Rebirth Island

According to a file in the "Rebirth" cutscene, the Soviet base was established on the island in 1948 as a secret Soviet bioweapons facility which tests a variety of biological agents including anthrax, plague, brucellosis, and tularemia. During the Cold War, the base on the island was used by the Soviets to further develop the German biochemical weapon Nova 6. This was tested on livestock, primates, pigs and even humans. When the time was right, the Russians began shipping it to various cities. When this was near completed, the Soviets began evacuating the island, killing all non-essential personnel. CIA troops under the command of Grigori Weaver and Jason Hudson led an attack on the island to extract the Soviet allied, former Nazi scientist Friedrich Steiner for information about the numbers station. Despite collateral damage, Soviets began using Nova 6 against the advancing troops, leading to both sides fighting in HazMat suits.

At the same time, Mason had infiltrated the facility in an attempt to kill Steiner, killing all the scientists and enemies in his path. Getting to his target first, the CIA team was forced to only watch as Mason executed him. With Steiner dead, the CIA was forced to rely on Mason to uncover the location of the numbers station, and promptly extracts him from the island after Hudson incapacitates him with a pistol whip.

In the aftermath of the raid, the CIA had captured Vikhor Kuzmin, a high-ranking Soviet operative who was in charge of overseeing the production of Nova 6 on Rebirth Island. Despite the brutal interrogations handled by agent Russell Adler, Kuzmin refused to disclose any information, save for his name and rank. In retaliation for what Kuzmin's commanding officer Lev Kravchenko did to Weaver back at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Adler stabbed out Kuzmin's left eye. Afterwards, Kuzmin was extracted by Kravchenko, who sent Kuzmin to be locked away in the Petropavlovsk Gulag for letting Rebirth Island fall.

In 1984, Kuzmin, now under the alias of "Stitch" and affiliated with Perseus, returned to Rebirth Island to rebuild and recommission the facility to resume his own production of Nova 6.