Dr. Yuri Kiev

Real Name: Dr. Yuri Kiev

Identity/Class: Human;
    Russian;

Occupation: Scientist

Group Membership: Derenski Clinic, Project Red Guardian IV (see comments)

Affiliations: Katrinka, Red Guardian (Alexi Shostakov) android, Zamatev;
    presumably the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti/Committee for State Security)

Enemies: Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Ivan Petrovich

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Derenski Clinic, Moscova University, Moscova (Moscow), Russia

First Appearance: Black Widow: The Coldest War (1990)

Powers/Abilities: Dr. Kiev was experienced in developing androids, particulary their bionic systems; he had some limitations in developing microprocessors to make the androids function like a human.

Height: Unrevealed (based on the estimation of Katrinka at 5'4" or 5'5", he would likely be 5'2" or 5'3")
Weight: Unrevealed (estimated at 140 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown (balding) with beard

History: 
(Black Widow: The Coldest War (fb) - BTS) - Following the apparent death of the Red Guardian (Alexi Shostakov), Dr. Yuri Kiev spent 10 years working on an android replica (Kiev preferred the term man-machine") of Alexi as part of "PROJECT RED GUARDIAN IV" (see comments). Kiev believed the Russians were superior in terms of bionics, but American "microchip processing technology" remained superior to the Russians'. As a result, despite Kiev have programmed the Red Guardian android with Alexi's bio-patterns and memories, it remained of limited function.

(Black Widow: The Coldest War (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to enhance the android's activity, Kiev's allies Katrinka and Zamatev plotted to manipulate the Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff, Alexi's former wife and apparent widow at the time) into stealing SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division)'s newest Life Model Decoy master matrix chip.

(Black Widow: The Coldest War - BTS (see comments)) - Katrinka and Zamatev showed Natasha a video of Alexi from within the last 2 months, followed by films allegedly taken by Chinese troops 24 hours after Alexi's apparent demise, showing of the apparent recovery of Alexi's body and his being airlifted to Moscova (Moscow). Continued footage showed Alexi at the Derenski Clinic, receiving its full resources, with Dr. Yuri Kiev spending months rebuilding Alexi's body via countless operations (internal and skeletal reconstruction, costing millions of ruples). Alexi was allegedly restored to his previous physical condition, but he seemed largely amnesiac, with the mental development of a five year old; only his memory of Natasha seemed intact, and he constantly asked for her.

    They further told Natasha that Alexi had remained in the clinic under Dr. Kiev's care for several years, but that funding was becoming progressively limited, and that they feared for the project's (and, as a result, her husband's) termination unless she performed a small service for the Russian government, stealing a memo about a pending US trade agreement. Wishing to know the truth, the Widow agreed, but Katrinka and Zamatev recorded the theft and blackmailed her into stealing computer control chip (a large cartridge) of the master matrix for SHIELD's latest LMDs; Natasha recorded this meeting but saw the agreement through.

    <February 9, around 7 AM> - Natasha brought the control chip with her to the Derenski Clinic, where "Alexi" greeted her before destroying the detonator on her failsafe device holding the chip and stunning Natasha with a blow from his hand.

(Black Widow: The Coldest War) - Pleased with the android's performance, Katrinka complimented Kiev on the proficiency of his "golem." Kiev corrected her that the "Chilovyek machina" (man-machine in Russian) was not a golem, asking her not to demean a decade of cybernetic research with such supernatural euphemisms.

    Dr. Kiev then inserted the chip into the Red Guardian android, fully activating it. He announced the completion of Project Red Guardian IV (see comments), noting that using the bio-pattern of the actual Red Guardian and the matrix microchip, they had created the most powerful man-machine construct in the world. 

    Katrinka then ordered it to kill Natasha and Ivan. 

    As the Guardian threatened to overpower the Widow, she turned her blast on a pair of powerlines, which fell and electrocuted him, temporarly incapacitating him at 7:14 AM. Kiev yelled that the man-machine could not tolerate such an energy overload, and Katrinka called him a simpleton and told him to call the electrical substation and shut off the power.

