Despite the efforts of the U.S. Marine Corps and British Special Air Service in the previous game, the ultranationalists seize control of the Russian Federation. An ultranationalist named Vladimir Makarov begins a campaign of revenge by committing acts of terrorism over the course of five years. In 2016, Private First Class Joseph Allen of the U.S. Army Rangers who is stationed in Afghanistan, is tasked to assist in taking a city from insurgents. Impressed by Allen's abilities, Lieutenant General Shepherd recruits him into the Task Force 141, an elite, multi-national counter-terrorist unit under Shepherd's command. Meanwhile, two other 141 members, "Soap" and "Roach", infiltrate a Russian airbase in the Tian Shan mountains to retrieve an Attack Characterization System (ACS) module from a downed American satellite and escape. Allen is sent on an undercover mission in Russia for the CIA, joining Makarov in a massacre of civilians at an airport in Moscow. However, Makarov, who has been aware of Allen's true identity, kills him during extraction, leaving his body behind to spark a war between the Russian Federation and the United States. Outraged by what was believed to be an American-sponsored terrorist attack, Russia retaliates by launching a surprise invasion on the East Coast of the United States after bypassing its early warning system. Because the evidence of Makarov involvement in the airport massacre died with Allen, Task Force 141 is sent to a favela in Rio de Janeiro to capture Makarov's weapons dealer. They learn that Makarov's worst enemy, known only as "Prisoner 627", is incarcerated in a Russian gulag east of Petropavlovsk. Task Force 141 assaults the prison and manages to free 627, who turns out to be Captain Price. Price agrees to aid the 141, but insists that the war in America needs to end. He leads the 141 to raid a Russian port and gain control of a nuclear submarine. Once inside the vessel, Price launches a ballistic missile towards Washington, D.C. and sets its nuclear warhead to detonate in the upper atmosphere. The resulting EMP disables all electronic devices across the eastern seaboard, leaving Russian forces without logistics, tanks or air support, and giving the US a much needed advantage. U.S. National Command Authority stationed in Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center sends the U.S. Air Force to bomb Russian-occupied strategic structures (including the White House) across Washington D.C. but the strike is aborted, when green flares are lit on top of these structures, showing that the Americans have recaptured them. Narrowing down Makarov's hiding place to two separate locations, Task Force 141 decides to split up. Price and "Soap" travel to an aircraft boneyard in Afghanistan, while "Roach" and "Ghost" raid Makarov's safehouse on the Georgian-Russian border. At the safehouse, "Roach" and his team obtain Makarov's "operations playbook" and escape. When they reach the extraction point, however, Shepherd murders them. Price and "Soap", already aware of Shepherd's betrayal, escape a battle between Shepherd and Makarov forces, but are branded as terrorists. During the escape, Price contacts Makarov on an open radio channel, where Makarov grudgingly reveals Shepherd's mountain base in Afghanistan. Price and "Soap" raid the base in an attempt to take revenge on Shepherd in a suicide mission. During the infiltration, Shepherd sets the base to self-destruct and escapes on a boat. At the climax of a boat pursuit, Shepherd sails into a helicopter, but Price shoots it down as he and "Soap" tumble over a waterfall. A dazed "Soap" follows Shepherd and attempts to kill him. Shepherd stabs him in the chest before facing Price in a hand-to-hand fight. Shepherd gains the upper hand on Price, but "Soap" manages to pull the knife out of his own chest and throw it back at Shepherd, killing him. In the aftermath, Price helps evacuate "Soap" for medical attention, setting the stage for the sequel to this story.