Nikolai Zinoviev

I am one of the supervisors, that's all you need to know!

Nicholai Ginovaef (based on Russian Николай Зиновьев and also known by the codename "Silver Fox") was a ruthless UBCS operative and Monitor agent (taking part in Operation Watchdog) in the Umbrella Corporation.

Raccoon City
You can either accept it with dignity or die with regret! It's entirely up to you!

Nicholai served as a squad leader, with the rank of Sergeant, when the UBCS was sent into Raccoon City by Umbrella in an effort to contain the t-virus outbreak. The company, save for a few monitors planted within, was given false orders intentionally by Umbrella in the guise of protecting the city's population. Really, Nicholai was a member of "Operation Watchdog"; a covert mission to gather combat data on Zombies and escaped B.O.W.s, along with any other dangers in the infested city. With each collection of information, the agent in question would receive a large monetary reward.

Platoon Delta - which he was assigned to - suffered heavy casualties, with only he, corporal Carlos Oliveira and Lieutenant Mikhail Victor surviving; Nicholai had already betrayed his unit by locking them in a room full of zombies. Upon the inclusion of former S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine into the group, they prepared for evacuation to the Saint Michael Clock Tower. Before the tram could be started however, Nicholai was either attacked by zombies or get trapped inside the Gas Station (his fate may change depending on where the player finds Carlos).

Two days later, in the early hours of October 1, he was in the Raccoon General Hospital where he was seen by Carlos, either attacking a fellow UBCS member named Tyrell Patrick, or with Tyrell telling him that Nicholai shot him. Carlos later has to run away from C4 charges planted by Nicholai which later blew up the building.

Nicholai used his position to assume command of a UBCS team tasked with "Operation: Emperor's Mushroom"; to retrieve a sample of blood from a Tyrant named Thanatos. Thanatos proved to be too much for the team to handle, so Nicholai was forced to enact the contingency plan; he killed Greg Mueller with a silenced pistol and then destroyed Raccoon University. This failed, resulting in Thanatos mutating into its super Tyrant form. However, he had escaped long before the buildings, and thus the Tyrant's destruction.

He went to the Raccoon Park where he met Jill again, revealing his real plans, before escaping to the "Dead Factory" upon the arrival of a giant worm.

Jill met him for a final time within the factory grounds, where he commandeered a Helicopter - the same helicopter Carlos told Jill about.

Fate

 * The player's choice affects Nicholai's fate.
 * 1) If Jill jumps off the bridge, Nicholai takes the last helicopter, and Jill has the choice to either blow up his helicopter and kill him, or try reason with him, which allows him to escape.
 * 2) If Jill didn't jump off the bridge, then Nicholai is killed by Nemesis.

A copy of a report written by him was available to personnel on Sheena Island the following month, though the final entry dated after the city's destruction was signed by a member of Umbrella B.O.W. Development Staff, rather than Nicholai.

The BradyGames strategy guide for CODE:Veronica features a report written by Nicholai to Umbrella, dated October 13, 1998, he detailed some of the data he gathered there during his mission, which included information regarding the Arklay Mountains outbreak; the Special Tactics And Rescue Service's investigation of the Arklay Research Facility, and the subsequent destruction of the mansion facade. He correctly speculated on Albert Wesker faking his death to betray Umbrella. He informed Umbrella of the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members and his encounter with Jill, warning them that they were a grave threat to the corporation and should be eliminated. However, this report is not canon and was written by Dan Birlew.

A timeline in RE5 confirmed that Nicholai took the last helicopter but it didn't reveal whether Jill shot down his helicopter or allowed him to escape.

Operation Raccoon City
Nicholai's appearance in Operation Raccoon City was first hinted at during the Inserted Evil ARG. His presence was later confirmed when he was added to the list of "Key Persons" on the Japanese website for the game.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Zack Ward portrayed Nicholai in the second film: Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

Trivia

 * In the novelization of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, author Keith R.A. DeCandido changes Nicholai's surname to "Sokolov."
 * Although "Ginovaef" is not actually a Slavic name, its pronunciation in Russian is the same as the real name "Zinoviev", leading one to believe that this was a translation error on the part of Capcom or the game's translator in an attempt to romanize the name.
 * Nicholai is the only major character of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis to not appear in any FMVs.
 * In Outbreak his accent is much lighter than how it was in Resident Evil 3.
 * In Russian translation of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Nicholai's name was changed to "Nicholai Zhukov/ Николай Жуков".
 * Nicholai and Mikhail were originally intended to be brothers with Nicholai as the younger and darker of the two.
 * After stealing the chopper, he claims that he's the last monitor alive and the only one that knows what truly happened.
 * He also states that Umbrella has a price for Jill's head or the announcement of her death.
 * Nicholai is likely to play major a role in the upcoming Operation Raccoon City, as the alternate reality game leads to information including his ID badge and employment contract with Umbrella, as well as a movie clip of him betraying a U.B.C.S. team and leaving them to die.