... (newspaper) The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season One The Star-Spangled Man (mentioned) Power Broker (mentioned) Spider-Man: No Way Home (mentioned) Hawkeye Season One Ronin (mentioned) She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season One Superhuman Law (mentioned) Ms. Marvel Season One Seeing Red (mentioned) Secret Invasion Season One Resurrection Promises Betrayed Beloved Harvest Home

References[]

External Links[]

• Russia on Wikipedia