When the treasonous General Ouromov and Xenia Onatopp attack the station with a stolen Tiger helicopter, she is left the only survivor besides Boris Grishenko, who had allied himself with Ourumov and Alec Trevelyan, the plan's mastermind.

Simonova attempts to find Boris, whom she believes to be innocent; he meets her in a cathedral and turns her over to Onatopp.

The helicopter is programmed to fire missiles at itself, but Bond is able to eject the two, who are subsequently arrested by the Russian government.

Author Helena Bassil-Morosow states that "like her predecessors, Tatyana Romanova and Anya Amasova, Natalya is strong, beautiful and resilient but still needs Bond to save her.

"[1] IGN ranked Natalya as the 7th best Bond girl, saying "she was exactly what the franchise needed to get back on top after a lengthy time away from the big screen".