Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov

Ramón Gálvez Mena, real name Vladimir Alexandovich Zadornov, was an intelligence operative for the KGB, who secretly assisted in the development of the Peace Walker Project.

Early life and career
At some point in his life, Vladimir Zadornov lost his right hand during a KGB mission. Afterwards, he was awarded both a medal from the Security-General of the Soviet Union and an advanced prosthetic hand that had the ability to produce a flame so he could light cigars and/or cigarettes. However, he had to quit smoking after it ruined his lungs, so he barely had a use for it. Sometime later, Zadornov departed for Costa Rica on a KGB mission to conquer Costa Rica so that the Cold War would end with the Soviets winning. Zadornov later assumed the identity of "Ramón Gálvez Mena," a professor of the yet-to-be-sanctioned University for Peace, who had been teaching about peace since the 1950s, and had fought repeatedly to have the university officially sanctioned.

In 1974, Zadornov and fellow KGB operative, Paz Ortega Andrade, traveled to Colombia to meet with the Militaires Sans Frontieres, posing as Professor Gálvez and his student. He explained to them that a security company had arrived in Costa Rica and was engaging in suspicious activities. When Naked Snake (Big Boss) asked if they were rebels who had fled from Nicaragua, he stated that they weren't as the force was far too organized to be a guerilla group. He explained that the force claimed that they were an international security assessing company hired by the Costa Rican government, but he stated that they couldn't be that, as they were shipping in tons of the latest equipment by the shipload. He feared that the CIA was responsible.

Gálvez asked the Militaires Sans Frontieres to help remove the invasion force from Costa Rica, offering them an offshore production facility in the carribean sea as a forwarding base in exchange for their help (as well as a chopper for transport). While Kazuhira Miller seemed willing to go with the offer, Snake was reluctant to participate, as he didn't want his unit to become a pack of "Dogs of War" and tells Gálvez that force is most likely not going to do any good, so he might need to do a diplomatic solution, even suggesting to him that he tell the Costa Rican government that he can offer a negotiator that he knew to help them settle the dispute. Gálvez reveals that he never came on the Government's orders, and then explans Paz's history as well as her capture by the same force after she stumbled upon their supply port. He eventually gets Snake to agree to partake in the mission by stating that he knew Snake's true identity as Big Boss.

After some discussion, Big Boss and Miller realized that Gálvez was actually a KGB agent, and that allying with him would actually result in their making enemies with America. When talking it over, Gálvez explained that the Russians were interested in Costa Rica due to its strategic value, which could be used to conquer Central America, and thus split America into two. It would also disrupt all economic productions and shipping lanes towards America. For the Soviets, it would mean gaining a base from which all of Latin America would be in their grasp, starting with Nicaragua.

However, Gálvez's reason for hiring the MSF was not to aid them in taking out the CIA's stronghold in Costa Rica: other than disrupting the Soviet's efforts to help the Sandinistas transform Nicaragua into a socialist state, the CIA were planning something else in the region. He wanted Big Boss and the MSF to investigate the facility in which Paz was imprisoned, explaining that her being captured at least was true, and he, until tonight, had hidden his affiliation with the KGB from her.

Gálvez then showed them a casette tape that Paz's friend had recorded accidentally while birdwatching, who had also been captured during their escape from the facility. Playing back the tape, the recording featured The Boss's voice. Gálvez considered burning the tape if Big Boss wasn't going to accept the mission, but Big Boss decided to do it after the shock of hearing his former mentor's voice. Gálvez then spent the remainder of the mission secretly observing Big Boss and his unit's progression.

In reality, Zadornov had allied himself with CIA Station Chief Hot Coldman, leader of the Peace Sentinels, by providing the money and technology while Coldman provided the land. However, he feigned cooperation so that as Coldman was busy making peparations for Peace Walker's only launch, he would covertly seize the U.S. missile base in Nicaragua. Zadornov turned on Coldman just as he was preparing to input false data into Peace Walker's AI, placing the MSF's Mother Base at a retalitory launch trajectory. He then decided to change Peace Walker's target to Cuba; the launch from the U.S. missile base at one of the Soviet Union's biggest allies, would cause anti-American sentiment to spread globally, thus allowing the Soviets to win the Cold War.

Zadornov then tried to have Paz kill Coldman with his gun, referring to what he did to her on the base near the coast. However, despite her anger towards him for what he did, she simply could not commit the murder. Instead, he shot Coldman, although he deliberately missed shooting him in the head so that he could acquire the access code from him, as he can't input the launch code if Coldman died. Gálvez then contacted Strangelove telling her to change the false data targeting system to Cuba, and threatened that he'll kill her as well as her &quot;beloved&quot; if she doesn't comply. He then explains to Big Boss the true reason why he hired the Militaires Sans Frontieres: he planned to manipulate Big Boss to do all the work in helping the FSLN in their revolution so that Coldman would end up launching Peace Walker, allowing him easy access to it without dirtying his hands as an intelligence officer. He then planned to kill Big Boss as his usefulness had come to an end, remarking that, like The Boss before him, he was nothing more than a fraud.

However, the FSLN group led by Amanda Valenciano Libre ended up overtaking their former KGB allies and saving Big Boss and ended up being placed under arrest by the MSF. When Coldman decided to activate Peace Walker in his dying breaths, Zadornov was extremely horrified at the result.

After Coldman's death and Peace Walker's "self destruction," Vladimir Zadornov was placed in a cell onboard Mother Base, as well as implanted with a tracking device. However, Zadornov managed to escape due to cutting a hole in his cell door using his prosthetic hand, although he didn't get very far before being recovered by the MSF, to which they removed the red hand to ensure he didn't escape. However, despite this, he still managed to escape from his cell several more times thanks to Paz and served as a distraction to Big Boss and MSF while Paz made modifications to MSF's nuclear-armed Metal Gear ZEKE in order to gain control of it. During his last escape attempt, Zadornov waited at the shooting gallery for Big Boss. When Big Boss went up to the second floor, Zadornov attempted to gun Big Boss down, forcing Big Boss to shoot him out of self-defense. After cryptically remarking that his "job here is done," Zadornov made a last ditch effort to kill Big Boss by launching his prosthetic arm (posed in a Peace/V for Victory sign) at Big Boss, only for it to impact harmlessly against the railing. Zadornov then died. Paz later revealed herself to be a triple agent who had been operating under the orders of Cipher. Following Paz's defeat, Big Boss retrieved Zadornov's prosthetic hand and used it as a cigar lighter.

Trivia

 * Gálvez enjoyed drinking Costa Rican coffee.
 * Zadornov's first name, Vladimir, is Russian for "Ruler of Peace."
 * Zadornov possessed a mechanical right hand like Doctor Julius No in the James Bond film Dr. No.

Behind the scenes
Vladimir Zadornov serves as one of the main antagonists of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Due to his assistance of Cipher agent Pacifica Ocean in ZEKE's hijacking, it is commonly assumed that he is also a member of the organization. However, the game does not make clear the characters' relationship to one another, beyond their common affiliation with the KGB.

Gálvez's English voice actor, Steven Blum, is the voice actor of Gene in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Coincidentally, his partner Paz Ortega Andrade is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voiced an accomplice to Gene.

Zadornov is the second person in the Metal Gear series, after Ocelot, to refer to Big Boss by his real name, "John." Similarly, both Zadornov and Ocelot worked for the KGB and are of Russian descent.

Gameplay
Although Zadornov was never actually recruited into MSF and thus not usable on Mother Base, his stats were included in his profile.