Alexander Kozachenko

Alexander "Sasha" Kozachenko (срп. Александар "Саша" Козаченко), also known as Buddy, is a teacher and former member of the resistance group in the Eastern Slav Republic.

History
As a child, Buddy grew up with two close friends - Irina and JD. Eventually, Buddy ended up becoming an elementary school teacher alongside his childhood friend Irina. The two fell in love and were engaged to be married in the midst of the civil war. However, the school they both taught at was believed by the government and oligarchs to be a front and support for the "pro-independents" and resistance members. It was attacked and burned to the ground, killing school children and Irina in the process. This is what sparked Buddy into action, finally joining the revolution.

Capturing Leon
"There is no doubt about the fact that you are our enemy."

- Buddy to Leon

During the course of the fight against the government, Buddy stayed close to his friend, JD, as well as a man named Ivan Judanovich, an Ataman of the Council of Elders. Buddy was present when Judanovich ordered a Licker to attack and kill a CIA contact under the codename Scarecrow, and later U.S. government agent Leon Scott Kennedy, who Scarecrow was to be meeting. When Judanovich halted another Licker from killing Leon, Buddy knocked him unconscious and he and JD took him hostage to question him in their basement hideout. With Leon's gear confiscated by JD, Buddy tried to extract information from Leon, but they were silenced when government soldiers entered the home above them.

As sick Judanovich's condition worsened, Leon and JD both grew worried which in turn drew Buddy's attention. However, Judanovich insisted he was alright. At that moment, the government soldiers returned and attacked the basement hideout. The soldiers became distracted as Judanovich started to show signs of being infected with the Plaga, which gave Buddy an opening. He attacked one of the soldiers, trying to wrestle his weapon away and shooting another soldier in the process. Buddy stepped in again as JD was shot while trying to escape with Judanovich, opening fire with his own weapon against the soldiers before helping both allies to their feet and proceeding to escape through a side tunnel as reinforcements arrived.

During their escape, JD collapsed as he thinks he is he dying from his gunshot. Buddy harshly scolded him for his ignorance, reminding him that the vest he took from Leon was a bulletproof vest. When he is asked by JD what happened to Leon, Buddy casually remarked that he is probably dead. Buddy tried to help Judanovich to continue their escape, but was told by the Ataman to leave him behind. Judanovich begged Buddy to go on and escape so that he would be able to carry on their attack against the capital and create their "new future." As he drew his pistol, Buddy hesitated before firing several times, killing Judanovich. The gunshots drew the attention of government officers though, but Buddy seemed unfazed by the prospect, distantly telling JD to carry on to the church while he went to check on another ally by the name of Marco.

Obtaining the Master Plaga
"What we do today will carry the country into tomorrow."

Buddy arrived later when JD and Leon found the church empty, dispelling JD's suspicions that Leon had an involvement with comrades that were supposed to be there going missing. Still not trusting Leon, however, Buddy said there are more questions he wants to ask. After a sarcastic remark from Leon, Buddy punched him before having their existing comrades to take him hostage again. As he watched the infected people of his city, JD questioned their next move. Buddy remarked that he intended to go obtain "it," a sample of the master Plaga left for them by the Elders. Although JD tried to reason with him and explain the possible consequences, Buddy cared only for the future of the country and the resistance. He informed JD before leaving that he would meet up with the rest of the resistance in the morning to plan their attack on the presidential palace. Buddy later found the drop-off in the central marketplace of the city, a metal briefcase consisting of the Plaga and an injector.

When Buddy returned to the church, he found only JD and Leon with the bodies of infected and former comrades. As JD began to show signs of infection, Buddy immediately suspected Leon of being behind it. JD tried to explain that Leon had nothing to do with it and urged Buddy to leave him alone. Buddy could only watch, however, as his friend was overcome by the infection and suddenly attacked him. Leon saved Buddy by shooting JD twice in the back, but when he tried to finish him Buddy immediately stopped him. Motioning for him to move back, Buddy stood by JD with his weapon at ready. Buddy watched and listened as JD gave his final words and when the mutated Plaga erupted from JD's head, Buddy could still only watch, horrified, as Leon ended the infected JD's life.

Leon tried to turn Buddy around from using B.O.W.s in the war and infecting himself with the Plaga. However, Buddy calmly explained to him that he believed that using B.O.W.s was no different from using any weapon such as a gun. Buddy requested that Leon put his gun down to "keep this from happening again," though Leon made no move. Accepting Leon's answer, Buddy escaped from the church as it began to collapse in upon them.

Attacking the Underground Facility
"I have no intentions of taking advice from a pretender to the throne!"

