Vladimir

"The cost in blood is outrageous, I'll tell you that."

- Vladimir, about his gear

Vladimir (Russian: Владимир) is one of the rangers who accompanies Artyom and Miller to D6. He is one of the older men of the group, and is the rangers' technician.

Overview
Vladimir is first met in Sparta, and is the one who gives Artyom his new gear. Unlike other traders, he does not charge for the equipment. He accompanies his fellow rangers into D6. After Artyom and Miller leave D6 for the surface, Vladimir stays behind along with Ulman to operate the missile guidance system and to stay in radio contact with the group. Unlike Ulman and some of the other members of the team, Vladimir seems to prefer the professional approach to a situation and thus always acts in a serious manner like his leader, Miller.

Vladimir is a technician, not a warrior by nature like Artyom and the rest of the rangers. He knows how to use pre-war technology, even the high-tech weapons such as missiles, as seen in D6, and is able to use it well. He is not a soldier so he needs to be assisted when venturing into D6. His weapon of choice is the Automatic Shotgun. Since Vladimir does not have the combat skills the other rangers have or wear any armor, Miller tasks Artyom to protect and assist him. However, he still can defend himself well if Artyom and other rangers are busy.

Vladimir makes a minor appearance in Metro: Last Light, as the armorer in D6 - similar in role to Pavel. Though he hands Artyom numerous pieces of vital equipment, his appearance and dialogue is short lived, and he can only be confirmed as Vladimir by the game's audio files.

Appearances
Vladimir appears on the following levels in Metro 2033:

Vladimir also makes a sole Metro: Last Light appearance in:
 * Driving to Sparta
 * Dark Star
 * Dungeon
 * Caves
 * D6
 * Sparta

Metro 2033

 * Vladimir has military training pre-dating the nuclear disaster (along with Miller), this puts his age at at least 40 years old.
 * He is the only ranger who does not wear armor.
 * He is the only ranger seen wearing a full faced clear gas mask similar to the one Artyom uses.
 * Vladimir's ushanka hat is available as an Xbox Avatar Item.
 * Vladimir's death at any time while traveling to D6 will cause loss of game, and the latest checkpoint must be reloaded.
 * During the "Dark Star" level, it's revealed that Vladimir used to live in Park Pobedy station before the civil war between the Arbat Confederation stations.

Metro: Last Light

 * In "Sparta", he will offer some helpful tips depending if the players to choose any weapons. Sometimes he will encourage Artyom to use more advanced weapons such as the Kalash.
 * Despite being the armorer of the D6, Vladimir doesn't appear in the final defense.
 * His ultimate fate is unknown, but if the D6 is destroyed in the end, he would probably die like most of the other rangers.
 * An unnamed character with the same voice actor as Vladimir talks to Artyom and Anna over the PA system at the beginning of "Ashes", explaining how the Metro-2 line has not yet been fully explored so he is turning on the lights in this area. Based on the voice and his role of controlling D6's systems at a distance (much like Vladimir did in 2033), it's possible the man is Vladimir.