(Black Widow: The Coldest War - BTS) - The recovered Red Guardian android caught up to the Widow and overpowered her, but she completely destroyed it by removing the matrix microchip.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and George Freeman.

    At the time this was written, the main part of the story took place in 1987, while there was an epilogue that took place in 1990, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the sliding timescale renders all of that topical, as even if we given the modern era of comics (starting with Fantastic Four I#1) 15 years, that would mean it started with 2002 as of 2017...
    Anyway, if the main story took place 8 years ago in the Marvel Universe, the first segment probably took place only 9 months before the epilogue (in line with comics coming out in 1987, as opposed to actually 3 years before the epilogue).
    At any rate, events involving the Red Guardian android would all be associated with Russia, not the USSR.
    However, it is still relevent that Fury was involved with SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division) in the main story, but that the epilogue was taking place after that incarnation's dissolution.

    Though it lacked the name in the title, this book was a Marvel Graphic Novel

    Project Red Guardian IV presumably is a reference to the fact that at the time of this story, there had been 3 characters to go by the name Red Guardian (Shostakov, Belinsky, and Petkus); within 1 year of this story, Lebedev was revealed to have pre-dated Shostakov, making the numeric designation no longer accurate, which is why I try to avoid such designations like the plague. Perhaps we could interpret this designation as the 4th such incarnation of a project to design an android, or this was the mark IV attempt...or something.

    I don't think the Red Guardian was a true LMD (Life Model Decoy). While that's an appropriate description, LMDs were a specific type of android developed by SHIELD, while the Russians designed their own android. They did use the Life Model Decoy master matrix chip/cartridge to grant if full function.

    Given that 20 or so years later in real time, the real Alexi showed up alive, it is quite possible that the flashbacks to recovering the Red Guardian from the ruins of Comrade Ling's Chinese base were factual, and the android was just a separate development...perhaps the plot of this story was in some part to throw the Black Widow off the trail of her husband's actual survival, by making the actual circumstances seem false.
    These events were:

(Black Widow: The Coldest War ("fb")) - 24 hours after the destruction of Ling's base, Chinese troops returned to the site and found the body of a badly injured but still living Alexi. Under the terms of a secret Sino-Soviet protocol, the survivor was airlifted to Moscova (Moscow). Continued footage showed Alexi at the Derenski Clinic, receiving its full resources, with Dr. Yuri Kiev spending months rebuilding Alexi's body via countless operations (internal, skeletal, and cosmetic reconstruction, costing millions of ruples). 

    Dr. Kiev dictated post-surgical report number 283, Number 283: Subject has responded well in all reconstructive surgery, internal and skeletal, as well as cosmetic. To outward appearances, he has been restored to his previous condition. Yet there remain certain psychological distortions..."
Alexi was "completely amnesiac," unaware even of his own name, "with the mental development of a five year old. "
"Only one memory remains imprinted from his former existence": 
Video footage showed Alexi repeatedly asking for Natasha, and/or asking where she was.
Alexi was allegedly restored to his previous physical condition, but he seemed largely amnesiac, with the mental development of a five year old; only his memory of Natasha seemed intact, and he constantly asked for her.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Dr. Kiev should be distinguished from:

• Chicken Kiev, which is ummy-nummy

images: (without ads)
Black Widow: The Coldest War, story pg. 18, panel 5 (face);
        pg. 49, panel 3 (mostly full body, shadowed, standing over Red Guardian android with cables);
            panel 5 (inserting chip/cartridge into android);
        pg. 50, panel 1 (with energized android);
            panel 2 (profile, upper body)

Appearances:
Black Widow: The Coldest War (1990) - Gerry Conway (writer), George Freeman (penciler), Ernie Colon, Mark Farmer, George Freeman, Mike Harris, Val Mayerik, Joe Rubinstein (inkers), Kelly P. Corverse (assistant editor), Terry Kavanaugh (editor)

First Posted: 07/12/2017
Last updated: 07/12/2017

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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