Dimitri Bukharin was the fifth man to wear the Crimson Dynamo armor. A former agent of the KGB, he was given the armor by the Soviet government after the previous Crimson Dynamo, Yuri Petrovich, was exiled to a work camp in Siberia in disgrace for failing to accomplish his mission. Bukharin was ordered to join the newly-formed team of super-agents, the Soviet Super-Soldiers, in order to spy on them for the government. Their first mission was to investigate a signal coming from the Blue Area of the Moon. Upon arriving, they were attacked by the alien Rigellians; when Iron Man and Jack of Hearts arrived to investigate the signal as well, the three Soviets mistook them for their earlier attackers and began battling them. Once the misunderstanding was resolved, the two groups joined forces to defeat the Rigellian threat and returned to Earth.
The team's next mission was to kidnap an American scientist, but they were defeated by the Hulk and Spider Man, with Spider-Man knocking Bukharin out in the fight. Bukharin also faced the Hulk when the Super-Soldiers were sent to investigate the spread of radiation from the "Forbidden Zone," when the Hulk beat Bukharin unconscious. Soon afterwards, the other members of the team discovered that he was a spy and expelled him from the group. Bukharin continued to operate independently as the Crimson Dynamo, facing off at various times againt the Human Torch, Black Panther, the original X-Factor, and the Avengers. He was also attacked by Iron Man during the "Armor Wars" and his armor was disabled by a negator pack.
After his armor was repaired, Bukharin became a member of the Supreme Soviets, a team of Soviet superhumans that was loyal to the government. When the remaining Soviet Super-Soldiers refused to merge with the new team and defected to the United States, the Supreme Soviets were ordered to punish them for their disloyalty. Infiltrating the Avengers' base where the Soviet Super-Soldiers were staying while awaiting political asylum, the Supreme Soviets defeated the Super-Soldiers and left them for dead. Upon their return to the Soviet Union, however, the Supreme Soviets were attacked by the "Great Beast," a bear-like monster comprised of darkforce projected by Darkstar and animated by the spirits of the Super-Soldiers, which attempted to restore themselves by absorbing the lifeforces of the Supreme Soviets. Captain America, who had gone to the Soviet Union in pursuit of the Supreme Soviets, persuaded the spirits to spare the Supreme Soviets, and the Super-Soldiers recovered on their own.
Bukharin was later dispatched to New York to recover the remnants of the original Titanium Man. During the mission, the Titanium Man massacred the members of the Green Liberation Front, and in the aftermath of the controversy over the battle, Bukharin was forced to turn over the Crimson Dynamo armor. The Supreme Soviets refused to accept his resignation, however, and they gave him a new identity as Airstrike when the team refashioned itself as the People's Protectorate. As a member of the group, Bukharin participated in the pursuit of the terrorist group Peace Corpse when the organization seized a British nuclear submarine.
