Russia

Russia is a faction in Shattered Union. It is unplayable in the campaign but playable in multiplayer. It is one of two non-American factions, the other being the European Union, and was already in existence long before the breakup of the USA and the start of the Second American Civil War. Russia is dominated by an ultranationalism party, led by Nikolai Vladekov

History[]

Some four weeks into the Second American Civil War, the Russian Federation annexes the former state of Alaska. Some resistance does occur, but whatever locals or former U.S. servicemen who chose to resist were disorganized and on their own, making the invasion relatively unopposed. The invasion is personally led by President Nikolai Vladekov, a former Soviet Army general and hardline communist and leader from an ultranationalism party, who is quoted as saying: "Alaska was never really part of the former U.S., and Russia is only taking back its former territory." The United Nations made no comment at the time.

Nikolai Vladekov is revealed to be the game's major antagonist when, 8 weeks into the war, INTERPOL announces the results of their investigation into the nuclear bombing of Washington, D.C. Evidence is discovered that reveals that Vladekov has been engaged in black-market arms dealing for nearly 30 years. INTERPOL further finds, as reported by news network ZNN, that Vladekov "masterminded the U.S. bombing to further his goal to disrupt the world economy, so that Russia could regain its military dominance and more easily control Europe". Compared to these things, Vladekov being under investigation for election tampering in Russia seems minor, but it is further evidence of his rampant personal and political corruption.

The invasion of Alaska and the news of Vladekov's corrupt actions are far from popular in Russia itself; massive protests in Russia force Vladekov to declare martial law in Moscow. Nonetheless, the Russian Federation remains in control of Alaska for however long it takes for the player's faction to re-unify the former 48 continental states and has to be forced out of Alaska by the player's faction. The fight for Alaska is anticipated to be "one of the largest battles in recent memory" by ZNN, and its outcome has a significant effect on both the end of the Second American Civil War and on Russian politics. If the player's faction succeeds in Alaska, Russia loses control of Alaska and its occupation force there is routed with high casualties; it is possible for every Russian unit to be destroyed in the fighting, making the Russian defeat a total disaster. If the Russian occupation force is able to repulse the player's faction, Russia successfully annexes Alaska into the Russian Federation. In either case, the outcome of the Second American Civil War and the battle for Alaska has a significant effect on the political situation in Russia.

In-game description:

"Recent revelations of election tampering by General Vladekov in Russia, were overshadowed by unrest in the former US. Vladekov successfully delayed further investigation by creating an emergency in Alaska using the expanded operations instituted by the EU as a catalyst. Vladekov's occupation of Alaska is not supported by the Russian Federation, but the outcome in Alaska may trigger a major political shift for or against Vladekov depending on your outcome here in Alaska."

Units[]

The Russian Federation has no association with the former United States or the European Union in terms of where it gets its military units. Every unit fielded by the Russians is Russian designed and made, although the Spetznaz (Commandos), Pioneers (Engineers), and single-use units are just unique-named versions of the same units. Russia almost always has only one unit in each class, and has no units classed as medium armor. The Russian single-use infantry unit is called "Sympathizers", indicating not all Alaskans and/or former U.S. servicemen were against the Russian occupation of Alaska. Russian units present in their sole appearance at the end of the campaign and available in multiplayer are light-gray or white in color, and are:

Single-Use Units: RU Bunker, RU Defense Tower, Sympathizers
Infantry: Guards Infantry, Spetznaz, Pioneers
Light Armor: Vodnik, BTR-90
Medium Armor: None
Heavy Armor: T-90, T-55
Anti-Air: Shilka
Artillery: Smerch
Helicopter: Hind
Fighter: MiG-35 Interceptor
Bomber: Bear
Other: Airfield

Alaska Occupation[]

The occupation of Alaska, started 4 weeks into the Second American Civil War, continues until the player faction attacks and drives the Russians out. If this never happens, then the Russian Federation formally annexes Alaska as a territory. The Russian garrison in Alaska is the same on all difficulty levels and consists of:

RU Bunker: 2
RU Defense Tower: 1

Infantry: Guards Infantry (x2), Spetznaz (x1)
Vodnik: 3
BTR-90: 2

T-90: 6

T-55: 2

Shilka: 4

Smerch: 2

Hind: 5

MiG-35 Intercepter: 4

Bear: 4

Airfield: 1

Russian Aid[]

Throughout the game, on any map- including Russian-occupied Alaska- there are occasional air drops of cargo identified as "Russian Aid" in the statistics listed at the end of every battle. Russian Aid drops are a rectangular wooden base covered in brown canvas, with a red star featured on two sides. Russian Aid drops give no hint of what they contain; a ground unit must move into the hex the Russian Aid occupies to receive it. The drop can contain a health boost, healing/repairing the unit, or a bomb, damaging it. They can contain minor boosts to vision or target range. The Vodnik and BTR-90 unit can also spawn out of a Russian Aid drop and can be used by the faction that spawned it through the remainder of the battle.

It is unclear if the Russian government or military was authorizing or supervising these drops, or what their reason or intention for this was.

Behind the Scenes[]

Russia has seen some political changes by 2014 in-game, as indicated by the altered colors of its flag- white, red and black instead of white, red and blue- and the prominent red star added to the flag.
Most Russian units are at least moderately more powerful and/or have higher hit points than their EU or US counterparts. This may not be entirely because of real-life data, but rather to make the final mission of the game more challenging.
Russia is the only faction in the game not to possess a fictional Heavy Armor unit. Both the T-90 and T-55 are real main battle tanks, and were in Russian service as of 2005, when the game was released.
The MiG-35 Interceptor is a fictional aircraft. In 2005, at the time the game was released, no aircraft by that name existed. In 2007, the MiG-35, an upgraded version of the MiG-29 "Fulcrum", had its first flight. The real-life MiG-35 closely resembles the MiG-29 and has the NATO reporting name of "Fulcrum-F".