Vlad's Lads

Vlad's Lads was a mercenary organization formed by Vladimir Nikov in 2019 that was involved in the War in Afghanistan, the Ukraine War, and other conflicts. Because of its independent nature and self-serving missions, it has been described as a rogue nation of sorts, and was declared a terrorist group by various nations.
== History ==
Vladimir Nikov was a Russian mercenary who fought for the Taliban from 2014 to 2018. He cut ties with the organization after the death of his friend Ahmed Ali however. After this, he decided to start his own company which would complete missions for itself without any considerations for politics. He got the funding to set up this organization through the 2019 Israeli bank heist. After this, the company would hire many members, mainly from Eastern Europe, and participate in various illegal activities, including raids, theft, arms dealing and drug dealing which would quickly bring make the company a serious force to be reckoned with. They mainly operated in Afghanistan, but they also had operations in Asia, Africa and South America (in Bolivia, they were hired by an unknown businessman to fight cartels so that another cartel could take over operations - they also came into conflict with the Bolivian government). A pattern evolved in the group's actions, which was that they frequently came into conflict with the Russian PMC Wagner Group, who consistently proved to be their most formidable enemy. 
The group would participate in the War in Ukraine from 2022, being recruited by the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. The reason the group suddenly started taking a role in a political conflict was because it was the only way for Vlad to gain a pardon from the Russian government. Almost all operatives working for the organization would be transferred to Ukraine, where they would complete missions against Ukrainian forces and even secretly against the Wagner Group as there was internal conflict on the Russian side. Vlad's Lads were even responsible for a staged rebellion in 2023 as an attempt to frame the Wagner Group. This operation was a failure though as it was actually a set up and would result in the destruction of Vlad's Lads as most operatives were killed or captured after this and the group lost access to its money.
== Characteristics ==
The members of the company are mostly former soldiers from various Eastern European countries as well as former mobsters, criminals and convicts, they are generally highly trained. While there is no formal dress code, they are commonly seen wearing black uniforms and balaclavas (inspired by the FSB's Alpha Group, of which Nikov was once a member of ), and even Chinese made bullet proof masks, despite their ineffectiveness, sometimes the black uniforms are paired with a camouflage of the individual members choice, commonly American M81 woodland or Russian EMR. Their equipment is well maintained and high quality, they even have a decent selection of vehicles including some tanks. They maintain a high degree of professionalism, but the laws of war are often not followed by them as they have no need to be approved by national governments. However, recruitment and equipment standards declined after the invasion of Ukraine, by the end the end of their lifespan the average operative in Vlad's Lads was barely a better soldier than the average Russian conscript.
They use a wide selection of weapons, with their arsenal becoming more sophisticated over time. Early on they were mostly armed with cold war era Warsaw Pact weapons, mostly AK74s. After American forces left Afghanistan, they were able to obtain a lot of modern American weapons, mostly M4A1s. Then once they were involved in the Ukraine War, they were able to procure modern Russian weapons, including AK12s, and during the war they were able to steal modern Western weapons sent to the country by NATO through corrupt Ukrainian government contacts, including many CZ BREN 2s.
The group would steadily acquire various ground vehicles and aircraft for the years they operated, they garnered a number of large civilian vehicles such as SUVs and Pickup trucks in which they would modify to suit combat more efficiently, equipping them with mounted guns and welding steel armor plating to the outside of the vehicle. Later they would get their hands on more traditional military transport such as old soviet APCs, a small number of tanks and light helicopters, sometimes fitted with mini-guns, through illegitimate trade and theft.
Their tactics in battle often involved guerilla fighting and strong trench defenses, they would often use unconventional methods of warfare such as fitting civilian drones with IEDs and Grenades to safely flush out and bombard enemy forces grouped together, and even have gone on record to make use of chemical and incendiary weapons, particularly mustard gas and white phosphorus. There have been unconfirmed reports that on rare occasions, Vlad's Lads have been utilizing suicide bomb tactics, strapping C4 to vehicles and driving into the enemy, however this is highly unlikely. Later in the group's lifespan, they made heavy use of their obtained military vehicles, utilizing them greatly for quickly transporting small groups of mercenaries between and across battlefields. As their equipment upgraded and their numbers grew, the Groups tactics slowly became more traditional, however they would shortly disband before they could grow in power any further.
File:Vlads lads 2.png|Vlad's Lads in Ukraine
File:Ukr.jpg|Ditto
File:Vlads lads.jpg|Vlad's Lads in their early years, guarding an ammo cache in Afghanistan
File:Artyom.jpg|A Vlad's Lad standing guard by a chopper in Bolivia
File:Choppah.jpg|Vlad's Lads combat helicopter engaging enemy carel
File:Chopper.jpg|Vlad's Lads operatives flying attack helicopters in Bolivia
File:Boliv.jpg|A Vlad's Lads operative in Bolivia armed with a PSG1 sniper rifle
File:Over.jpg|Vlad's Lads operatives in Bolivia provide overwatch with sniper rifles
File:Patrol.jpg|A patrol of Vlad's Lads in Bolivia
File:Patrol2.jpg|Ditto
File:Bighill.jpg|Vlad's Lads assaulting up a hill
File:Gun.jpg|A Vlad's Lad manning a minigun mounted on an armoured truck
Category:Groups
Category:Modern Warfare