Lists of irretrievable losses in Afghanistan. What were the real losses of the USSR in the Afghan war

The favorable geopolitical position of this small and poor country in the center of Eurasia predetermined the fact that for several hundred years the world powers have been fighting for control over it. In recent decades, Afghanistan has been the hottest spot on the planet.

Pre-war years: 1973-1978

Officially, the civil war in Afghanistan began in 1978, but the events that took place a few years before led to it. For many decades, the state system in Afghanistan was a monarchy. In 1973 statesman and general Mohammed Daoud overthrew his cousin King Zahir Shah and established his own authoritarian regime, which neither the local Islamists nor the communists liked. Daoud's attempts at reform failed. The situation in the country was unstable, conspiracies were constantly organized against the Daoud government, in most cases they were able to be suppressed.

The coming to power of the left party PDPA: 1978-1979

In the end, in 1978, the left-wing People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) carried out the April Revolution, or, as it is also called, the Saur Revolution. The PDPA came to power, and President Mohammed Daoud and his entire family were killed in the presidential palace. The PDPA proclaimed the country the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. From that moment on, a real civil war began in the country.

Afghan War: 1979-1989

The confrontation of local Islamists with the PDPA authorities, constant rebellions and uprisings became a reason for the PDPA to turn to the USSR for help. Initially, the Soviet Union did not want armed intervention. However, the fear that forces hostile to the USSR would come to power in Afghanistan forced the Soviet leadership to enter the Limited Contingent Soviet troops to Afghanistan.

The Afghan war for the USSR began with the fact that the Soviet troops eliminated the leader of the PDPA, objectionable to the Soviet leadership Hafizullah Amin, who was suspected of having links with the CIA. Instead, he began to lead the state Barak Karmal.

The USSR expected that the war would not be long, but it dragged on for 10 years. Government troops and Soviet soldiers were opposed by the Mujahideen - Afghans who joined the armed formations and adhered to radical Islamic ideology. Support for the Mujahideen was provided by part of the local population, as well as foreign countries. The United States, with the help of Pakistan, armed the Mujahideen and provided them with financial assistance as part of Operation Cyclone.

In 1986, the new president of Afghanistan became Mohammad Najibullah and in 1987 the government set the course for national reconciliation. Around the same years, the name of the country began to be called the Republic of Afghanistan, a new constitution was adopted.

In 1988-1989, the USSR withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan. For the Soviet Union, this war turned out to be essentially meaningless. In spite of a large number of conducted military operations, it was not possible to suppress the opposition forces, and the civil war in the country continued.

The struggle of the government of Afghanistan with the Mujahideen: 1989-1992

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the government continued to fight the Mujahideen. Foreign supporters of the Mujahideen believed that the ruling regime would soon fall, but the government continued to receive assistance from the USSR. In addition, Soviet military equipment was transferred to government troops. Therefore, the hopes for an early victory of the Mujahideen did not come true.

At the same time, after the collapse of the USSR, the situation of the government worsened, Russia stopped supplying weapons to Afghanistan. At the same time, some prominent military men who had previously fought on the side of President Najibullah went over to the side of the opposition. The president completely lost control over the country and announced that he agreed to resign. The Mujahideen entered Kabul, and the PDPA regime finally fell.

"Internecine" wars of the Mujahideen: 1992-2001

Having come to power, the field commanders of the Mujahideen began to fighting between themselves. The new government soon collapsed. Under these conditions, the Islamist Taliban movement was formed in the south of the country under the leadership of Muhammad Omar. The opponent of the Taliban was an association of field commanders called the Northern Alliance.

In 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul, executed former president Najibullah, who took refuge in the building of the UN mission, and proclaimed the state of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which practically no one officially recognized. Although the Taliban did not completely control the country, they introduced Sharia norms in the occupied territory. Women were forbidden to work and study. Music, television, computers, the Internet, chess, and fine arts were also banned. Thieves' hands were cut off, and they were stoned for infidelity. The Taliban were also notable for their extreme religious intolerance towards those who adhered to a different faith.

Taliban granted political asylum former leader terrorist organization al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden, which initially fought against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, and then began the fight against the United States.

NATO in Afghanistan: 2001 - present

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, a new stage of the war began, which continues to this day. The United States suspected terrorist number one Osama bin Laden of organizing the attacks and demanded that the Taliban extradite him and the leadership of Al-Qaeda. The Taliban refused to do so, and in October 2001, American and British troops, supported by the Northern Alliance, began offensive operation in Afghanistan. Already in the first months of the war, they managed to overthrow the Taliban regime and remove them from power.

The NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contingent was deployed in the country, a new government appeared in the country, which was headed by Hamid Karzai. In 2004, after the adoption of a new constitution, he was elected president of the country.

At the same time, the Taliban went underground and started a guerrilla war. In 2002, the troops of the international coalition carried out Operation Anaconda against al-Qaeda militants, as a result of which many militants were killed. The Americans called the operation successful, at the same time, the command underestimated the strength of the militants, and the actions of the coalition troops were not properly coordinated, which caused many problems during the operation.

