- "Someday, it's gonna come down to you or the other guy. If it's not Fisk, somebody else. What're you gonna do then?"
"Yeah, a Russian asshole asked me the same thing recently right before he died." - ―Stick and Matt Murdock[src]
The Assassination of Vladimir Ranskahov was a manhunt organized by Wilson Fisk to murder the last surviving leader of the Russian Mafia in Hell's Kitchen. Fisk sent an order to the New York City Police Department officers on his payroll to find and kill Vladimir Ranskahov, however, he ended up in the protection of the Masked Man.
Background[]
- "Take what's left of him and send it to his brother."
"It'll start a war."
"I'm counting on it." - ―Wilson Fisk and James Wesley[src]
Vladimir Ranskahov refuses James Wesley's offer
Led by Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov, the Russian Mafia worked closely with Wilson Fisk and his criminal syndicate, handling the distribution of Madame Gao's Steel Serpent heroin among other things. However, their business was severely impacted by the emergence of the Masked Man, to which Fisk and James Wesley proposed the Russian Mafia an assistance, which Vladimir recognized as a takeover attempt. He was certain that the Russian Mafia can and must take down the Masked Man on their own and decided to extract some information from Semyon who was comatose after a run-in with the vigilante.
Vladimir and Anatoly forcefully woke Semyon up and found out that Claire Temple was with the vigilante, when Semyon followed his trail and got caught. The Russian Mafia abducted and tortured Temple, demanding her to reveal the Masked Man's identity, even though she did not know. However, the Masked Man tracked them down at Veles Taxi Garage and took out every gang member present, rescuing Temple and fleeing. Because of their failure, Anatoly insisted that they should take Fisk on his offer and get their affairs in order, to which Vladimir begrudgingly agreed and told Anatoly to see Fisk on their behalf. However, when Anatoly found Fisk and told him that the Russian Mafia accepts his offer, he accidentally ruined his date with Vanessa Marianna, to Fisk's utter displeasure.
Wilson Fisk murders Anatoly Ranskahov
Fisk responded by murdering Anatoly and cutting his head with his car door, ordering Wesley to deliver his remains to Vladimir, even though it would led to a full-scale war.[4] Fisk had no qualms about it, since he started viewing the Russian Mafia as a liability and proposed his associates that they would get rid of them and let Fisk handle the distribution, while they would split the profits evenly. Vladimir was horrified and heartbroken at a loss of his brother but as he saw a black mask on his body that Fisk had planted, he assumed that the Masked Man was responsible. He rounded up his men and ordered to find the Masked Man, putting a bounty on his head, while Fisk was preparing behind the scenes to bring down the Russian Mafia for good.
Vladimir Ranskahov survives the bombings
On Fisk's orders, Turk Barrett approached Vladimir and tipped him that Fisk might be involved in Anatoly's death, prompting Vladimir to prepare his men for the war. As the Russian Mafia members concentrated at their locations around Hell's Kitchen, Fisk sent some of Madame Gao's couriers there, with explosives in their backpacks. They detonated the explosives and caused a series of explosions that tore down the locations and killed dozens of the Russian Mafia members. Vladimir and Sergei barely survived the explosion, and although Vladimir was heavily injured, he was hellbent on making Fisk and the Masked Man pay for what they had done.[5]
Assassination[]
Corbin threatens Masked Man
- "It's a one-time offer. You kill the Russian, and we'll call the night a push. You know what he's done to women, to children... To the people of this city that you claim to care about. But do you know how much he enjoyed it?"
"You just confirmed how important he is. That must worry you, what he might tell me." - ―Wilson Fisk and Masked Man[src]
As they were getting out of the wreckage of their hideout, Vladimir Ranskahov and Sergei got ambushed by the Masked Man who was following the trail and got caught in the explosion as well. Ranskahov attempted to shoot him down but missed, so the Masked Man attacked him and beat him up, right before the New York City Police Department arrived and ordered all three to stand down and surrender.[5] Holding the men at the gunpoint, Corbin attempted to cuff them up, while telling his fellow officers that Wilson Fisk gave them orders to leave no survivors. Realizing that the officers were corrupt, the Masked Man fought them off and ran away with an unconscious Ranskahov who got shot by Corbin, while Sergei was executed.
Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman look for survivors
James Wesley reported to Fisk that Corbin failed and Ranskahov was on the run with the Masked Man, which he found extremely problematic as Madame Gao trusted him to control the situation. Fisk gave the orders to the police officers on his payroll to finish their job and execute any remaining Russian Mafia members, with Ranskahov's death being a priority. Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman led the efforts, checking the Russian Mafia's destroyed hideout and finding Ivan under the rubble. While he begged for help, Blake demanded Ivan to speak up on where they could find Ranskahov, but when they confirmed that the knew nothing, Blake shot him down and resumed the search.
Masked Man treats Vladimir Ranskahov's wound
Escaping from the police, the Masked Man holed up at an Abandoned Building, while Ranskahov continued hurling insults and threats at him, vowing to get revenge for his brother. The Masked Man insisted that he had nothing to do with that, asking Ranskahov to speak up about Fisk so he could make him pay, but Ranskahov refused to cooperate. As he lost his consciousness and started to succumb to the bullet wound, the Masked Man reached out to Claire Temple and asked for her help with getting Ranskahov medical aid. Temple was not thrilled to provide help to the man who had her kidnapped and tortured but helped the Masked Man to cauterize his wound with a flare, which caused Ranskahov immense pain.
