China in the Afghan war 1979 1989. The war of the USSR in Afghanistan: the main

Source: photochronograph.ru

skinning our soldiers on occasion, Basmachi’s lawless bastards ... but in fact, almost the entire population was ready to take up arms, and when most of the country is ready to take up arms, it’s not easy to fight, this is the difficulty of thinking this wars

The photos are colorful, lively .. thanks ... the complexity of the war in Afghanistan from 79 -89 years was still
and the fact that the majority fought with the USSR, that is, if they were some kind of separate gang formations of radical fanatics like the Taliban (by the way, the Taliban is also different, and very different), then this would be half the trouble, but since any invasion of third-party states Under any pretext, even albeit under the most trustworthy one, is perceived by the Islamic world as a seizure, occupation, uninvited invasion, intervention, etc., etc., respectively, those who in no way belonged to any groups take up arms, and there .., peacefully grazed some sheep, for example, if you watch the dock films .. already 20 years later, what do the locals think about the war, then in Afghanistan it turns out almost every 4th shot at ours, and everyone calmly talks about it ... now they are all these storytellers, civilians, they bake cakes, trade behind the counter, work as taxi drivers, etc., etc. ... and you never think that they were evil Mujahideen 20 years ago ... for example, I always have a word mujahideen basmach or dushman associated with some bastards teraryugs
skinning our soldiers on occasion, such lawless Basmachi .. but in fact, almost the entire population was ready to take up arms, and when most of the country
ready to take up arms, it is not easy to fight, this is the complexity of the thought of this war

Click to reveal...

Everything is correct. From the point of view of the Afghans - We, or the United States, are the invaders. Today there is a lot of talk about whether or not it was necessary to send troops to Afghanistan. I think it was necessary then. Unfortunately. And Eternal Memory to All Soldiers. They fought for their country.

By the way ... there is such a documentary film, very famous in the world and sensational, and there is a reason for this .. it was filmed by Paul Refsdal, a Norwegian journalist .. it is called "Taliban without a mask" where you can see the classic type of enemy ... these are the so-called moderate groups whose main theme is to drive the invader out of their land (that is, patriotic comrades), and there are those whose main theme is everything else .. that is, those who only hide behind the idea of ​​patriotism - they are usually called radicals .. both of them prefer once again don't argue with each other
but it doesn’t always work out, and then wars begin between the clans. During the Afghan war, both of them united against the common enemy of the USSR, .. as ours left, a showdown between clans began ... in general, the situation is predictable ... then the Americans came .. and again a common enemy,
True, there is no longer such unity as during the Afghan war, no national heroes like Masud .. and. the situation is slightly different, .. soon Refsdal was kidnapped by radicals ... he was filmed ... though it cost money later ... people in a white hillock of Helmand ... or something like that .. almost after this shelling, the most important of his family was covered by US drones, razed to the ground in a day
after which he probably had all the reasons to hate the Americans)

The topic is correct and necessary. quivering.
My call fell just on the withdrawal of OKSVA from the DRA. Komroty, foreman and platoon commander were from there. All sensitive, undermined, ... Between officers and ensigns, from across the river, and those who had not been there, there existed, unspoken, silent and not always visible to the eye but there is a noticeable difference. We youngsters immediately sensed this and trusted them more than those who did not fight .... Without witnesses, a war ensign could land a major, such incidents sometimes happened to staff officers ... To the credit of the warring officers and ensigns, I will say that for two years I have been among them condoms never met, and among the headquarters and support sometimes came across rare specimens ....... The first category was forgiven a lot, the second was paid with soldier's hatred and, under especially favorable circumstances, with soldier's fists. By this time, the country was already rushing at full speed to the cliff and much hidden for the time being and not the best in people was asked to come out ....

89-91. St. s-t, Brest.

I'll throw in a bug. Found on the web.

1 December 1 - Day of Remembrance of the intelligence officers of 783 ORB who died on this day in 1984 in the battle near the village of Ishanan (Kunduz province)

- Captain Karataev A.A. - commander of the 2nd RR
- Junior Sergeant Aseev S.I. - squad leader 2 rr
- Private Tsyganov A.V., gunner-operator 2 RR
- Private Tukhtaev T.M., scout 2 RR

Aseev Sergei Ivanovich, junior sergeant, commander of the reconnaissance squad. Born on May 9, 1965 in the village of Kalinka, Skopinsky District, Ryazan Region. Father - Aseev Ivan Vasilyevich, mother - Aseeva Evdokia Kirillovna. In 1983 he graduated from the Moscow School of Metrostroy and worked as an installer at Metrostroy. On May 3, 1984, he was drafted into the army by the Pervomaisky district military registration and enlistment office in Moscow. In the Republic of Afghanistan - since November 1984. During the combat operation on December 11, 1984, his reconnaissance company entered into battle with the enemy. During the battle, the fighters of the squad, led by Aseev, attacked the enemy and broke into his positions. Sergey died in the battle. For courage and courage shown in the performance of a combat mission, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star (posthumously). He was buried in the village of Kalinka, Skopinsky district.

