Tselinoyarsk



Tselinoyarsk, also known as the Virgin Cliffs, was a region in the south of the former Soviet Union. The area was diverse in nature, its topography including swamps, forests, canyons, mountains, and was home to an incredible array of wildlife.

Tselinoyarsk was the site of the OKB-754 and OKB-812 Design Bureaus headed by Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov and Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin, respectively, as well as the military fortress of Groznyj Grad, led by Colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin of GRU. Nuclear testing was also conducted in the area.

In August 1964, Naked Snake infiltrated Tselinoyarsk twice as part of the CIA's Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater.

Virtuous Mission
Main article

Snake's first mission in Tselinoyarsk, the Virtuous Mission, required him to infiltrate the area, rescue a defecting Dr. Sokolov, and bring him back to the United States. However, the mission ended in failure when legendary U.S. soldier The Boss defected to the Soviet Union and prevented Snake from completing his objectives. The OKB-754 Design Bureau was also destroyed by Volgin using a miniature nuclear shell. This resulted in an international controversy, which also resulted in the preparation of Operation Snake Eater. As a direct result of this incident, security also became tighter around FOX's original route, forcing them to take a route from the North Pole.

Operation Snake Eater
"Rescue Sokolov. Find out what's happened to the Shagohod - then destroy it. And finally, eliminate The Boss."

- Major Zero

A week after the Virtuous Mission, Snake was sent back into Tselinoyarsk to carry out Operation Snake Eater. His mission this time around was to eliminate both Colonel Volgin and The Boss, and ensure the destruction of the Shagohod, a nuclear weapon which Sokolov had been forced to develop. Shortly after the events of the mission, Groznyj Grad and Graniny Gorki were obliterated by The Boss using the last Davy Crockett, and the Philosopher's Legacy was also stolen.

Personnel

 * GRU
 * Colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin
 * Major Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov
 * Major Ocelot
 * Ocelot Unit
 * Johnny
 * Flame troops
 * Cobra Unit
 * The Boss
 * The Pain
 * The Fear
 * The End
 * The Fury
 * Scientists
 * Engineers
 * KGB (pre-Operation Snake Eater)

Vehicles

 * Objekt 279 tanks (at least 8)
 * Shagohod prototype (1)
 * Hind A helicopters (at least 9)
 * Flying platforms
 * MiG-21 &quot;Fishbed&quot;
 * Maz-535 heavy trucks
 * Bartini Beriev VVA-14 &quot;WIG&quot; (at least 6)
 * Motorcycles
 * ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns
 * Forklifts
 * BTR-152s (at least 9)

===Weapons under R&D ===
 * C3
 * M1911A1
 * Mk.22 &quot;Hush Puppy&quot;
 * XM16E1
 * M63
 * M37
 * Claymore mines
 * M2 flamethrower
 * Stun grenades
 * Smoke grenades
 * Chaff grenades

Wildlife
Main article

Flora

 * Baikal Scaly Tooth
 * Fly Agaric (native to Tselinoyarsk)
 * Golova (native to Tselinoyarsk)
 * Russian False Mango (native to Tselinoyarsk)
 * Russian Glowcap
 * Russian Oyster Mushrooms
 * Siberian Ink Cap
 * Spatsa
 * Ural Luminescent
 * Vine Melon
 * Yabloko Moloko

Fauna

 * Alexandrine Parakeet
 * Arowana
 * Bigeye Trevally
 * Cobalt Blue Tarantula
 * Coral Snake
 * Emperor Scorpion
 * European Rabbit
 * Giant Anaconda
 * Green Tree Python
 * Indian Gavial (transported to Tselinoyarsk for lab testing, but escaped captivity)
 * Japanese Flying Squirrel
 * Kenyan Mangrove Crab
 * King Cobra
 * Les Enfant Terribles
 * Magpie
 * Markhor
 * Maroon Shark
 * Milk Snake
 * Otton Frog
 * Poison Dart Frog
 * Rat
 * Reticulated Python
 * Red Avadavat
 * Sunda Whistling-Thrush
 * Taiwanese Cobra
 * Thai Cobra
 * Tree Frog
 * Tsuchinoko
 * Vampire Bat
 * White-Rumped Vulture

Trivia
The English name "The Virgin Cliffs" is derived from the Russian words Tselina meaning "virgin soil" or "uncultivated land," and Yar meaning "precipice," with sk as a suffix.

Alternative history
Tselinoyarsk would later become known as Zanzibar Land, the nation that was granted independence from the Soviet Union by Big Boss.

Behind the scenes
In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, it was implied that Tselinoyarsk was located in present-day Tajikistan, which lies adjacent to Pakistan, separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. However, the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database states that it was in the southeast of the Soviet Union. Director Hideo Kojima also indicated that the trajectory of the Combat Talon, while traveling to Tselinoyarsk, was either from China in the East or from Asia in the South.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater