Vladimir Vladimirovich Nikov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nikov is a Russian mercenary who has acted as bodyguard for renowned terrorist Ibrahim Salih Mohammed Al-Yacoub.

Biography
Vlad was born on September 16th 1980 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He got involved in the Russian mafia as an enforcer when he was 15, but left when he turned 18 to join the Russian Airborne Forces as a paratrooper which he stayed in for 7 years, before joining the Airborne Spetsnaz for another 8 years. When he left, he became a mercenary as he earned more and ended up as bodyguard of Ibrahim Salih Mohammed Al-Yacoub in Afghanistan. He married in 2000 and had two children, a daughter in 2001 and a son in 2004 but got a divorce in 2005 and lost custody of his children.

While in Afghanistan, Nikov fought against local security forces and American soldiers, including special operations. He trained local insurgent forces and is known to have killed prisoners and civilians. He has been discriminated against for being Russian by Insurgent forces, including by Al-Yacoub himself, though he defends Nikov when others do it. Nikov is known to be strongly opposed to the insurgents he fights with on a moral level as he has no respect for Islam, but he was willing to fight with them as he hates Americans more, and he has profited greatly from the conflict. For his actions in the mafia and as a mercenary, Nikov was declared a criminal by the Russian government, preventing him from returning home.

In 2021, the Americans left Afghanistan and Nikov acquired American equipment that was left behind and used it to fight the remaining opposition. His father also came to the country to support his mission, but they had disagreements over the Russian mafia and his father died from a stroke.

Shortly after this, a dissatisfied high ranking officer in the Russian Armed Forces contacted Nikov and offered him a job. This job would entail going to Ukraine when Russia would invade it to assassinate a Ukrainian official serving in the military. This official was secretly in contact with the Russian government and would take control of part of Ukraine when it was taken over. The Russian officer wants him dead so that he could take control and secretly work against Putin's regime. The reward for this mission included cash, and a pardon for Nikov's crimes.