Despite the efforts of the U.S. Marine Corps and British Special Air Service in the previous game, the Ultranationalists seize control of Russia, and declare Imran Zakhaev a hero and martyr, erecting a statue of him in the heart of Red Square. This strains diplomatic relations with the United States. Meanwhile, Vladimir Makarov, one of Zakhaev's former lieutenants, begins a campaign of revenge for his death, by committing acts of terrorism over the course of five years