TSYGANOV Alexey Vladimirovich , private, gunner-operator of the BMP, b. 01/25/1965 in the village. Shekshem, Sharyinsky district, Kostroma, region Russian. He studied at the Kolpinsky ship repair school.
In Armed. The forces of the USSR were called up on 11/3/83 by the Zhdanovsky RVC, Leningrad.
In the Rep. Afghanistan from Apr. 1984.
Participated in 9 combat operas.
He showed himself to be a brave and courageous warrior.
12/11/1984 reconnaissance, the company in which he served, fought with the pr-com. C. fought fearlessly and skillfully.
With machine gun fire, he disabled several rebels.
Died on the battlefield.

Buried in his native village.

TUKHTAEV Tuymurod Mukhsinovich , private, shooter, genus. 02/18/1966 on the territory. collective farm "Aini" Gijduvan district of Bukhara, region Uzbek SSR. Uzbek. He studied at the Samarkand Cooperative Institute.
In Armed. The forces of the USSR were called up on 12.4.84 by the Bagishamal RVK in the city of Samarkand.
In the Rep. Afghanistan since Sept. 1984.
12/11/1984 during combat operas in the district of us. point Ishan acted in the battle formation of a reconnaissance company.
Having blocked the village, the company began combing it, but was met with strong fire from the rebels.
As part of a group of three people, T. came close to the duval, because of which the fire was fired, and destroyed the fire with grenades. point.
During the battle, he was the first to break into the house where the rebels were, and opened fire on them.
He died in this battle.
load ord. Red Star (posthumously).
Buried at home.

Dead:

Deputy Commander of the ORB for the technical part, Major Anatoly Petrovich Yashchenko;
- Deputy commander of the RDR for the VDP, Lieutenant Kelekhsaev Sergey Aleksandrovich;
- squad leader Sergeant Petrov Vasily Nikolaevich;
- squad leader Sergeant Shilov Dmitry Yuryevich;
- senior scout junior sergeant Kapriyanidi Georgis Ivanovich;
- senior intelligence officer junior sergeant Dancha Ivan Ivanovich;
- Radiotelegraph operator Private Sorokin Nikolai Anatolyevich.

And almost everything in the highlands

Kandahar Province, Kandahar, 173 SESN, 1987. original photo
Scouts of the 173rd separate special forces detachment at a combat exit somewhere east of Kandahar. Pashtun tents are visible in the background, and some suitcases and other things that cannot be identified lie in the shadows in front of the scouts. The scouts were wearing unloading vests (it looks like they are Chinese “chi-com”), which contained 6 equipped magazines for a machine gun, 4 grenades, three additionally had a belt cartridge belt for ten VOG-25 grenades from the PG-25 underbarrel grenade launcher.

From left to right: Captain Andrey Vasilyevich Kravchenko, deputy commander of the 3rd company senior lieutenant Khamzin Anvar Gumerovich (awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star), senior sergeant of the 3rd company Sergey Zatemov, commander of the 3rd company Captain Prokopchuk Konstantin Viktorovich (died 04/21/1987, awarded two Orders of the Red Banner and the Order of the Red Star).

original photo
In the photo: Deputy commander of the security company, Senior Lieutenant Polyakov Leonid Igorevich at the outpost of the second drilling station, producing drinking water for the Kabul garrison, organized not far from the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan, surrounded by the "service" dogs of the outpost - on the left is a shepherd dog brought from the USSR by one of the employees of the drilling rig, and on the right is a local mongrel who has nailed to the outpost.

Dogs were brought from the USSR by military personnel and employees Soviet army, many local stray stray dogs were nailed to our units, becoming there for allowance. Basically, they were companions and were used to carry out guard duty, which was carried much better by conscripts, notifying the approach of uninvited guests with their bark. Soviet outposts were built in an open field and were often fenced only with reinforced concrete poles with barbed wire stretched over them, which was not a serious obstacle for the enemy if the guard service was poorly organized. Dogs perfectly filled these gaps in the organization of guarding outposts. After the withdrawal of troops, a huge number of dogs remained in Afghanistan

Kabul Province, Kabul, 1351 OBO, 1985. original photo
In the photo: at the outpost of the second drilling station, which produces drinking water for the Kabul garrison, organized near the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan, on the left is the deputy commander of the security company, Senior Lieutenant Polyakov Leonid Igorevich, on the right, the commander of the security platoon, Senior Lieutenant Felikov Viktor.

