Vasily Medvedev is a character who appeared in the book The Remnant as the second-in-command to Steve Plank, a believer in Jesus Christ going under the alias of Pinkerton Stephens, at the Global Community detention center in Colorado. Vasily proudly accepted the "mark of loyalty" during the midpoint of the Tribulation, but later regretted it when he learned by sneaking on Tsion Ben-Judah's website that accepting the mark and worshiping Carpathia's image would condemn him to hell.
Vasily first alerted Steve, under the guise of Pinkerton Stephens, that New Babylon is cracking down on the few Global Community employees that have not received the mark of loyalty and that he was expected to receive it by noon at the loyalty mark application site at Carpathia Resurrection Field. Steve reminded Vasily that he could not receive the mark on his forehead since there was a prosthetic there protecting his skull and brain and that he lost his right hand. Vasily picked up Steve from a Global Community compound and drove him to Resurrection Field. He then told Vasily that he wanted to leave for Resurrection Field at 11 AM. On the way there, Steve reveals his true identity to Vasily as the former editor of the Global Weekly and his real name "Steve Plank", and Vasily was quizzical wondering what he should do with that information. Steve asks Vasily the favor of shooting him, but Vasily refused to do so, instead serving mostly to assist Pinkerton to the mark application facility where Pinkerton chose execution by guillotine over accepting the mark. As Steve was facing the prospect of martyrdom when Vasily was driving him to the loyalty mark application site, Vasily actually confesses to Steve that he envies him while Steve laments that when he met Vasily it was already too late for him. Shortly after Pinkerton's death (before in the dramatic audio presentation), Vasily killed himself.
A parallel character in Left Behind: The Kids is Patrick Rose who suffered a similar predicament, committed suicide, and also appeared in the story the same time during the Tribulation that Vasily Medvedev did: while the oceans were turned into blood but before the rivers were. Steve's efforts to evangelize Vasily would be in vain, just as Judd Thompson Jr.'s efforts to tell Dr. Rose the gospel would be futile too.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Vasily (Василий) is the Russian form of Vassilios (Βασίλειος), a Greek name meaning "kingly." Basil is the English form.
- Medvedev (Медведев) means "of the bear clan," based on Медвед (bear).
- Medvedev was the only Global Community officer that knew that the real identity of Pinkerton Stephens was Steve Plank.
- Vasily was one of the few Global Community officials that expressed regret for taking the mark of Carpathia. Others include Patrick Rose, Krystall Carney, Joel Ben-Eliezar (who tried to cut it off and applied sandpaper to his forehead), and the unnamed woman Rayford met in New Babylon during the plague of darkness.