- Buddy to Svetlana

As Leon and Ada Wong battled with Svetlana Belikova and her army of government soldiers in an underground facility beneath the presidential palace, Buddy used the ability of the master Plaga to order a group of Lickers to attack. Using one as a distraction through the service elevator, several more found clinging to the ceiling were ordered to attack and kill the soldiers present. In the wake of the carnage, Buddy stood on a walkway above as he watched. When questioned by Leon if he had already used the Plaga, Buddy only coldly commanded a Licker to attack Leon.

Buddy evaded a pursuing Leon by using a Licker to distract him and in turn pursued his own prey - Svetlana. He ordered a group of Lickers to attack her present soldiers but found when they tried to attack Svetlana, she was safe behind a sheen of protective glass. Enraged, Buddy opened fire with his assault rifle as he charged at the glass and immediately pounded his fists against it. Svetlana advised Buddy to give up his fight, though Buddy only reacted with a cold remark, claiming Svetlana to be a "pretender to the throne." Buddy was shocked when Svetlana revealed that the Elders that promised to help them, aside from Ataman, had agreed to forfeit their attempts at independence in exchange for oil profits.

As Svetlana continued to try and break Buddy's spirits and convince him to stray from his decision, Buddy began to suffer instance of pain from being taken over by the Plaga. In a rage, he ordered a Licker to try and attack again though the creature was stopped as a tube carrying a new form of Tyrant, the T-013, rose from the facility's floor. The T-013 easily disposed of the Lickers Buddy sent after it as Svetlana made her escape. Buddy proceeded to pound futilely on the glass separating them, screaming after her. His attention was soon drawn to the sound of a warning of a biohazard leak and the eventual incineration of a facility just as another T-013 was released.

Buddy evaded one of the T-013s as the other went after Leon. Though still in pain from his infection, Buddy found it hard to move and escape and attempted to use two Lickers to try and distract the Tyrant and block its vision. However, he underestimated the T-013 which quickly killed both creatures. The Tyrant turned its sights on Buddy but was blown away by the second T-013, blasted into it by an explosion caused by Leon. Buddy and Leon both made their way back to the service elevator only to find the door closing and both Tyrants following up behind them. They both managed to escape when Ada Wong used a computer to open the elevator doors for them, which gave them the means to barely evade their pursuers.

Joining Forces with Leon
"Why are you helping me?"

- Buddy to Leon

As they gathered themselves on the elevator, Buddy questioned Leon's motives for helping him. Leon simply told him he was not doing it for Buddy, but so that someone else could live to tell the truth of what B.O.W.s can do and how they ruin lives. The moment is broken when one of the T-013s breaks through the elevator door as the elevator began to rise. Buddy and Leon both opened fire on it before Buddy saw an opening in the elevator above and began to climb the grating to escape with Leon following. As Leon makes his way onto an access ladder, Buddy hesitated from the pain but manages to leap just as the elevator crashed, catching on to Leon's hand and grabbing onto the ladder.

On their way out of the palace, Buddy and Leon encountered a T-013 in the midst of killing a soldier. Though Buddy wanted to get involved, Leon urged him away and both ran and hid from the Tyrant. As Leon distracted the Tyrant, Buddy gathered another group of Lickers that he ordered to attack. Two of the Lickers bound the Tyrant's arms with their tongues as several others attacked. The tactic only worked briefly before the Tyrant managed to decimate all but one. The surviving Licker was commanded to flee, running to a distance fuel truck with the T-013 in pursuit. The T-013 killed the Licker as it clung to the back of the fuel trick, causing the tank to rupture, giving Leon an opening to shoot the tank and cause it to explode.

Overcome with pain again, Buddy collapsed as he began coughing. When he looked up, Buddy saw the Tyrant mutating before his eyes before charging him. Leon stepped in, firing a rocket across its path as Buddy dove out of the way of the explosion. Moments later, Buddy returned the favor when he saved Leon from the attacking T-013 by ramming into it with a manned tank. The creature's strength was enough to stop the tank, though Leon took over the turret and attempted to fire upon the Tyrant. Unable to get a shot, Buddy commanded another Licker to cover the Tyrant's face, making it unable to see and giving Leon the opening to destroy the Tyrant's head with close-range shot.

The threat seemingly destroyed, Buddy showed signs of finally starting to warm up to Leon. Leon joked about them going to grab a few beers, and Buddy remarked only if Leon was buying. The moment of relief was short-lived as two more mutated T-013s appeared and marched towards them. Buddy asked Leon why he wouldn't just go on without him and Leon simply remarked that he enjoyed the company. Buddy, still overtaken with pain, was helped along by Leon as they ran from the Tyrants. Reaching a fountain in nearby fountain, Buddy was unable to go any further as Leon prepared to stand off against both Tyrants with only a knife. However, an air-attack from U.S. fighter planes managed to save both their lives.