The photos are colorful, lively .. thanks ... the complexity of the war in Afghanistan from 79-89 years was also in the fact that the majority fought with the USSR, that is, if they were some kind of separate gang formations of radical fanatics like the Taliban (by the way, the Taliban also different, and very different) then it would be half the trouble, but since any invasion of third-party states Under any pretext, even under the most trustworthy one, is perceived by the Islamic world as a seizure, occupation, uninvited invasion, intervention, etc., etc. .. .then, accordingly, those who in no way belonged to any groups in any way take up arms, and there .., peacefully grazing some kind of sheep, for example, if you watch the doc films .. already 20 years later, what do the locals think about the war, then in Afghanistan it turns out almost every 4th shot at ours, and everyone calmly talks about it ... now they are all these storytellers, civilians, bake cakes, trade behind the counter, work as taxi drivers, etc., etc. ... and you will never think that they were evil mujahideen 20 years ago ... for example, for me, the word mujahideen basmach or dushman always associated with some kind of bastards teraryugs
skinning our soldiers on occasion, Basmachi’s lawless bastards ... but in fact, almost the entire population was ready to take up arms, and when most of the country is ready to take up arms, it’s not easy to fight, this is the difficulty of thinking this wars

Click to reveal...

If only the Americans hadn’t poured money, weapons, instructors into this war ..., the complexity would have been much less ...
And if Russia now applied 10% of the efforts spent by the United States, the Americans from Avgan would be purring ....

Nangarhar Province, Jalalabad, 66 SMBR, 1985.
The command of the 9th company is at the location of the company.
From left to right - platoon commander l-t Loskutov (?), commander of the 9th company, senior l-t Aliskerov A., platoon commander l-t Voronkin S.V., platoon commander l-t Nazarov (?).

In the camp of the Afghan opposition, on Pakistani bases, with the participation of American and Pakistani advisers, they developed a plan: to take the border town of Khost, to create an alternative government to Kabul, with all the ensuing consequences.

Our command conceived the operation "Magistral" in order to unblock the Gardez-Khost highway and restore the food supply to the population of the city.

A gang of dushmans is moving out of Pakistan into Afghan territory.

Afghan dushmans strongly resembled the Central Asian Basmachi of the 20s and 30s.
During the operation, which was carried out from November 23, 1987 to January 10, 1988, the road was unblocked. On December 30, the first convoy with food arrived in Khost. On the important heights checkpoints were set up along the highway.

However, the Dushman thugs and their American and Pakistani patrons did not accept this situation, and threw them into the liquidation of checkpoints best forces, and the Dushman special squad "Black Stork" was sent to height 3234 occupied by the 9th company of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment.

According to legend, this detachment consisted of criminals who were supposed to atone for their guilt before Allah with the blood of the infidels. In fact, they were Pakistani special forces dressed in dushman rags, who, due to their ethnicity, speak Pashto. That day they were in black uniforms with rectangular black-yellow-red stripes on the sleeves.

At half past four on January 7, 1988, dushmans began shelling height 3234. Corporal Fkdotov died during the shelling. The rocket fired from the branch it was under. Under the cover of fire from recoilless rifles, mortars and rocket launchers, the bandits approached our positions at a distance of 220 meters. With the onset of dusk, under the cover of massive fire, the dushmans attacked from two directions.

After 50 minutes, the attack was repulsed. Dushmans could not approach the main positions closer than 60 meters. 10-15 dushmans were killed, about 30 were wounded. During the attack, junior sergeant Vyacheslav Aleksandrov was killed.

The fire of the dushmans was concentrated on the position of Aleksandrov, who fired from the Utyos heavy machine gun.

Vyacheslav ordered his fighters Obedkov and Kopyrin to take cover behind the position, while he himself continued to fire and repulsed three enemy attacks.

Slava Alexandrov shortly before the battle.

The second assault began at 17.35. dushmans concentrated their efforts where the Utyos machine gun they had just destroyed stood. But this assault was also repulsed.

During this assault, the main blow was taken by the machine gunner Andrey Melnikov. With aimed fire with frequent changes of positions, Andrey Melnikov managed to repel numerous enemy attacks for a long time. When Andrei ran out of ammunition, the wounded paratrooper managed to throw a grenade into the midst of the militants, but he himself died from the explosion of an enemy mine. The fragment, breaking through the Komsomol ticket, a photograph of his wife and daughter, went straight into the heart.

