Soviet soldiers

Within the Soviet Union's military (namely the Red Army), various soldiers did various gruntwork within various military operations and bases.

History
As early as 1964, several Soviet soldiers, including Jonathan, were deployed to the San Hieronymo Peninsula in Colombia to develop a missile base there, after failing to create a missile base at Cuba two years earlier due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. In addition to developing the missile base, the Soviet soldiers also aided the Marxist revolutionary group FARC to wage battles against Colombia's then-current regime. Although toiling in their efforts to complete the missile base for the sake of the Soviet Union, they had suffered greatly, due to their suffering from meager meals, an unbearable climate, and were dying from diseases such as malaria, as well as during combat operations alongside FARC.

By the late 1960s, late 1970, the soldiers and other personnel, however, were forced to remain at the base (whose construction was cancelled) by the Kremlin, with their supplies and communications cut off due to the Kremlin wanting to leave the impression that the Soviet base was made by renegade soldiers in the event that the base was discovered by the West. The soldiers were left with little morale until the FOX Unit led by Gene arrived at the peninsula and took it over for Army's Heaven, which they willingly joined to end the abuse of soldiers. However, Big Boss managed to recruit several of the soldiers to his side, including Jonathan, to put a stop to Gene's plans, especially when information implicated the use of a stolen weapon, the ICBMG, against the Soviet Union. At least one soldier ended up hospitalized due to becoming injured from construction/repair work at a heliport at the research lab. In addition, when Big Boss was suspected to be in the area, several Soviet soldiers conducted a search, and only missed him due to Elisa's interference. Several of these soldiers ended up killed late into the mission, with the ones at the Plant being forced by Gene to commit mass-riot suicide via his hypnotic voice (which had earlier been supplied to him as a result of the Successor Project), and the ones at the power substation being slaughtered by the then-recently escaped Perfect Soldier, Null.

In late 1974, several Soviet soldiers were aligned with the KGB officer Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov, and took over an American Missile Base in Nicaragua, with the intention of stealing an advanced American-made self-defense weapon. In addition, to ensure the completion of their goals, they also feigned cooperation with the CIA-based mercenary group Peace Sentinel's leader, Central American Station Chief Hot Coldman, until they had the opportunity to enact their goals. Several of these soldiers were wiped out by the Militaires Sans Frontières and the Sandinista Liberation Front, the latter of whom ironically were molded by Zadornov into an effective guerilla group. The surviving soldiers eventually ended up joining MSF in the aftermath.

Uniform
In late 1970, the Soviet soldiers wore a visor-type balaclava, brown fatigues (which varied between long-sleeves and short-sleeves) with a striped shirt underneath, black boots, and at times a magazine vest or harness.

In late 1974, the Soviet soldiers wore eyehole-type balaclavas with ballistic visors to deter gunfire, a black bulletproof vest, a red armband representing the Soviet Union, a beige undershirt, brown pants and black boots.

Behind the scenes
Soviet soldiers were soldiers that appeared in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, which acted as the main enemies for several stages. There are four soldiers types within the Soviet soldier character class, not counting Jonathan. In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus, in addition to the aforementioned personnel, female variants of the Soviet soldiers are also present. Their voiced grunts when choked, hit, or knocked out are revoiced, but the overall dialogue are reused voice clips of the female Soviet officers. Unlike their male counterparts, they lack a balaclava, and have brown, black, or blond hair. In addition, they also sometimes remove their brown jacket uniforms, citing it as either having it laundered, lost, or thrown away. The jacketless varieties bear some resemblance to Olga Gurlukovich.

"A soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy led his government to abandon him, leaving he and his fellow soldiers stranded. Wears his shirt sleeves rolled up."

- USSR male soldier A description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A policy shift caused his government to abandon him, and he and his comrades are now stranded. Doesn't wear his shirt sleeves rolled up."

- USSR male soldier B description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy caused his government to abandon him, and he and his fellow soldiers are now stranded. Wears a magazine vest, and his shirt sleeves rolled up."

- USSR male soldier C description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A policy shift saw his government's abandoning him and his fellow soldiers, leaving them stranded far from home. Wears a magazine vest, but hates having his shirt sleeves rolled up."

- USSR male soldier D description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A female soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy caused her government to abandon her, leaving she and her fellow soldiers stranded. An bookworm."

- USSR female soldier A description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A female soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy caused her government to abandon her, stranding she and her fellow soldiers. Loves animals."

- USSR female soldier B description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A female soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top secret mission. A policy shift caused her government to abandon her, and she and her fellow soldiers are now stranded. Refuses to show her forehead."

- USSR female soldier C description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A female soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy caused her government to abandon her, and she and her fellow soldiers are now stranded. Her jacket is in the laundry."

- USSR female soldier D description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A female soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy caused her government to abandon her, leaving she and her fellow soldiers stranded. She's misplaced her jacket."

- USSR female soldier E description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A female soldier in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. A shift in policy caused her government to abandon her, and now she and her fellow soldiers are stranded. She threw away her jacket."

- USSR female soldier F description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

The Soviet soldiers also reappear in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, although with a redesigned uniform.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker