Before committing the massacre, the main antagonist Vladimir Makarov says "Remember – no Russian" to the player (an undercover CIA agent, who assumed the identity of one of Makarov's followers) as they were about to get out of the elevator. In the original context, the phase was meant to instruct his followers to only speak in English to hide their Russian identity (this is to further enforce the idea that, in addition to their use of Western-manufactured weapons such as the M4A1 and the M240, the attack was orchestrated by an American-affiliated group). However, the quote "No Russian" has been misattributed into Makarov instructing his followers into killing any Russian they come across, therefore it has been used as a snowclone on the internet.
The mission drew controversy in the media for its portrayal of a terrorist attack which the player can choose to partake in. Because of the nature of the mission, it can be skipped entirely without impeding the game progression.
