Russia

Russia
In-Game Information
Location:	Eastern Europe and North Asia
Sublocations:	St. Petersburg Kamchatka Siberia
Real-Life Information
Appearances:	Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Hitman: Contracts HITMAN™ 2

Russia (Russian: Россия), officially the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация), is a federal semi-presidential constitutional republic stretching over Eastern Europe and North Asia.

Spanning eleven time zones and bordering eighteen countries, Russia is the largest country in the world, with an area of over 17.125 million square kilometres. About 146.79 million people live in the country (including disputed areas), making it the ninth most populous country in the world. Its capital is Moscow.

The Russian city of Saint Petersberg and the Siberian peninsula of Kamchatka have made appearances in the Hitman series.

History

The first Russian state, the Kievan Rus', emerged in the 9th century. It was later devastated by internal power struggles and the following Mongol invasions in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow, founded in 1283, quickly grew in power, eventually subjugating other Russian princedoms and defeating Mongols. In 1480, its Grand Prince Ivan IV "the Terrible" was crowned the first Tsar of Russia. Under his strict rule, Russia continued to expand, facing off against Poland-Lithuania and conquering Siberia. However, after Ivan's successor died childlessly, Russia fell into an anarchic time period, "Times of Troubles", which ended after fifteen years with Mikhail Romanov being elected the new Tsar.

In 17th century, Tsar Peter I "the Great" greatly modernized Russia, improving its economy, society and military. He was crowned the Emperor of the new Russian Empire in 1721. Empress Catherine "the Great" continued Peter's reforms, making the empire a great European power while conquering Central Asia, Crimea, Caucasus, much of eastern Europe.

By the late 19th century, much of the population suffered from the suppressive rule of Tsars, finally revolting in 1905. Tsar Nicolaus II, assuring that real power remained in his hands, established a so-called National Assembly. During World War I, Russia sided with France and Britain, but had to accept extreme losses against the German army. Extremely destabilized both economically and politically, the citizens forced Tsar to abdicate during the "February Revolution" of 1917, ending the monarchy. But the new provisional government decided to continue Russian involvement in the war, further worsening the situation. In October 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, who had gained massive public support by his demands of an end to war and redistribution of lands, seized power via a coup. This began the deadly Russian Civil war which was eventually won by the Bolsheviks by 1922, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

During World War II, the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, allied itself with the Western Allies against the Nazi Germany. USSR suffered the highest number of casualties during the war but eventually won the war, emerging as a global superpower. Following the war, Stalin established multiple communist states in eastern Europe, starting a Cold War against United States. The war saw multiple proxy wars, such as Korean War and Vietnam War, as well as nuclear arms and space race. The Cold War eventually ended in 1991 after the Soviet Union collapsed. The fall of the USSR affected the newly established Russian Federation greatly as it suffered from corruption and economic and social turmoil during the 1990s. However, the following decades saw Russia achieving massive economic growth and military power, though still suffering from poverty and corruption.

Missions

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

• St. Petersburg Stakeout
• Kirov Park Meeting
• Tubeway Torpedo
• Invitation to a Party
• St. Petersburg Revisited

Hitman: Contracts

• The Bjarkhov Bomb

HITMAN™ 2

• Crime and Punishment