From the memoirs of S. Yu. Borisov, sergeant of the 2nd platoon of the 9th company, made by him immediately after the battle at height 3234 (according to the book by Yury Mikhailovich Lapshin - deputy commander of the 345th RAP in 1987-89 "Afghan Diary").
"All the attacks of the dushmans were well organized. Other platoons of the company came to our aid, replenished our supply of ammunition. There was a lull, or rather the shooting calmed down. But he got up strong wind it got very cold. I went down under the rock, where the comrades who had just arrived were.
At this time, the most terrible and most terrible attack began. It was light from the breaks of the "boundaries" (grenades from RPG-7). Dushmans fired heavily from three directions. They figured out our positions, and fired concentrated grenade launchers at the place where Melnikov was with a machine gun. The spirits fired five or six grenades into it. He ran downstairs already dead. Dropped dead without a word. From the very beginning of the battle, he fired from a machine gun, both from our direction and from the one where he received a mortal wound.

ml. I ordered Sergeant Peredelsky V.V. to carry all the grenades upstairs, to the stone where all our comrades were. Then he took a grenade and rushed there. Having encouraged the guys to hold on, he himself began to fire.
Spirits have already approached 20-25 meters. We fired at them almost point-blank. But we did not even suspect that they would crawl even closer to a distance of 5-6 meters and from there they would begin to throw grenades at us. We simply could not shoot through this pothole, near which there were two thick trees. At that moment, we no longer had grenades. I stood next to A. Tsvetkov and the grenade that exploded under us was fatal for him. I was wounded in the arm and leg.
There were many wounded, they were lying, and we could do nothing to help them. There were four of us left: me, Vladimir Shchigolev, Viktor Peredelsky and Pavel Trutnev, then Zurab Menteshashvili ran to the rescue. We already had two magazines for each, and not a single grenade. Even there was no one to equip stores. At this most terrible moment, our reconnaissance platoon came to our aid, and we began to pull out the wounded. Private Igor Tikhonenko covered our right flank all 10 hours, conducted aimed fire from a machine gun. Perhaps, thanks to him and Andrey Melnikov, the "spirits" could not get around us with right side. At four o'clock the spirits realized that they could not take this hill. Taking their wounded and dead, they began to retreat.
On the battlefield, we later found a grenade launcher, shots for it in different places, and three hand grenades without rings. Apparently, when they tore the rings, the checks remained in the heat of the moment. Maybe the rebels literally did not have enough of these three grenades to crush our resistance.
There was a lot of blood everywhere, apparently, they had heavy losses. All the trees and stones were riddled, no living place was visible. Shanks from the "boundaries" stuck out in the trees.
I have not yet written about the "Cliff", which the "spirits" literally turned into a piece of scrap metal with bullets and shrapnel. We fired from it until the very last minute. How many was the enemy, one can only guess. According to our estimates, no less than two or three hundred.

In total, from eight in the evening to three in the morning, dushmans went to attack heights nine times.

Significant assistance to the defenders was provided by our artillery, whose fire under dushman bullets was directed by artillery spotter senior lieutenant Ivan Babenko, who was in the positions of the 9th company.

At a critical moment, a reconnaissance platoon of senior lieutenant Alexei Smirnov approached, delivering ammunition, which made it possible to go on a counterattack and finally decided the outcome of the battle.

Alexei Smirnov, a graduate of the RVVDKU, led a group of scouts that came to the aid of Viktor Gagarin's platoon.

The Mujahideen realized that they would not be able to take this mountain. Taking away the wounded and dead, they began to retreat. Pakistani helicopters were waiting for them in a nearby gorge. However, as soon as they were about to take off, the Tornadoes hit them, and most of the squad was destroyed.

In the 9th company, six paratroopers were killed, twenty-eight were injured, nine of them severe. Junior Sergeant Alexandrov and Private Melnikov were posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

The photo shows the awarding of the soldiers of the 9th company.

The film "9th company"
Many of the facts in it were distorted. So, the events in the film unfold in 1989, and not in 1988, as it was in reality. Also, the losses of the Soviet army in this battle according to the film are almost 100%, while in fact 6 out of 39 people died. The most serious distortion of the facts (ALmost CRIMINAL) is that in the film the paratroopers were "forgotten" at a height and took the fight alone, without any command and support.
Another distortion - the battle took place in the highlands, in the snow, and not in the sands, as in the film. Nikolai Starodymov, editor-in-chief of the Battle Brotherhood magazine, a veteran of the War in Afghanistan, criticized Bondarchuk's film, saying that "the film showed the situation not just what was not there - what, in principle, could not be."

After the battle, two fighters received the title of "Heroes of the Soviet Union" posthumously.
This is Junior Sergeant Vyacheslav Alexandrov and Private Andrei Melnikov (on the first photo).
Eternal glory to the dead...

Afghan war- military conflict on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). A limited contingent took part in this conflict Soviet troops.The conflict took place between the Afghan government troops and the Afghan Mujahideen armed formations, which were supported by NATO, and primarily by the United States, which actively armed the enemies of the Afghan regime.

Background of the Afghan War

The war itself, which lasted from 1979 to 1989, is defined in historiography by the presence on the territory of Afghanistan of a limited contingent of the USSR Armed Forces. But the beginning of the entire conflict must be considered 1973, when King Zahir Shah was overthrown in Afghanistan. Power passed to the regime of Mohammed Daoud, and in 1978 the Saur (April) revolution took place, and the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) became the new government, proclaiming the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Afghanistan began to build socialism, but all the construction took place in an extremely unstable internal situation.

The leader of the PDPA was Nur Mohammad Taraki. His reforms were highly unpopular in a country traditionally a rural majority. Any dissent was brutally suppressed. During his reign, he arrested thousands of people, some of whom were executed.

The main opponent of the socialist government was the radical Islamists, who declared a holy war (jihad) on it. Mujahideen detachments were organized, which later became the main opposing force - the Soviet army fought with it.

The majority of the population of Afghanistan was illiterate, and it was not difficult for Islamist agitators to turn the population against the new government.

The beginning of the war

Immediately after coming to power, the government was faced with the outbreak of armed rebellions organized by Islamists. The Afghan leadership was unable to cope with the situation and turned to Moscow for help.

The issue of assistance to Afghanistan was considered in the Kremlin on March 19, 1979. Leonid Brezhnev and other members of the Politburo opposed armed intervention. But over time, the situation near the borders of the USSR worsened, and opinion changed dramatically.

On December 12, 1979, the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted a resolution on the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Formally, the reason was the repeated requests of the leadership of Afghanistan, but in fact these actions were supposed to prevent the threat of foreign military intervention.

It must be remembered that, in addition to tense relations with the Mujahideen, there was no unity in the government itself. Particularly irreconcilable was the inner-party struggle, which reached its climax in September 1979. It was then that PDPA leader Nur Mohammad Taraki was arrested and killed by Hafizullah Amin. Amin took the place of Taraki and, continuing to fight against the Islamists, intensified repression within the ruling party.

According to Soviet intelligence, Amin tried to negotiate with Pakistan and China, which our experts considered unacceptable. On December 27, 1979, a detachment of Soviet special forces captured the presidential palace, Amin and his sons were killed. Babrak Karmal became the new leader of the country.

The course of the war

As a result, our soldiers were drawn into the ongoing civil war and became active participants.

The whole war can be divided into several stages:

1st stage: December 1979 - February 1980. The introduction of the 40th Soviet Army of General Boris Gromov into Afghanistan, the deployment of garrisons, the organization of the protection of strategic facilities and places of deployment.

2nd stage: March 1980 - April 1985. Carrying out active large-scale hostilities. Reorganization and strengthening of the armed forces of the DRA.

3rd stage: May 1985 - December 1986. The reduction of active hostilities and the transition to support the actions of the Afghan government troops. Assistance was provided by aviation and sapper units. Organization of counteraction to the delivery of weapons and ammunition from abroad. Six regiments were withdrawn to their homeland.

4th stage: January 1987 - February 1989. Assistance to the Afghan leadership in pursuing a policy of national reconciliation. Continued support for hostilities conducted by government forces. Preparations for the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

In April 1988, an agreement was signed in Switzerland between Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve the situation around the DRA. The Soviet Union pledged to withdraw its troops within nine months, and the US and Pakistan were to stop supporting the Mujahideen. In April 1988, in accordance with the agreement, Soviet troops were completely withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Losses in the Afghan war

To date, it is known that the losses of the Soviet army amounted to 14 thousand 427 people, the KGB - 576 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28 people (dead and missing). Wounded and shell-shocked during the hostilities were 53 thousand people.

The exact data on the Afghans killed in the war is unknown. By different sources, these losses could be from 1 to 2 million people. From 850 thousand to one and a half million people became refugees and settled mainly in Pakistan and Iran.

After the end of the war

The Mujahideen did not take part in the Geneva talks and did not support these decisions. As a result, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops fighting did not stop, but even intensified.

The new leader of Afghanistan, Najibullah, without Soviet help, barely held back the onslaught of the Mujahideen. There was a split in his government, many of his associates joined the ranks of the opposition. In March 1992, General Dostum and his Uzbek militia withdrew from Najibullah. In April, the Mujahideen captured Kabul. Najibullah long time hid in the building of the UN mission, but was captured by the Taliban and hanged.

The United States of America provided great assistance in supporting the counter-revolution in Afghanistan. It was they who initiated and organized many international protests against the Soviet Union.

Back in 1980, the Islamic Conference was organized, at which 34 foreign ministers demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. At the instigation of the United States, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution protesting Soviet interference. American President D. Carter called for a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

The United States and the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf organized unprecedented assistance to Afghan militants. With their money, the Mujahideen were trained in Pakistan and China. Actively participated in operations against the Soviet forces of the CIA.

