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Private Zaitsev was a Red Army soldier who fought in the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. He appears in Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

October 3, 1942

Zaitsev and the squad he was assigned to encountered a Panzer Mark IV amidst the streets of the largely devastated city. He and the squad, having been cut off and surrounded, attempted to charge the tank and its escort forces, only to die in the attack. Coincidentally, Lieutenant Tanya Pavelovna and her party were passing through in the midst of this massacre and judged that the presence of the Panzer would prevent them from traveling above ground.

Gameplay

Zaitsev is one of several hapless soldiers the player sees after they follow Private Kirelenko out of the building in Dead In Her Sights. He always dies in the mission, no matter how long it takes. Zaitsev is one of several soldiers who the player cannot save or entice to follow the player, no matter how long he survives.

When the player follow Kirelenko out of the building, they'll see Zaitsev perched on some high ground, which is little more than a pile of rubble. He's usually the first the player will see and identify by name amongst the soon to be dead soldiers. He like the rest are only in the game to serve as an example to the player, and to force him or her to progress through the sewers as the plot demands.

Trivia

• It is possible that the creators took inspiration from Vasily Zaitsev, the famed Soviet Sniper, when coming up with names for the characters. At any rate, the similarities end with the name; Private Zaitsev shares no relation to Vasily, first and foremost being Vasily lived through Stalingrad, and Vassily was a lieutenant.
• In the DS version of World at War, in the level "Nuclear Secrets", there is a soldier named Pvt. Zaitsev.