The New Future
"I've lost everything. My mentor. My friends. I have nothing left to fight for. Kill me. Please! I don't want to change into one of those monsters!"

As Leon watched the U.S. and Russian forces march on the Eastern Slav Republic and overthrow its current government, Buddy wondered if Leon was aware of both countries' involvement from the start. Beginning to feel more overwhelmed by how events transpired and where he was currently, Buddy became hopeless. He showed great regret at having lost his mentor, Ataman, and his friends. Proclaiming he had nothing more to fight for, he begged Leon to kill him before he turned into a monster. When Leon was unresponsive, Buddy drew his own pistol and placed the barrel under his chin, prepared to take his own life. Leon stepped in and took the gun away, scolding Buddy in the process. Telling Buddy that he owes it to the people who died to continue living, even if it means being paralyzed for the rest of his life, Leon shoots Buddy once.

In the aftermath of events, Buddy remained in the Eastern Slavic Republic. He watched as children ran by happily up a cobbled street as he wheeled himself along in a wheelchair, a canteen Leon gave to him still on his person. Stopping briefly, Buddy watched as children ran by on their way to the school ahead. Smiling, he continued to wheel himself uphill and towards the building, implying that he resumed his previous occupation as a teacher.

Personality and Relationships
Before having joined the resistance, Buddy was engaged to a childhood friend named Irina who he became a school teacher along side of. He was also a close childhood friend of fellow resistance member, JD. Buddy viewed Ataman Ivan Judanovich as a mentor and a close friend as well. The death of Irina affected him greatly and caused him to begin to fight for independence and he later showed signs of deep remorse for what happened to both JD and Judanovich.

Most of the time, Buddy is seen as being very cold and distant in regards to everything, even his close friends. The only concern of his is fighting for the Eastern Slav Republic's independence. His dedication is unquestionable as he takes up the mantle of Ataman by injecting himself with a Plaga to control the Lickers, knowing full well what the result would be. However, he does later show regret once the entire ordeal is over and even demonstrates fear at what he will turn into. Buddy is very angry, though usually shows a "calm anger," not easily overtaken by rage until he becomes infected with the Plaga.

He is distrusting of Leon for the majority of the time he knows him and disregards all of Leon's requests and demands to abandon use of the B.O.W.s in the war. However, by the end of the civil war, Buddy shows signs of finally opening up to Leon and accepting his camaraderie. It is likely Buddy still holds some memory of Leon as Leon's canteen is seen tied to Buddy's wheelchair after the events.

Skills and Abilities
Prior to joining the resistance, Buddy had no combat training and had never even so much as held a gun. However, it would seem that his time spent with the freedom fighters has giving him some degree of being able to handle automatic weapons and pistols. He is later also seen being able to operate a tank. Notably, after injecting himself with the Plaga, Buddy is given complete control over the Lickers. However, this ability is undoubtedly lost after the events when his spinal cord was severed by Leon to remove the Plaga.

Quotes

 * "Don't say a word." (to Leon, when government soldiers invade the home above their hideout)
 * "They're gone. We better stay here a while longer. They may come back."
 * "Do you know who we are?"
 * "You people in the CIA call us terrorists."
 * "What is the CIA doing here? Was it you who put the government up to this? Are there any more of you?"
 * "Then what are you? Is it common for people in America to be packing one of these while on vacation?"
 * "Whatever. But even if you're not CIA, there's no doubt that you must be pretty special for America to send you here. You were able to take on that thing, after all."
 * "There is no doubt about the fact that you are our enemy."
 * "What he says is true. I have some more questions for you."
 * "I have to go and get it." (referring to the Plaga)
 * "We need somebody to take over for Ataman."
 * "What we do today will carry the country into tomorrow."
 * "I'll meet up with the others tomorrow morning to plan the attack on the presidential palace. Get ready for that. I'll be back soon."
 * "As far as I am concerned, there is no difference between this (gun} and using B.O.W.s."
 * "If you want to keep this from happening again, put down your gun."
 * "Well then. That is my answer, and your answer."
 * "I have no intentions of taking advice from a pretender to the throne!"
 * "That's not possible!" (when finding out the Elders had betrayed the resistance)
 * "Why are you helping me?"
 * "You really want to fight this out, huh?!"
 * "Are you buying?" (to Leon, regarding his suggestion to go get a few beers)
 * "You'll have to go without me."
 * "Why won't you go without me?!"
 * "So the Americans and the Russians had us in the palm of their hands from the beginning."
 * "Did you know about this?"
 * "I've lost everything. My mentor. My friends. I have nothing left to fight for. Kill me. Please! I don't want to change into one of those monsters!"
 * "Well, I guess there is no other choice."