From the ruins of the Russian FSSR, some new countries who survived from the attacks began to rise.
Inspired by the Baltic and Nordic countries, who declared independence and became more western alligned, independent groups managed to seize some parts of southern Russia and small areas in the north.
Near the ruins of Leningrad, a new Novgorod managed to survive...
THE STORY OF NOVGOROD (YEVGENY AVTONOMOV)
September 26th, 1983. Novgorod, Russian SFSR.
Novgorod Oblast was lightly hit on Doomsday, with the only strikes inside it being on air bases at Soltsy and Staraya Russa. Other strikes in the region, especially to the west inside Pskov Oblast, would leave leave some fallout and many refugees in the area, however. Known strikes in the area included the cities of Dno, Gdov, Ostrov, and Pskov in Pskov Oblast, Andreapol and Tver in Tver Oblast, Cherepovets in Vologda Oblast, and, of course, what is believed to be upwards of a dozen of them around Leningrad
"I-I'm alive??" Yevgeny Avtonomov felt different during the morning of September 27th, 1983. The day before, american ICBM striked dozens of places in the northwestern areas of the Russian FSRS.
Avtonomov, representing the area of Novgorod, was one of the few surviving territories that had less radiation...and that would cause some problems to the local authorities...
With only two minor strikes in the Oblast, most of the inhabitants survived the initial attack. Indeed, even with fallout added, very few people overall in the Oblast perished on Doomsday, and with refugees added, the population of the Oblast actually increased. However, the winter would not be as kind as the Americans.
Having been hit by an atmospheric EMP blast, most electronics in the region were rendered inoperable. Massive amounts of interference with radio waves, caused by all of the blasts going off in the USSR, did not help the situation. As a result of this, the local authorities were unable to make contact with anyone from the government, beyond hearing an occasional word appear in the static on their heavily-damaged radio equipment.
Using the resources they had, along allowing hunt, harvesting and ice-fishing, starvation was avoided, but when fuel was rationed, and people found that some local officers used for themselves instead of giving it to citizens or public services, which made the population to hate the current rulers as they found how they treasoned them.
With the jailing, execution, or shunning of most of the government, it was painfully obvious to all that a new one would need to be formed. The remnants of the old government, along with the leaders of the rioters, after a few months of discussion, formed a new government, the "Novgorod Republic," on April 5th, 1984, the anniversary of the fabled "Battle of the Ice" in 1242. The government, with other political and economic views allowed, was to consist of a modified version of the old Oblast government, though largely elected now.
Novgorod Detinets. April 5th, 1984
Yevgeny formed part of the new goverment that was formed in that date...when the old Republic of Novgorod defeated the Teutons... Being only the representation of that new country, he began to live in the Novgorod Detinets.
New changes were implemented, such as an economic guild to boost the economy, and creating fishing vessels to travel to the Volkhov, and the Ladoga (which weren't finished until 1988)
Throughout 1984 and 1985, scouts scattered throughout the Oblast, re-establishing contact with towns and villages that had been partially lost in the chaos after Doomsday. By 1987, much of the Oblast was under the fairly secure control of the government. However, Raiders, especially from the direction of destroyed Leningrad, were to be a thorn in their sides for a few more years, constantly raiding areas of the Oblast in that direction until the Novgorodian military, with Nordic assistance, eradicated them in 1993.
Order was restored in the Oblast...after ten years!
Fort-Krasnaya Gorka, Leningrad Oblast. May 10th, 1992.
The outpost of the city was one of the main recovering areas near Leningrad ruins... however, a small flotilla of vessels was seen arriving in Neva Bay, flying a flag that the soldiers had never seen before. Lighting a beacon, the soldiers aimed to get the flotilla to move closer to them, which they managed to do.
Making contact with the vessels, the soldiers discovered them to be from a recently established "Nordic Union," consisting of the still largely-intact Scandinavian countries, who were moving in the area to do more or less the same task as they were doing. Staying longer than they had intended, the Novgorodian officers on the scene talked via radio with Nordic officials, and after informing them of the raiders, were offered some aid in the endeavor - any raiders in the region, quite obviously, could become a threat to Finland, and had to be dealt with. An agreement was reached over the matter, and the officers were given several radios, which the governments could communicate until better means could be established. They agreed that while the details still needed to be worked out, the operation would take place in the fall. Shortly thereafter, the Novgorodian forces pulled back towards Novgorod, to ensure their safety. The Nordic vessels continued on their mission in the area.
That September, Nordic forces landed on both sides of the danger zone around Leningrad, while Novgorodian troops attacked from the south. While the Russians had been expected, the Nordic forces were a surprise, and caught the raider clans in their rear areas. By spring, the raiders had been surrounded, and forced to surrender. As Novgorod could not deal with them effectively, the Nordic expedition took the majority of the prisoners with them. However, this opened up a reliable line of communication between the two governments, which would be made stronger yearly.
With the Nordic help, the nation began to expand. In 1995, Novgorod reached the once imperial palaces, at the semi-ruined towns of Gatchina, Pavlovsk, and Pushkin, at the edge of what had been Leningrad Oblast at one time. These, along with the one at Shlisselburg that they occupied in 1997, were turned into the headquarters of the various teams operating in the area, as they all stood fairly close to the edge of the radiated zone.
Four years later, a small garrison on the coastline was created, in the town of Fort-Krasnaya Gorka, while still recovering materials from the targeted areas, and in 2006, the mission to Pskov managed to recover, including some vehicles, and other useful items...but found the remnants of Igor Fyodorov (Pskov) in the area.
Would Novgorod become the main sucessor to Arisha, or could he become a close ally of the Nordics?
September 2018. Ruins of Leningrad, border between Novgorod and Karelia.
A lot of things had happened during the last decade... In May of 2011, citing that the Siberian threat was a danger for the Republic, Novgorod joined the Nordic Union. Thus announced that the way was open for them to join alongside the Sami Republic on June 10th, 2011. where they became the farthest eastern member of the Union.
In the later 2010s, Yevgeny would meet the nation of Karelia, Aili Karhu, who was located to the north, thanks to an expedition of the shores of the Lake Ladoga. They would try to cooperate...and they created a small memorial to the deceased city of Leningrad (Anastasiya "Nastya" Petrova), who perished during Doomsday due the NATO nuclear attacks on her territory.
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