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Ruslan Denisov is a character in the NBC series, The Blacklist.

Background

Denisov is the leader of an Uzbekistan separatist movement known as The Supreme Republic of a Free, Righteous, and Independent Uzbekistan (SRU). Under his leadership, the group became notorious for its methods of raising funds by kidnapping senior executives of wealthy foreign corporations working in or passing through his region, holding them for ransoms far above the normal rates and killing them if the employers refused to pay. In 2014 his youngest brother died as a result of benzene poisoning.

Season 2

"Ruslan Denisov"

Denisov's group kidnaps Burke, a CIA operative disguised as a priest, from a church in Khumhara. He contacts the Agency, but since it is illegal for CIA agents to pose as religous figures, they deny any involvment and instead hand the case over to the FBI and Reddington, who knows Denisov.

Liz and Ressler go to Uzbekistan to investigate, but find themselves kidnapped by Denisov's men. He explains to them that he is holding Burke for ransom until Anneca Oil, an American oil company, fix a pipeline they built in 1992 that has started leaking and caused widespread sickness in the area and abandon their business in Uzbekistan. As proof that the leak has caused suffering in his country, Denisov shows them Jeffrey Hanover, an Anneca VP who has been soaked in the polluted water from where the pipeline has leaked and suffered massive chemical damage to his skin.

Reddington is enlisted by Denisov to lead the negotiations. During a talk with Dean Walker, another Anneca executive, Red introduces them to Leonid Zhabin, a former cabinet minister in the Soviet government. He has proof that Anneca are responsible for the construction of another pipeline in 1988, near the end of the Soviet Union, that started leaking almost immediately. The end result became an environmental catastrophe that killed hundreds of people and poisoned whole villages. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Anneca paid Zhabin to cover up their involvment in the first pipeline and make the bodies disappear. He did so, but kept copies of the original documents proving the first leak. The current pipeline was built four years later and started leaking after twenty years. When Walker is told that Zhabin has given Denisov directions to a mass grave containing victims of the first pipeline, he agrees to Denisov's terms, shutting down their pipeline and helping the Uzbeks clean up after the leak and restore their society somewhat.

Reddington later visits Denisov at his compound. Denisov wants his help to get out of the country, but Reddington turns him down, reminding him that he can use his victory over Anneca as a launchpad to something greater, maybe even a position of leadership, even though he might spend some time in jail along the way. To help him further his goals, Reddington hands Denisov Commander Kushan, a corrupt military officer who has been hunting the SRU in conjuncton with the CIA, in a wooden crate.

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