Yuri (Modern Warfare) (2024)

For other uses, see Yuri.

"Zakhaev never forgot what we did for him that day. Our reward was power, but power corrupts."

— Yuri explaining his and Makarov's reward for saving Imran Zakhaev to John Price.

Commander Yuri (Russian: Юрий) was a Russian Loyalist, playable character, and one of the two protagonists in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and also appeared in Call of Duty: Heroes. He was an ex-Spetsnaz operative who served in Nikolai's Loyalist Army and was considered to be his best man. He played an important role during the Ultranationalist crisis before, during and after World War III. He was also a close friend of Vladimir Makarov while serving in the Ultranationalists and his former right-hand man. Both of them saved Imran Zakhaev's life in Chernobyl in 1996 and are present during the bomb detonation that killed the 30,000 Marines. After he betrayed Makarov during the airport massacre, he served with the Loyalists and the Task Force 141 disavowed soldiers named John Price and John "Soap" MacTavish. However, Yuri was killed by Makarov in a joint effort between him and Price to kill Makarov to avenge Soap's death.

Biography[]

Early life[]

"I was young... and patriotic... when I first met Vladimir Makarov... "

— Yuri, about his past as a former Ultranationalist.

Not much was known about Yuri until the revelations in Prague. It was known that Yuri served in the Spetsnaz and was (As he described himself at the time) "young and patriotic" during the 1990s. His idealism caught the interest of Imran Zakhaev and Vladimir Makarov, eventually befriending him. Yuri served in the Ultranationalist Party by primarily escorting Makarov throughout the crisis.

In 1996, Yuri and Makarov are in one of the vehicles during Zakhaev's attempted arms deal exchange in Pripyat, Ukraine. After Lieutenant John Price's assassination attempt on Zakhaev, Yuri and Makarov helped escort Zakhaev after his left arm was severed. 15 years later, during Khaled Al-Asad's coup d'état in the Middle East, Yuri was standing next to Makarov when he detonated the nuclear device on Al-Asad's orders to level the city, killing thirty thousand U.S. Marines. However, the events that Yuri experienced made him uneasy about his affiliation with the Ultranationalists.

Defection and Going into Hiding[]

"I know what you have done, Yuri. I know what you have told them. My friend. My ally. My betrayer. What happens here today, will change the world forever. Nothing can stop this. Not even you."

— Makarov confronts Yuri about betraying him before the massacre at the Zakhaev International Airport.

When Yuri learned about Makarov's plans to conduct a massacre at Zakhaev International Airport, Yuri attempted to stop it by alerting the FSB. However, Makarov learned about Yuri's betrayal and shot him in the process, leaving him for dead. A wounded Yuri attempted to pursue Makarov's team and intervene, but passed out from blood loss, being treated by the paramedics that arrived on the scene. This was one of the events that drove Yuri to have a strong hatred of Makarov and contributed to joining the Loyalists.

Pursuing Makarov[]

After Price, Soap and Nikolai arrived at the Loyalist safehouse in Himachal Pradesh, India, Yuri was introduced to Price under dangerous circ*mstances. Soap was badly wounded and needed evacuation from the safehouse after Makarov's men launched an attack on the safehouse. Yuri aided Price and Nikolai in treating Soap's injuries as well as facilitating their extraction out of the country. Having knowledge of Makarov's patterns, but not revealing his true nature to the pair, Yuri pointed the possible locations out that Makarov would go to and the location of Makarov's arms deals in Sierra Leone as well as speculating Makarov's security detail. Yuri helped facilitate the relaying of intelligence acquired from his missions with Soap and Price to their allies until getting their lead on his location in Prague.

Revelations[]

"Zakhaev never forgot what we did for him that day. Our reward was power, but power corrupts. Thousands of souls...extinguished...by the push of a button. This wasn't war, it was madness! I was a soldier of Russia, not a taker of innocent lives! But in his eyes, this marked me as the enemy."

— Yuri tells Price about his relationship with Makarov in "Blood Brothers".

Acting on the intelligence given by Team Metal, Price, Soap, Yuri and Sgt. Kamarov organized a local resistance to facilitate their infiltration for the Hotel Lustig. Yuri spent the majority of the mission partnered up with Soap, providing support for Price in the cover of a church overlooking the Hotel Lustig. However, the assassination mission went south with Makarov having suspected Yuri's presence (Mainly because Soap saw Makarov looking right at him). Makarov said to Yuri over the radio uplink, "Yuri, my friend. You never should have come here" before detonating the bombs on Price, Soap and Yuri. Soap pushed Yuri out of a window to save him and Soap caught on to Makarov's knowledge of Yuri. Yuri aided Price in rushing Soap to a nearby building only for Soap to reveal Makarov's knowledge of Yuri to Price seconds before his death.

