WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for season 2 of The Diplomat.
Roman Lenkov’s fate is finally revealed in The Diplomat 2nd season after being a mysterious shadow operative throughout the first season. Keri Russell leads the cast of The Diplomat Season 2 along with Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal, David Gyasi as Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as CIA agent Eidra Park and Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Trowbridge. The series begins after the events of The Diplomat the first season finale, which left the lives of Hal, Ato Essandoh’s Stuart and Jess Chanliau’s Ronnie up in the air.
The Diplomat was created by Debora Chan (The West Wing, Grey’s Anatomy, Homeland). Lead actress Keri Russell received an Emmy nomination for her role as US Ambassador Kate Wyler in The Diplomat season 1. The series introduces a handful of new characters while narrowing its focus on those responsible for the car explosion that killed Merritt Grove and the missile attack on HMS Courageous, two of the biggest obstacles in The Diplomat season 1. How The Diplomat season two ends, Kate and Hal are closer to the truth about Roman Lenkov and the government officials behind the false flag operation.
Who is Roman Lenkov and the Lenkov Group?
Lenkov is a secret mercenary for hire
In the world of The DiplomatRoman Lenkov is a Russian mercenary for hire who is willing to operate outside of his government’s interests. He is the leader and founder of the Lenkov Group, which is a disenfranchised secret military agency contracted for undocumented and unauthorized operations independent of nationalist interests. The fact that the Lenkov Group is based outside of Russia is almost irrelevant, as the secret agency will accept work from any nation or government for the right price. This is why Lenkov organized the attack on the British HMS Courageous based on orders from US Vice President Grace Penn.
The Diplomat The first season established that Lenkov is also a war criminal who is not in good standing with the Russian government or military. This is why he has no nationalist support in The Diplomat Season 2 and Russia has little to no response to his murder by British troops. Lenkov is not depicted in any way in The Diplomat 1st season and is only shown in brief scenes in The Diplomat Season 2, one of which was his murder. Actor Sam Douglas plays Lenkov in The Diplomat Season 2, Episode 3 “The Ides of March” as news of his murder makes international headlines.
The Lenkov Group attacked HMS Courageous In The Diplomat
Kate suspected that PM Trowbridge hired Lenkov
Although the person behind the attack on the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous is the real mystery of The Diplomat season 2, it is well established that the Lenkov Group was the one who carried out the orders in season 1. Initially, Both the United Kingdom and the United States initially suspected that Iran was behind the missile attack on HMS Courageous which killed more than 40 Royal Navy soldiers. Kate met with Iranian and Russian diplomats and discovered that Lenkov was hired to attack the British warship. She believed this was done to increase tensions in the Persian Gulf to justify President Rayburn and Prime Minister Trowbridge sending more British and American armed forces to surround Iran.
In The Diplomat In the first season, Kate successfully convinces President Rayburn to cancel military support for Britain, knowing that the Iranians were not responsible for the attack on HMS Courageous. Kate then negotiates a deal with the French to arrest Lenkov on French soil, but discovers that Prime Minister Trowbridge intends to assassinate Lenkov rather than arrest and interrogate him, which ends up happening. Kate suspects that Trowbridge wanted to silence Lenkov so he couldn’t reveal that Trowbridge was the one who hired him. Ultimately, Trowbridge is cleared after Roylin confesses to Hal about her and Grace Penn.
Roman Lenkov’s death explained
Trowbridge blamed Lenkov for the HMS Courageous & Merritt Grove car bombing
Roman Lenkov was murdered by British special forces at the beginning of The Diplomat season 2, episode 3. Prime Minister Trowbridge announced Lenkov’s assassination three weeks after the attack on HMS Courageous, allowing him to appear as a heroic figure for his country and the United Kingdom in general. Trowbridge grouped the attack on HMS Courageous and the car bomb that killed Merritt Grove as two terrorist acts orchestrated by Roman Lenkov. The announcement of Lenkov’s death gave a sense of finality to the two apparent terrorist attacks on Britain in the space of three weeks.
During his press conference, Trowbridge described Roman Lenkov as a Russian mercenary leader and a “shadow of the Kremlin.” By including the Russian government, Trowbridge makes it clear that he is pointing the finger not just at Lenkov, but at Russia itself, choosing to blame them as an easy and obvious enemy. During Trowbridge’s conversation with Penn in Season 2, Episode 5, Penn subtly suggests they bury the story. Happily, Russia was largely unaffected by Lenkov’s death and effectively handed it over to the British. Kate and Eidra suspected that Roylin was the one who encouraged Trowbridge to kill Lenkov. This ended up protecting Roylin and Penn, not the innocent Trowbridge.
The Lenkov Group is based on the real-life Wagner Group
Roman Lenkov is loosely inspired by Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin
The Lenkov Group in The Diplomat is based on the real-life state-funded Russian private military organization known as the Wagner Group. Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash in western Russia in August 2023. According to BBC“Yevgeny Prigozhin said he founded Wagner in 2014. Although mercenary forces are technically illegal in Russia, Wagner registered as a “private military company” in 2021. Prigozhin was a wealthy businessman and convicted criminal known as “Putin’s chef ” because he provided catering for the Kremlin.”
The Lenkov Group was inspired by the Wagner Group, which means that Yevgeny Prigozhin was the main inspiration for Roman Lenkov in The Diplomat.
Known as “the most sinister figure in Russian politics after Vladimir Putin“, Yevgeny Prigozhin was a convict before becoming the leader of the Wagner Group (via The Wall Street Journal). “Yevgeny Prigozhin began his career as a thief and bandit, ending up in prison for almost a decade..” Although not much is revealed about the Lenkov Group in The Diplomatit is clear that the fictional group of mercenaries was inspired by the Wagner Group, which means that Yevgeny Prigozhin is the main inspiration for Roman Lenkov. In The Diplomathe is the scapegoat used by Trowbridge and Roylin to unite the United Kingdom and by Vice President Penn to secure the United States’ nuclear defenses against Russia.
Sources: BBC, Wall Street Journal