Oleg Rugov

Oleg Rugov is a character appearing only in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha.

“

"Why did I do it? I'm such a coward! Now I'll never see my beloved Groza again!
- Oleg Rugov

”

Overview[]

Oleg Rugov will appear near the Science bunker in Yantar after the Scientists' package has been recovered.
Starting with v1.4005 he has relocated to the culvert under the Military Scrapyard.

This NPC is also referred to colloquially as 'The Groza Guy' the 'Rifle Dude' and so on.
Prior to patch 1.3003, he was also a bit of a crybaby, but this has been deprecated.
The mission that he gives: Retrieve the lost rifle. certainly improves upon Hunter's burnt offering of a retrieval mission. The mission is classed as a Storyline mission in the gamefiles even though it is offered seemingly as a side mission during normal play.
One current weakness of this plot thread is occurs when the player is a member of the Duty faction:
Probably because no entry exchange was needed when the (Duty) player arrives at the Science bunker gates when sent by Voronin, and does not get to deliver the "I've been sent by Sidorovich" introduction to the local Military leader; he or she may advance to talk to Sakharov as 'normal'.
Unfortunately, when the Scientists' package is delivered and Oleg Rugov is spawned as a consequence, his presence, when approached by the player is determined to be one of a hostile and the Military will quickly dispatch him.
The only current workaround for this state of affairs is to eliminate the local military presence.

(1.4007) Previously near the Yantar underground entrance north of Sakharov's Bunker, he now sits in the culvert under the chopper of the Military Scrapyard. You can reach this by heading right (West) after leaving the scientists' camp instead of entering the scrapyard.