6'0", 190 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes. Well-built, if not especially muscle-bound. Wears his hair short, with a thinly trimmed beard. Consistently bears a serious expression, emphasized by his habitual slightly furrowed brow. Skazka wears nondescript street clothing during missions, preferring unimpressive leather jackets or trenchcoats, the better to remain unnoticed in crowds.

History:
(Short version:) Ex-KGB field agent/FSB intelligence analyst [retired in 2000], Ex-Moscow police [retired in 2006 to work with UNITAS]

(Long version:) Viktor Ivanovich Zhubrodsky was born in the Soviet Union in august of 1974. He led an ordinary life until he turned 16, when he was all but scooped out of civilian life by the KGB. Viktor was put on the fast track to leadership, learning group tactics, investigative strategies, and command procedures, and even being partnered with a veteran agent codenamed "Vityaz." Viktor received the codename "Skazka," roughly meaning "Fable," in reference both to his talent of escaping notice by fading into crowds and to his propensity for uncovering information and reading people like open books.

The KGB officially disbanded in 1991 following an agency-assisted assassination attempt on Mikhail Gorbachev. The 1991 attempted coup forced the KGB to realize that all was not well in Mother Russia, and a new special operations unit was formed to identify, hunt down, and eliminate rogue intelligence agents like those behind the attempted coup. Skazka and Vityaz were both members of that unit.

In 1995, Russian intelligence was reconstructed as a domestic intelligence agency, the FSB, and an external intelligence agency, the SVR. In the course of reorganization, Skazka found himself stuck behind a desk doing investigative intel, while Vityaz continued field work. Skazka despised desk jobs: he felt they kept him from doing any real good for his country, but he grudgingly followed orders.

In 2000, Vityaz went missing on an undercover mission, seeking the rogue faction. Status: undetermined, or at least unrevealed. The only reasonable conclusion was that Vityaz was dead. Deciding that the agency to which he had given his life had failed him and Mother Russia alike, Skazka marched into his superiors' offices, declared that he was fed up with bureaucratic roadblocks to progress, and submitted his resignation papers. Viktor Zhubrodsky walked out of the FSB office, never again to work for Russian intelligence.

Viktor spent the next few years living as a civilian, working normal jobs, dealing with normal problems, and generally being extremely dissatisfied. In spite of all Viktor's frustration at the impotence of the new Russian intelligence, civilian life seemed even less meaningful, and less suited toward affecting positive change. The rogue agents were still out there somewhere, but if good agents like Vityaz and Skazka were allowed to die or wither away behind mounds of paperwork, who was left to stop those who wished to re-ignite the Cold War, or worse, to spark World War III? Viktor ultimately settled into a steady law enforcement position, working as a police detective. Viktor focused much of his efforts on tracking down criminal syndicates and busting cells of large nefarious organizations.

Late in 2005, Viktor was contacted by representatives of an organization requesting his services, who seemed to know his KGB record. Viktor readily agreed, recognizing this opportunity for what it was and eager to reenter the spy life. He saw this as his second chance to find the radicals that had bested Russia's finest for so long. UNITAS chose to transfer Viktor from his Russian home turf to the Boston area. Skazka was officially inducted into UNITAS after a mandatory retraining and evaluation period.

Notable Quotes:
"Do I *look* like I'm joking?"

"You wouldn't last a week in Russia"

"I may be a patient man, but let me assure you, I am not a pleasant one..."

Notable Deeds:
Impersonated an Iranian government official without speaking a word of Farsi.

Once criticized for "looking too Russian"

Organization Detail:

UNITAS
Notes:	UNITAS during its days; presumably CORE under the new rules Possibly CTC or UNITE