Ivan Trefkov was a Nazi war criminal. After the war, he planned a daring attack on Symkaria, home of Ernst Sablinova, a mercenary who was hunting and killing Nazis. He had hoped to kill Sablinova in retribution for his fallen comrades, but Ernst's young daughter warned he father of the danger. In the ensuing firefight, Ivan killed Ernst's wife Anastasia. This event would traumatize both Ernst and his daughter Silver for years.

Years later, Ivan agreed to ally himself with the burgeoning Neo-Nazi HYDRA faction under the leadership of Baron von Strucker. However, during the meeting, Ernst, Silver and their team of mercenaries, the Wild Pack ambushed them. Ernst sent most of the team, including his daughter, away from the fight, so he could gain revenge on Ivan by himself. This proved a lethal mistake, as Ivan was able to kill Ernst before escaping, leaving Silver to swear vengeance for yet another parent lost to the Nazi criminal.

Years later, Ivan had broken away from HYDRA as one of the key members of the Genesis Coalition. Silver, now an internationally acclaimed mercenary, continued to hunt him down, taking apart his operations in South America with the help of Paladin, and destroying his cyborg army and undersea base with the help of Stingray and The Next Wave.

Ivan soon managed to depose his main rival within the Coalition, Dmitri Petrovitch. He then attempted to carry out his masterplan to destroy HYDRA. Using stolen HYDRA assets, he strategically targeted world powers, hoping to provoke a brutal counterattack against HYDRA. The plan might have worked if not for Silver Sable, who, along with her Wild Pack and her special ops team the Intruders, disrupted the plan at every turn, managing to work alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA to destroy the Genesis Coalition.

Silver finally found Ivan, hoping to flee and fight another day, and she cut him down in cold blood, finally winning vengeance for her mother and father.