During the entire period of hostilities, the United States supplied the Mujahideen with a variety of modern weapons(recoilless guns, anti-aircraft missiles "Stinger" and more).

On December 25, 1979, the entry of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan began.

This undeclared war, which lasted 9 years, 1 month and 19 days, remains an unknown war to this day despite numerous published books of memoirs of participants, very detailed descriptions of the events of the war, veteran websites, etc. If we compare how much is known about the three-year Patriotic war 1812 and the four-year Great Patriotic War, we can say that we know almost nothing about the Afghan war. The image of a ten-year "camp across the river" in the minds of people, filmmakers and journalists is not at all cleared up, and, after 33 years, all the same clichés about a "senseless bloody war", about "mountains of corpses" and "rivers of blood", about numerous, veterans who went crazy from these "rivers of blood", who then drank themselves or became bandits.

Some young people, seeing the abbreviation OKSVA, think that this stupid tattoo artist made a mistake in the word "Moscow". I was 16 years old when this strange war began, and a year later I graduated from school and either entered college or the army. And me and my comrades really did not want to get into this very OKSVu in Afghanistan, from where the first zinc coffins had already begun to come! Although some reckless ones themselves rushed there ...

And the way it all began...

The decision to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan was made on December 12, 1979 at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and formalized by a secret decree of the CPSU Central Committee. The official purpose of the entry was to prevent the threat of foreign military intervention. As a formal basis, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU used the repeated requests of the leadership of Afghanistan for the introduction of Soviet troops.

The armed forces of the government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) on the one hand and the armed opposition (mujahideen, or dushmans) on the other took part in this conflict. The struggle was for complete political control over the territory of Afghanistan. During the conflict, the Dushmans were supported by US military specialists, a number of European countries- NATO members, as well as Pakistani intelligence services.

December 25, 1979 at 15:00, the entry of Soviet troops into the DRA began in three directions: Kushka - Shindand - Kandahar, Termez - Kunduz - Kabul, Khorog - Fayzabad. The troops landed at the airfields of Kabul, Bagram, Kandahar. On December 27, the KGB special forces "Zenith", "Grom" and the "Muslim battalion" of the GRU special forces stormed the Taj Beck Palace. During the battle, Afghan President Amin was killed. On the night of December 28, the 108th motorized rifle division entered Kabul, taking control of all the most important objects of the capital.

The Soviet contingent included: the command of the 40th Army with support and maintenance units, divisions - 4, separate brigades - 5, separate regiments - 4, combat aviation regiments - 4, helicopter regiments - 3, pipeline brigade - 1, material support brigade - 1. And also, units of the Airborne Forces of the USSR Ministry of Defense, units and units of the GRU General Staff, the Office of the Chief Military Adviser. In addition to formations and units of the Soviet Army, there were separate units of the border troops, the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in Afghanistan.

On December 29, Pravda publishes the “Appeal of the Government of Afghanistan”: “The government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, taking into account the increasing intervention and provocations of external enemies of Afghanistan in order to protect the gains of the April Revolution, territorial integrity, national independence and the maintenance of peace and security, based on the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness of December 5, 1978, appealed to the USSR with an urgent request for urgent political, moral, economic assistance, including military assistance, with which the DRA government had previously repeatedly appealed to the government of the Soviet Union .The government of the Soviet Union granted the request of the Afghan side.”

Soviet troops in Afghanistan guarded roads, objects of Soviet-Afghan economic cooperation (gas fields, power plants, a nitrogen fertilizer plant in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, etc.). Ensured the operation of airfields in major cities. Contributed to the strengthening of government in 21 provincial centers. They conducted convoys with military and national economic goods for their own needs and in the interests of the DRA.

The stay of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and their combat activities are conditionally divided into four stages.

1st stage: December 1979 - February 1980 The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, their placement in garrisons, the organization of the protection of deployment points and various objects.

2nd stage: March 1980 - April 1985 Conducting active hostilities, including large-scale ones, together with Afghan formations and units. Work on the reorganization and strengthening of the armed forces of the DRA.

3rd stage: May 1985 - December 1986 Transition from active hostilities mainly to supporting the actions of the Afghan troops by Soviet aviation, artillery and sapper units. Special Forces units fought to prevent the delivery of weapons and ammunition from abroad. The withdrawal of six Soviet regiments to their homeland took place.

4th stage: January 1987 - February 1989 Participation of Soviet troops in the Afghan leadership's policy of national reconciliation. Continued support for the combat activities of Afghan troops. Preparation of Soviet troops for their return to their homeland and the implementation of their complete withdrawal.

