by Colonel Ling while saving the lives of the Black Widow and Captain America. He was buried under molten lava when a laser blast caused the eruption of a long-dormant volcano. Alexei Shostakov L.M.D. Some time later, a Life Model Decoy (LMD) patterned after the Alexei Shostakov was introduced in the "Widow Maker" crossover between the Hawkeye & Mockingbird and Black Widow titles as Ronin, by Jim McCann & Duane Swierczynski and David Lopez & Manuel Garcia. The LMD initially started assassinating spies and eventually targeted Mockingbird and the Black Widow. After he was seemingly destroyed in his first battle with the Black Widow, the LMD was later revealed to be alive and had risen very high up in power within Bulgaria as Ronin. The LMD was responsible for a plot to capture and try his "former wife" for crimes as a Soviet super soldier, but his plan was foiled with the help of Daredevil and the Avengers. Dr. Tania Belinsky Dr. Tania Belinsky, a neurosurgeon from the USSR, later adopted the Red Guardian identity and joined the Defenders. Created by Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema, she first appeared in The Defenders #35 (May 1976). Josef Petkus Josef Petkus is the fourth version of the Red Guardian, first appearing in Captain America #352 (April 1989), and was created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Kieron Dwyer. The character subsequently appears in The Avengers #319–324 (July–October 1990), The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #393 (May 1992), and Soviet Super-Soldiers #1 (November 1992). The character subsequently appears as the Steel Guardian in Iron Man (vol. 2) #9 (October 1998). Petkus appeared as part of the "Supreme Soviets" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #7. Josef Petkus was a special operative for the intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, and appeared as a member of the militant Supreme Soviets. Alongside the Supreme Soviets, he attacked the Soviet Super-Soldiers for defecting from the Soviet Union. Alongside Captain America, he later battled a bear-like creature composed of the Darkforce. The Supreme Soviets were later renamed the post-Soviet Russian super-team called the Winter Guard. Alongside this confederacy, he teamed with the Avengers and Alpha Flight to battle the Peace Corpse, the Atlantean Army, and the Combine. Petkus later joined a Winter Guard splinter group called the People's Protectorate, now calling himself the "Steel Guardian". He and his team went off in search