Vladimir Kosygin

Actor: Goran Kostić

Name: Vladimir Kosygin*Nationality:* Soviet*Affiliation:* Soviet Union, then Allied Forces*Rank:* Major*Role:* Strategist specialising in nuclear warfare*Initial superior:* Joseph Stalin*Ally:* Gunter von Esling*Conflict:* Alternative Second World War*Game:* Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Status: Alive following his defection Vladimir Kosygin is a major in the Soviet Army and one of the Soviet Union’s leading specialists in nuclear strategy during the war against the Allied Forces.

During the final stages of the conflict, Kosygin gained in-depth knowledge of the Soviet atomic programme, its facilities and, above all, Joseph Stalin’s plans regarding the use of this new weapon.

This position made him a particularly valuable asset to the Soviet regime.

But it also allowed him to discover just how far Stalin was prepared to go to win the war.

The break with Stalin

As the Soviet Union’s military situation deteriorated, Stalin became increasingly brutal towards his own men.

Kosygin eventually became deeply disillusioned by the dictator’s methods, particularly his treatment of his subordinates and his total lack of regard for Soviet casualties.

The final break came when Kosygin discovered the strategy Stalin intended to employ with the new Soviet Nuclear Missiles.

The plan was not merely to strike at the Allies.

Stalin intended to deliberately sacrifice his own Soldiers in order to lure Allied Forces into a trap. Once both armies were concentrated in the chosen area, a Nuclear Missile Strike was to be conducted on the battlefield, simultaneously destroying both the Allies and the Soviets.

For Kosygin, this strategy marked the point of no return.

The major therefore decides to defect and pass on to the Allies what he knows about Stalin’s nuclear programme.

Escape from Riga

Kosygin is stationed at a major Soviet complex in Riga, in Soviet Latvia.

Allied intelligence services learnt that he wished to defect to the West and alerted the Commander of the Allied Forces, General Gunter von Esling.

Von Esling immediately realises the significance of this opportunity.

Kosygin is described as one of Stalin’s leading nuclear strategists, and his knowledge could enable the Allies to neutralise the Soviet arsenal before it is deployed.

A special operation is therefore organised to exfiltrate him.

The mission is entrusted to Commander A9.

Rather than launching an immediate frontal assault on the Soviet complex, the Allies employ one of their specialities: espionage.

A spy must infiltrate the Riga base, bypass the Soviet defences in disguise, and then infiltrate the Command Hub where Kosygin is located.

Once contact has been established, the major leaves the facility.

The Allied Forces must then protect him and escort him back to their base, whilst the Soviets naturally attempt to prevent his escape.

The operation is a success:Kosygin is extracted from Riga and officially defects to the Allied side.### Kosygin’s revelations

Once in safety, Kosygin is immediately interrogated by Gunter von Esling.

The General seeks, above all, to ascertain the true meaning of Stalin’s latest public statements.

Kosygin then confirmed the Allied command’s worst fears:Stalin was indeed preparing a nuclear attack.

More importantly, the defector knew the location of a strategic facility essential to the Soviet programme.

He identifies Dark Horseman, in southern Ukraine, as the main production site for Stalin’s atomic missiles.

Kosygin’s intelligence therefore enables the Allies to take immediate action.

Dark Horseman

Von Esling dispatches Commander A9 to target the facility revealed by Kosygin.

The objective is simple: to disable the nuclear complex and destroy the Soviet atomic weapons before they can be used against Europe.

The situation is extremely dangerous.

The Allies do not know whether any of the bombs have already been armed and must therefore approach the base with great caution.

Dark Horseman houses several Nuclear Missile Silos intended to strike major European cities. Paris, Berlin and London are among the potential targets.

The operation against the complex is thus a direct consequence of Kosygin’s defection:without his information, the Allies would not have known with sufficient precision the Emplacement and scale of the Soviet nuclear programme. A9 forces finally attack Dark Horseman in order to destroy Stalin’s nuclear capabilities.

A brief but pivotal character

Kosygin appears only in thefirst Red Alertand does not return in the expansions or subsequent instalments. His fate following the Allied victory is not elaborated upon.

One should therefore avoid inventing a subsequent career for him within the Allied Forces.

His role remains significant, however.

Unlike many Soviet leaders who were ultimately eliminated by the regime’s purges and internal rivalries, Kosygin chose of his own accord to break with Stalin.

And his defection was not motivated by mere personal expediency: the available information emphasises his revulsion at the dictator’s methods, particularly his willingness to sacrifice his own Soldiers in a nuclear attack.

This makes him a rather different character from Radik Gradenko, Georgi Kukov or Nadia Zelenkov.

Kosygin knows the Soviet system and its military programme inside out, but ultimately decides that he can no longer be part of Stalin’s policies.

His knowledge of this very war machine then becomes a weapon against it.

Possible inspiration>
Finally, there is an interesting anecdote that I might include in a ‘Did you know?’ box, rather than in the main biography.

His name appears to refer to Alexei Kosygin, a prominent real-life Soviet politician who, amongst other roles, served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

The character may also have been partly inspired by Ryszard Kukliński, a Polish Officer who secretly passed strategic information about the Warsaw Pact to the United States before being exfiltrated by the CIA.