On April 14, 1988, with the mediation of the UN in Switzerland, the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan signed the Geneva Agreements on a political settlement of the situation around the situation in the DRA. The Soviet Union undertook to withdraw its contingent within 9 months, starting from May 15; The US and Pakistan, for their part, had to stop supporting the Mujahideen.

In accordance with the agreements, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began on May 15, 1988.

February 15, 1989 Soviet troops were completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the troops of the 40th Army was led by the last commander of the limited contingent, Lieutenant General Boris Gromov.

Losses: According to updated data, in total in the war the Soviet Army lost 14 thousand 427 people, the KGB - 576 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28 people dead and missing. More than 53 thousand people were wounded, shell-shocked, injured. The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. Available estimates range from 1 to 2 million people.

Materials of the sites: http://soldatru.ru and http://ria.ru and photos from open Internet sources were used.

In 1979, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. For 10 years, the USSR was drawn into a conflict that finally undermined its former power. "Echo of Afghanistan" is still heard.

Contingent

There was no Afghan war. There was the entry of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. It is of fundamental importance that the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan at the invitation. There were about two dozen invitations. The decision to send troops was not easy, but it was nevertheless made by members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on December 12, 1979. In fact, the USSR was drawn into this conflict. A brief search for “who benefits from this” clearly points, first of all, to the United States. The Anglo-Saxon trace of the Afghan conflict today is not even tried to hide. According to the memoirs of former CIA director Robert Gates, on July 3, 1979, American President Jimmy Carter signed a secret presidential decree authorizing the financing of anti-government forces in Afghanistan, and Zbigniew Brzezinski said bluntly: "We did not push the Russians to intervene, but we deliberately increased the likelihood that they will do."

Afghan axis

Afghanistan is geopolitically a pivotal point. It is not in vain that throughout its history there have been wars for Afghanistan. Both open and diplomatic. Since the 19th century, a struggle has been waged between the Russian and British empires for control of Afghanistan, called " Big game". The Afghan conflict of 1979-1989 is part of this "game". Rebellions and uprisings in the "underbelly" of the USSR could not be ignored. It was impossible to lose the Afghan axis. In addition, Leonid Brezhnev really wanted to act in the guise of a peacemaker. spoke.

Oh sport, you are the world

The Afghan conflict "quite by chance" caused a serious protest wave in the world, which was fueled in every possible way by "friendly" media. Voice of America radio broadcasts began daily with military reports. By all means, people were not allowed to forget that the Soviet Union was waging an "aggressive" war on territory foreign to itself. The Olympics-80 was boycotted by many countries (including the USA). The Anglo-Saxon propaganda machine worked at full capacity, creating the image of an aggressor from the USSR. The Afghan conflict helped a lot with the change of poles: by the end of the 70s, the popularity of the USSR in the world was grandiose. The US boycott did not go unanswered. Our athletes did not go to the 84 Olympics in Los Angeles.

By the whole world

The Afghan conflict was Afghan in name only. In fact, the favorite Anglo-Saxon combination was carried out: the enemies were forced to fight each other. The US authorized "economic assistance" to the Afghan opposition in the amount of $15 million, as well as military assistance - supplying them with heavy weapons and teaching military training to groups of Afghan Mujahideen. The United States did not even hide its interest in the conflict. In 1988, the third part of the epic film "Rambo" was filmed. The hero of Sylvester Stallone this time fought in Afghanistan. The ludicrously cut, overtly propaganda film even won a Golden Raspberry and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the film with the most violence, with 221 violent scenes and a total of over 108 deaths. At the end of the film, the credits go "The film is dedicated to the valiant people of Afghanistan."

The role of the Afghan conflict is difficult to overestimate. Every year the USSR spent about 2-3 billion US dollars on it. The Soviet Union could afford it at the peak of oil prices, which was observed in 1979-1980. However, in the period from November 1980 to June 1986, oil prices fell by almost 6 times! They fell, of course, not by chance. A special "thank you" to Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign. There was no longer a “financial cushion” in the form of income from the sale of vodka on the domestic market. The USSR, by inertia, continued to spend money on creating a positive image, but inside the country the funds were running out. The USSR found itself in an economic collapse.

Dissonance

During the Afghan conflict, the country was in a kind of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, everyone knew about "Afghanistan", on the other hand, the USSR painfully tried to "live better and more cheerfully." Olympics-80, XII World Festival of Youth and Students - the Soviet Union celebrated and rejoiced. Meanwhile, KGB General Filipp Bobkov subsequently testified: “Long before the opening of the festival, Afghan militants were specially selected in Pakistan, who underwent serious training under the guidance of CIA specialists and were thrown into the country a year before the festival. They settled in the city, especially since they were provided with money, and began to expect to receive explosives, plastic bombs and weapons, preparing to carry out explosions in crowded places (Luzhniki, Manezhnaya Square and other places). The actions were disrupted due to the operational measures taken.”

When Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979 to support the friendly communist regime, no one could have imagined that the war would drag on for ten long years and eventually “drive” the last nail into the “coffin” of the USSR. Today, some are trying to present this war as the villainy of the “Kremlin elders” or the result of a worldwide conspiracy. However, we will try to rely only on the facts.

According to modern data, the losses of the Soviet Army in the Afghan war amounted to 14,427 people dead and missing. In addition, 180 advisers and 584 specialists from other departments were killed. More than 53 thousand people were shell-shocked, wounded or injured.

Cargo "200"

The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. The most common figure is 1 million dead; available estimates range from 670,000 civilians to 2 million in total. According to Harvard professor M. Kramer, an American researcher of the Afghan war: “During the nine years of the war, more than 2.7 million Afghans (mostly civilians) were killed or maimed, several million more ended up in the ranks of refugees, many of whom left the country” . Apparently, there is no clear division of victims into government army soldiers, Mujahideen and civilians.

The terrible consequences of the war

For courage and heroism shown during the war in Afghanistan, more than 200 thousand servicemen were awarded orders and medals (11 thousand were awarded posthumously), 86 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (28 posthumously). Among those awarded – 110 thousand soldiers and sergeants, about 20 thousand ensigns, more than 65 thousand officers and generals, more than 2.5 thousand employees of the SA, including – 1350 women.

A group of Soviet military personnel awarded government awards

During the entire period of hostilities, 417 servicemen were in Afghan captivity, 130 of whom were released during the war and were able to return to their homeland. As of January 1, 1999, 287 people remained among those who did not return from captivity and were not searched for.

Captured Soviet soldier

For nine years of war P loss of equipment and weapons amounted to: aircraftecomrade - 118 (in the Air Force– 107); helicopters - 333 (in the Air Force – 324); tanks - 147; BMP, BTR, BMD, BRDM - 1314; guns and mortars - 433; radio stations and KShM - 1138; engineering vehicles - 510; flatbed vehicles and tank trucks - 11,369.

Burnt out Soviet tank

The government in Kabul was dependent on the USSR throughout the war, which provided it with about $40 billion in military assistance between 1978 and the early 1990s. Saudi Arabia, China and a number of other states, which together provided the Mujahideen with weapons and other military equipment worth about $10 billion.

Afghan Mujahideen

On January 7, 1988, a fierce battle took place in Afghanistan at an altitude of 3234 m above the road to the city of Khost in the zone of the Afghan-Pakistani border. It was one of the most famous clashes between the units of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan and the armed formations of the Afghan Mujahideen. On the basis of these events, in 2005, the film "The Ninth Company" was filmed in the Russian Federation. The height of 3234 m was defended by the 9th Airborne Company of the 345th Guards Separate Airborne Regiment with a total of 39 people, supported by regimental artillery. Soviet fighters were attacked by units of the Mujahideen numbering from 200 to 400 people who were trained in Pakistan. The battle lasted 12 hours. The Mujahideen never managed to capture the height. Having suffered heavy losses, they retreated. In the ninth company, six paratroopers were killed, 28 were injured, nine of them – heavy. All paratroopers for this battle were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of War and the Red Star. Junior Sergeant V. A. Aleksandrov and Private A. A. Melnikov were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Frame from the film "9th Company"

The most famous battle of the Soviet border guards during the war in Afghanistan took place on November 22, 1985 near the village of Afrij in the Zardev Gorge of the Darai-Kalat mountain range in northeastern Afghanistan. The combat group of border guards of the Panfilov outpost of the motorized maneuver group (in the amount of 21 people) was ambushed as a result of an incorrect crossing of the river. During the battle, 19 border guards were killed. These were the most numerous losses of border guards in the Afghan war. According to some reports, the number of Mujahideen participating in the ambush was 150 people.

Border guards after the battle

There is a well-established opinion in the post-Soviet period that the USSR was defeated and expelled from Afghanistan. It is not true. When Soviet troops left Afghanistan in 1989, they did so in a well-planned operation. Moreover, the operation was carried out in several directions at once: diplomatic, economic and military. This not only saved lives Soviet soldiers but also save the Afghan government. Communist Afghanistan held out even after the fall of the USSR in 1991, and only then, with the loss of support from the USSR and increasing attempts from the Mujahideen and Pakistan, did the DRA begin to slide towards defeat in 1992.

Withdrawal of Soviet troops, February 1989

November 1989 The Supreme Council The USSR declared an amnesty for all crimes committed by Soviet military personnel in Afghanistan. According to the military prosecutor's office, from December 1979 to February 1989, 4,307 people were prosecuted as part of the 40th Army in the DRA, at the time the USSR Armed Forces decree on amnesty came into force, more than 420 former soldiers were in prison -internationalists.

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