Nikolai previously was a soldier in the Russian Army. His involvement with the West began when he was stationed to guard the Soviet embassy in Copenhagen. While there, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union's foreign policy and was subsequently recruited as an informant by MI6. He was later accused of being an informant against the Ultranationalists but these accusations were never proven. After leaving the military, he became a "fixer" with valuable above-board.