Alexander Romanov

Premier Alexander Romanov (Russian: Александр Романов) was the leader of the USSR during the first and second iterations of the Third World War.

Background
Although a charming and eloquent man of peace at first glance, Romanov was in reality a dictator consumed by progressing madness. His experiences during the Second World War branded him; memories of foreign troops crossing the snowy streets, burning factories, his homeland crushed by the decadent empire of the west refuse to die and feed a relentless hate of the western Allies. As he grew up, he carefully nurtured this feeling, drawing both from communist ideals and his tsarist roots, drawing up his plan to rebuild the Soviet Union as a superpower.

He realized that the only way to actually be able to execute his plan was to become Premier. He masked his hate well and built up a reputation as a man of peace, an advocate of an alliance with the west. His camouflage was extremely effective - he was hand-picked by Allied intelligence operations to lead the Soviet Union, keep it a declawed tiger. He quickly gained the trust and respect of Soviet citizens and acclaim from western media and politicians.

While the world praised him as a leader, Romanov began putting his plans in motion. With the aid of Yuri, who originated from Stalin's Psychic Corps, he rearmed the Union with the latest in military technology. He used the new World Socialist Alliance, an ostensibly West-friendly organization, to create a global network of Soviet countries that can be used to strike against the Allies.

Alexander Romanov may be relative of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, whose remains were not found with other members of the royal family.

Red Alert 2 Allied campaign
Surprisingly to Allied intelligence, the former puppet Romanov started the Third World War by striking hard on North America and Europe, with his first main target being New York. However, the Allied commanders turned the tide of the war by destroying Nuclear missile silos in Poland and retaking the Pentagon.

Romanov's final defeat came when the Allies used the Chronosphere to launch an invasion in Moscow. They overran the Soviet defenses and even Romanov's elite Black Guard surrounding the Kremlin. Once the defenses were cleared, Tanya stormed into the Kremlin to arrest Romanov. Romanov attempted to trick the Allies by forcing an aide (ironically, the one visible to the Allied commander after Operation: Fallout) to pose as the Premier, but Tanya was unconvinced by this ruse and found the Premier hiding under his desk, with nothing but his undershirt and boxers. He was pictured in this sorry state with his American captors, and photos of him circulated across the globe, humiliating him. He was later trialed and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

It is unknown if his decisions were affected by Yuri in the canon timeline.

Red Alert 2 Soviet campaign
Romanov's first target in the war was the Pentagon, thus crippling the Allied military control, after which he continued attacking the Allies in many other locations. When the Allies were at their knees, he meant to end the war, but his advisor Yuri used his psychic powers to persuade him to carry on with the war and proclaim him the leader of the Soviet armed forces instead of general Vladimir or the unnamed commander.

With all opposition eliminated, Yuri made himself de facto Premier, sending the commander on a witch hunt for Vladimir who supposedly "brutally murdered" Romanov (although Romanov was seen alive in a hospital). However, Premier Romanov had recorded a video just before his death in which he elaborated that he was not in control of his own mind during the war, and that Yuri was. This recording was shared across the Soviet Union and led to Operation: Red Revolution, in which the unnamed commander avenged Romanov's death by supposedly killing Yuri beneath the rubble of the Kremlin.

Yuri's Revenge Allied campaign
Romanov, who was still the reigning Soviet leader in his timeline, signed the London peace treaty with the Allies before the final joint attack on Yuri's forces. During the initial events of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, it is implied that the Premier (possibly Romanov) fled the country (as a result of the merging timelines which left the USSR in a state of disarray after the war).

Yuri's Revenge Soviet Campaign
When most of the psychic dominators were coming online, Romanov was still in the Tower of London. He informed the Commander of the Allied time machine, but had to quickly end transmission, as a guard was about to unlock his cell.

The commander went back in time, when the Soviet invasion of the Third World War was at its very beginning. Romanov was still in command, in his office. He was now aware of Yuri's plans and looked eager to stop him, but was also proceeding with the war against the Allies. After the Allies surrendered to the Soviet Union, Romanov led the fight against Yuri along with remaining Allied forces.

However, while he was traveling by plane to Moscow, his plane was shot down above Morocco. He survived the crash unharmed, as he parachuted off the plane before it went down. Yuri's forces were ordered to search for him, but he was saved by the Commander at Rick's Place. Upon his return to Moscow, Romanov continued leading the war against Yuri until the end.

Trivia

 * Alexander Romanov was played by Nicholas Worth. He also portrayed the Nod general Marzaq in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Firestorm, and Kalinar Koltrass, the House Atreides mentat, in Emperor: Battle for Dune.
 * Sadly, Worth died of heart failure on 7 May 2007.
 * In real-life the Soviet Union could have been led by a man named Romanov. Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov was a Soviet politician and member of the Politburo, considered the main rival to Mikhail Gorbachev in the succession struggle after the death of Konstantin Chernenko in March 1985.