- "This is not how I die. This is not how it happens."
- ―Vladimir Ranskahov
The Assassination of Vladimir Ranskahov was the hunt for the last surviving leader of the Russian Mafia, Vladimir Ranskahov planned by Wilson Fisk and executed by the corrupt NYPD officers.
Background
- "The Ranskahovs are no longer a part of our organization.
"Since when?
"Since I removed Anatoly's head with my car door." - ―Wilson Fisk and Leland Owlsley
In a fit of rage, Wilson Fisk killed Anatoly Ranskahov after he interrupted his date with Vanessa Marianna. Fisk used this to his advantage, arranging for Anatoly's body to be found by his brother Vladimir Ranskahov with a black mask with it, implicating the Masked Man in his murder.
Having been paid off by Fisk, Turk Barrett told Vladimir that the Masked Man was working with Fisk. A vengeful Vladimir told his men that they would kill Fisk at the first opportunity. Russian Mafia members congregated in their strongholds to get ready to strike, and Madame Gao sent suicide bombers into each of them, killing most of them. Vladimir, however, managed to escape, badly wounded.
The Masked Man sought out Vladimir to try to get information about Fisk from him, but they were interrupted by police officers on Fisk's payroll, who had orders to kill anyone who survived the bombings.[6]
The Masked Man was able to subdue the police officers and took Vladimir to an Abandoned Building.[7]
Attack
The Masked Man lights a flare to burn Vladimir Ranskahov's wound
- "Why all that with planting the mask, why not blow him up from the start if that's what you were gonna do?"
"It takes time to arrange something like this and help from friends. We needed to keep Vladimir off balance until everything was in place." - ―Turk Barrett and James Wesley
Matt Murdock, in his black mask, tried to interrogate Vladimir Ranskahov about Wilson Fisk, but he refused to answer any of his questions. When Murdock realized how bad Ranskahov's injuries were, he called Claire Temple, who talked him through stabilizing him.
The Masked Man leaves Vladimir Ranskahov behind
Ranskahov still refused to give Murdock any information, even after his heart stopped and Murdock used CPR to revive him. When Fisk spoke to Murdock through a pair of police radios, he offered him the chance to escape if he killed Ranskahov. When Murdock refused, Ranskahov helped Murdock escape into tunnels below the building. Ranskahov, knowing that cops corrupted by Fisk were coming to kill him, decided to make his last stand here while Murdock escaped. But before Murdock left, he told him the name of Fisk's money man: Leland Owlsley. Holding a gun, he waited for Fisk's men while singing an old Russian song. As Murdock escaped, Fisk's men killed him.[7]
Aftermath
- "What happened to the Russians, we need to be careful, all of us. I look out for you, you look out for me, all I'm saying."
"Each man must stand for himself, or fall with the unworthy." - ―Leland Owlsley and Nobu Yoshioka
With the Ranskahov brothers out of the way, Wilson Fisk's men took over distribution of Madame Gao's heroin, and the profits that should have been split five ways were now split into four, going to Fisk, Gao, Nobu Yoshioka, and Leland Owlsley.[6]
References
- â Daredevil Season One takes place before Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015)
- â Karen Page states in Into the Ring that since the Battle of New York, "The last two years have transformed the business (Union Allied Construction)," referring, now that it is the beginning of 2015.
- â Reconstruction of New York City began on November 2012.
- â Union Allied plans for Spring 2015. The panels are before the events of Daredevil Season One.
- â WHiH World News post on January 23, 2015.
- â 6.0 6.1 Daredevil: 1.05: World on Fire
- â 7.0 7.1 Daredevil: 1.06: Condemned