Enraged, Price punched Yuri down a flight of stairs and threatened to kill him before Yuri revealed his former allegiance to the Ultranationalists. Yuri and Makarov are both close friends and witnesses to the assassination attempt on Imran Zakhaev and the nuclear bomb in Al-Asad's capital city. Immediately before the Zakhaev International Airport massacre, Makarov had Yuri at his mercy after discovering that Yuri who did not believe in the mission betrayed them by attempting to alert the FSB. Makarov shot Yuri and left him to die and a wounded Yuri pursued Makarov and his men with a dead guard's P99 in a desperate attempt to kill Makarov and halt the massacre before collapsing from trauma and blood loss and a nearby medic was able to save him. Convinced of his regret, Price reluctantly kept his alliance with Yuri.

Redemption[]

Yuri gave Price the location of a potential headquarters located in a fortress in Prague. However, during their infiltration, they found intelligence that Makarov's men found Russian President Boris Vorshevsky's daughter, Alena, hiding in Berlin instead. The pair relayed the intelligence to Team Metal shortly after the base's destruction. Despite Team Metal's efforts, Alena was kidnapped and tracked to a diamond mine in Siberia which was serving as one of Makarov's main tactical bases. At this point, Price and Yuri conducted a joint operation with Team Metal in saving the Vorshevskys. They are successful in the extraction, but Team Metal perished in the process from the collapsing of the mine, facilitating a wounded Yuri's extraction. Despite this, Yuri and Price's efforts ensured the peace talks between the United States, Russia and NATO.

Death[]

Despite the end of the war, Yuri accompanied Price in the Arabian Peninsula after having successfully tracked Makarov down in the Hotel Oasis. Yuri got impaled by a piece of debris when a helicopter obliterated a part of the hotel. As Price moved to help him, he told Price to continue the mission without him. Yuri managed to free himself and staggered to the rooftop in time to save Price from Makarov's execution. He wounded Makarov in the left shoulder, but was gunned down by Makarov with two shots to the chest and a third to the head. Angered by the loss of another friend, Price took advantage of the distraction by beating Makarov down and eventually killed him by hanging him from the rooftop of the Hotel Oasis.

Call of Duty: Heroes[]

He also appeared in Call of Duty: Heroes as a Hero unit, unlocked after completing the South America Campaign.

Battle Aura: Increase HP by 5%

Killstreaks: UAV, EMP Grenade, EMP Artillery

Statue: 100 Celerium

Quotes[]

• "Thousands of souls extinguished by the push of a button."
• "This wasn't war. It was madness."
• "I was a soldier of Russia, not a taker of innocent lives. But in his eyes, this marked me as the enemy."
• "Leave me! Don't let him get away!" -Last words

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

• In "Persona Non Grata" when the player takes control of the UGV, the player can see Yuri on the laptop. Oddly, he uses the model of Kamarov on all versions except for the Wii version, where he properly uses his from Dust to Dust.
• He appears in the Remastered version of "One Shot, One Kill", where Makarov talks to him the same way he did in the "Blood Brothers" flashback, and killing him gives the player a "Friendly fire will not be tolerated" message.
• In "Blood Brothers", during the flashback to the Zakhaev International Airport Massacre, several Russian Mafia tattoos can be seen on his hands. These tattoos include finger rings, and a cross on one of his knuckles, indicating that he served at least seven years in prison.
• Yuri is the only person in the game to whom Makarov shows some kind of affection/friendship (out of his loyalty to Zakhaev). But because of his betrayal, Makarov shows neither hesitation nor remorse in shooting him.
• Just like Makarov and Yuri appeared in Modern Warfare Remastered as an easter egg, Yuri appears once again in Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, just as depicted in his Modern Warfare 3’s flashback scene. He spawns the moment the second airport security officer ambushes Makarov and his team. If the player gets to him quick enough, he can be seen stumbling, firing a silent shot, and then collapsing as a result of his wounds. If the player is late, they will simply find him passed out. He'll remain laying in the security check at the beginning of the level after the player heads back over there from later on in the level, knocked out from the gunshot wound Makarov inflicted upon him.
  • If he is shot or flashed, Yuri will stand up and reload his pistol, an M1911, but won't do anything else.
  • Attacking Yuri excessively will lead to a "friendly fire will not be tolerated" screen.
  • In the original flashback in Modern Warfare 3, Yuri used a P99, not an M1911. The M1911 appears briefly in that game, but is not usable.
  • He reloads the M1911 like an assault rifle; he also holds the gun awkwardly close to his chest.
  • The player can "move" Yuri through bumping him into him in a direction they'd like him to be (since friendly AI are automatically programmed to adjust if the player bumps them). Using this tactic, the player can literally "move" Yuri far enough to where he's literally standing in front of Makarov's men (who according to the story, just had him shot moments before).
    • Makarov and his men won't respond to Yuri even if the player drags him right in front of them.
    • If the player "blows his cover" (either by waiting too long or by firing at Makarov), Makarov and his team will shoot through Yuri to hit the player, if the player tries to take cover behind Yuri.
• In Modern Warfare Remastered, Yuri's model is the same one used in Modern Warfare 3. However, in Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, Yuri gets an updated model to match with the primary characters.

References[]