Ranskahov's screams were picked up by Sullivan who was patrolling the area and entered the building, while reporting to the station about a potential disturbance. As he checked the area, Sullivan spotted an unconscious Ranskahov lying on the floor and told him to put his hands up, but before he could alert anyone, the Masked Man attacked him from behind and subdued him. With Sullivan captured, the Masked Man confirmed that he was an honest officer who was on active duty for only two months, and told Sullivan to call the station and tell them that the everything is clear. Sullivan pretended to agree and as soon as he got his radio back, he requested a backup before the Masked Man knocked him out.
Acting on Sullivan's tip, the police secured the perimeter, with Blake and Hoffman taking the reigns and claiming that they were dealing with a hostage situation. Wesley informed Fisk about what was happening, adding that Ben Urich was also present and it could create a complication, given his involvement in the Union Allied Construction scandal. Fisk then devised a plan on how to turn the situation in his favor, ordering Wesley to reach out to their contacts in the media. Meanwhile, Ranskahov talked to the Masked Man about how Fisk approached the Russian Mafia and the benefits their cooperation used to bring. The Masked Man wanted names, to which Ranskahov implied that he knew about the man who was managing the finances of Fisk's entire syndicate.
Wilson Fisk talks to the Masked Man
However, instead of telling his name, Ranskahov attacked the Masked Man and in their struggle, both of them fell three floors down through the floorboards. As he woke up, the Masked Man promptly resuscitated Ranskahov whose heart was close to giving up and started looking for a way out as the ESU team was pulling up and preparing to storm the building. Suddenly, Fisk reached out to the Masked Man via Sullivan's radio and the two talked about their views on what New York City needed the most. Fisk proposed the Masked Man to kill Ranskahov so he could walk away freely, claiming that he deserved to die for all the people he had hurt, but the Masked Man recognized that Fisk was concerned that Ranskahov could talk.
Christian Blake gets shot
The Masked Man said that he will find Fisk and bring him down, but Fisk had no concerns about that and proceeded to get his plan moving. The ESU Sniper who was paid off by Fisk and took the position on the rooftop opened fire at the police officers on the scene, killing Pinski and severely injuring Blake, while releasing the footage of the Masked Man fighting the police to the media. As a result, the public was led to believe that the Masked Man was a terrorist, responsible for the bombings and the attacks on the police, as Fisk wanted to make sure that nobody would follow his example after his death. As ESU officers were closing in on them, the Masked Man and Ranskahov retreated to the sewers under the building, while the officers murdered Sullivan and claimed that he was dead before their arrival.
Vladimir Ranskahov decides to stay behind
Fighting through some of the officers, the Masked Man saw Ranskahov picked up a gun and aiming it at him, to which he said that there were more armed men coming so they did not have time for more squabble. However, Ranskahov told the Masked Man that he is planning to stay and hold the ESU off, giving the Masked Man time to get out alive. He claimed that even if he testifies, Fisk's influence over the police and the justice system would render it useless, telling the Masked Man that the only way to stop someone like Fisk was to kill him. The Masked Man insisted that he was no killer, and Ranskahov giving him the name of Leland Owlsley, before staying behind and dying in the shootout with the ESU, while the Masked Man made it out of the area.[6]
Aftermath[]
Masked Man attacks Leland Owlsley
- "He knows who I am. He found me once, he'll do it again."
"I'll move you someplace safe until it's resolved. I'll put six men on you."
"Make it a dozen. If he drops me off a roof, an awful lot of money is going along for the ride." - ―Leland Owlsley and Wilson Fisk[src]
In the wake of the incident, the press labeled the Masked Man a terrorist and a cop killer, with the public largely convinced that he was responsible for bombings in Hell's Kitchen. Despite that, the vigilante continued his pursuit and used Vladimir Ranskahov's lead to track down Leland Owlsley, ambushing him after a meeting with Nobu Yoshioka. Although Owlsley pleaded that he was a simple Silver & Brent employee, the Masked Man demanded him to speak up about Wilson Fisk, however, Stick's sudden appearance gave Owlsley a chance to tase the vigilante and retreat.[7] In response, Fisk increased Owlsley's personal security and even provided him with an armored suit made by Melvin Potter, but Owlsley was still displeased that Fisk allowed the Masked Man get this close to him.
Wilson Fisk orders Carl Hoffman to kill Christian Blake
Meanwhile, Fisk was facing a problem of a different kind as Christian Blake survived being shot and woke up from his coma, although he was still unable to speak. Fisk and James Wesley knew that after they had Blake shot, he would have all the reasons to turn against them, so they decided to eliminate him before he gets to leak any information. Due to his room at Metro-General Hospital being heavily guarded, Fisk enlisted Carl Hoffman as he was their only associate with an access. Hoffman was hesitant since Blake was his close friend and he was not at fault that the Masked Man attacked him and extracted the addresses from his phone. Fisk argued that Blake did not alert him that the addresses were compromised and it resulted in the Masked Man getting to Ranskahov before they could.
Fisk agreed to reward Hoffman handsomely for doing the deed, so he eventually relented and headed over to the hospital, smuggling a lethal injection with him. Hoffman reluctantly proceeded, however, the Masked Man attacked him soon after and managed to extract some information from Blake before he died. When being found by the New York City Police Department, Hoffman was able to claim that the Masked Man was the one who killed Blake and reported to Wesley about what happened. Some time after, Fisk revealed himself to the public and condemned the Masked Man, citing the recent events in Hell's Kitchen, and presented his Better Tomorrow Initiative to revitalize New York City.[8]