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CAPTAIN OSHARANSKY

Captain Osharansky

Captain Osharansky was the officer in command of the regional Soviet Headquarters in Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. When one of America's early Rogallo satellites fell out of orbit, MacGyver was sent to Afghanistan to retrieve the classified data capsule it carried before the Soviets could get their hands on it. In order to get to the target quickly, MacGyver flew an obsolete military jet into Afghan airspace, then parachuted from the jet as the Soviets brought it down with ground-to-air missiles. Captain Osharansky received a report that an American plane had been shot down, and he ordered all available men, both Russians and Afghan followers of the tribal leader Khalil, to search for the plane and the pilot.

MacGyver recovered the data capsule, but he became trapped on the top of a mesa by Soviet and Afghan forces, and his only means of escape was to piece together parts of the downed satellite to build a hang glider. During his flight from the mesa, he was shot in the right shoulder and hand by Afghan militia, but he was rescued by Ahmed, a young Afghan boy who brought him home to his mother, Zia, the widow of an Afghan resistance leader. Although fearful of the consequences, Zia and Ahmed nursed MacGyver back to health, even as both the Soviets and the Afghans narrowed in on his location.

Sergeant Borsov, a young Soviet soldier, approached Zia's home, but MacGyver got the better of him and let him go unharmed. When Borsov returned to his commander without the pilot, or his vehicle, or his weapons, Osharansky insisted he would have had him shot had it not been for his desperate need of non-commissioned officers. Instead, he sent Borsov back out on patrol in his tank, threatening that he would lose his rank and six months' pay if he were successful, and he would be court-martialed for dereliction of duty if he failed. Meanwhile, with no choice remaining to them, Zia and Ahmed joined MacGyver as he made his way toward the Pakistani border. There they once again encountered Sergeant Borsov, who, in return for MacGyver's earlier compassion, allowed them to pass and to make their escape into Pakistan. It is likely that Sergeant Borsov never reported the second encounter to Captain Osharansky.

Portrayed by: Allan Kolman

Cross Reference: Afghanistan, Ahmed, Sergeant Borsov, Khalil, Rogallo Satellite, Zia

Episode Reference: To Be a Man