In subsequent years, the Taliban began to gradually gain strength and carry out suicide attacks, in which both military personnel of the contingent and civilians died. At the same time, ISAF forces began to gradually move to the south of the country, where the Taliban had strengthened. In 2006-2007, fierce fighting took place in these regions of the country. Due to the escalation of the conflict and the intensification of hostilities, civilians began to die at the hands of coalition soldiers. In addition, disagreements began between the allies. In addition, in 2008, the Taliban began to attack the Pakistani supply route for the contingent, and NATO turned to Russia with a request to provide an air corridor for supplying troops. In addition, in the same year, there was an assassination attempt on Hamid Karzai, and the Taliban released 400 members of the movement from Kandahar prison. Taliban propaganda among the local population led to the fact that civilians began to show dissatisfaction with the presence of NATO in the country.

The Taliban continued to wage guerrilla warfare, avoiding major clashes with coalition forces. At the same time, more and more Americans began to speak out in favor of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

A major victory for the Americans was the elimination of Osama bin Laden in 2011 in Pakistan. In the same year, NATO decided to gradually withdraw the contingent from the country and transfer responsibility for security in Afghanistan to local authorities. In the summer of 2011, the withdrawal of troops began.

In 2012 the President of the United States Barack Obama said that the Afghan government controls the areas where 75% of the population of Afghanistan lives, and by 2014 the authorities will have to control the entire territory of the country.

February 13, 2013 . After 2014, between 3,000 and 9,000 people should remain in Afghanistan american soldiers. In the same year, a new international peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan should start, which does not involve military operations.

Losses of personnel according to official data. From the reference of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR: “In total, 546,255 people passed through Afghanistan. Losses of personnel of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in the Republic of Afghanistan in the period from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989. A total of 13,833 people were killed, died from wounds and diseases, including 1,979 officers (14.3%). A total of 49,985 people were injured, including 7,132 officers (14.3%). 6669 people became disabled. 330 people are on the wanted list.”

Awards. More than 200 thousand people were awarded orders and medals of the USSR, 71 of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Afghan figures. Another reference published in the Izvestia newspaper provides a report by the Afghan government "on the losses of government troops - for 5 months of fighting from January 20 to June 21, 1989: 1748 soldiers and officers were killed and 3483 were wounded." Recalculating losses for one year from a 5-month period, we get that approximately 4196 people could be killed and 8360 wounded. Considering that in Kabul, both in the Ministry of Defense and in other government bodies, Soviet advisers controlled any information, especially from the front, it is quite obvious that the numbers of losses of Afghan military personnel indicated in the newspaper are not only clearly underestimated, but also the ratio between the wounded and the dead. Nevertheless, even these fake figures can roughly determine the actual losses of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

13 people daily! If we assume that the military operations of the Mujahideen against the Soviet troops in the same areas were carried out with even greater bitterness and intensity, as against "gentiles and invaders", then we can roughly assume that our losses for the year were equal to at least 5 thousand killed - 13 people a day . The number of wounded is determined from the ratio of losses according to the certificate of our Ministry of Defense 1:3.6, therefore, their number will be about 180 thousand over ten years of war.

Permanent contingent. The question is, how many Soviet troops took part in the Afghan war? We learn from fragmentary information from our Ministry of Defense that there were 180 military camps in Afghanistan and 788 battalion commanders took part in the hostilities. We believe that the average battalion commander lived in Afghanistan for 2 years. This means that during the 10 years of the war the number of battalion commanders was updated 5 times. Consequently, in Afghanistan there were constantly about 788:5 annually - 157 combat battalions. The number of military camps and the number of battalions agree fairly closely with each other.

Assuming that at least 500 people served in the combat battalion, we get that there were 157 * 500 = 78500 people in the active 40th Army. For the normal functioning of the troops fighting the enemy, auxiliary units of the rear are necessary (delivery of ammunition, fuel and lubricants, repair and technical workshops, guarding caravans, guarding roads, guarding military camps, battalions, regiments, divisions, armies, hospitals, etc. .). The ratio of the number of auxiliary units to combat units is approximately 3:1 - this is approximately 235,500 military personnel. Thus, the total number of military personnel who were constantly in Afghanistan every year was at least 314 thousand people.

General numbers. So, during the 10 years of the war in Afghanistan, at least three million people passed, of which 800 thousand participated in hostilities. Our total losses amounted to at least 460 thousand people, of which 50 thousand were killed, 180 thousand were wounded, including 100 thousand who were blown up by mines - seriously wounded, 1000 were missing, 230 thousand were sick with hepatitis, jaundice, typhoid fever.

It turns out that in official data the terrible figures are underestimated by about 10 times.

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.

The limited contingent (OKSV) was directly drawn into the civil war that was flaring up in Afghanistan and became an active participant in it.

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 military specialists from the United States, a number of European NATO member countries, as well as Pakistani intelligence services.

December 25, 1979 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.

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 some other parts and institutions.

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 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 combat operations mainly to support of 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.

April 14, 1988 Through the mediation of the United Nations 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. 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 the territory of Afghanistan began 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 Soviet army lost 14 thousand 427 people, the KGB - 576 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28 people dead and missing. Wounded, shell-shocked, injured - more than 53 thousand people.

The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. Available estimates range from 1 to 2 million people.

Twenty-six years have already passed since the last Soviet soldier left the territory of Afghanistan. But many participants in those long-standing events have left a spiritual wound that still aches and hurts. How many of our Soviet children, still very young boys, died in the Afghan war! How many mothers shed tears at zinc coffins! How much blood of innocent people has been shed! And all human grief lies in one small word - "war" ...

How many people died in the Afghan war?

According to official data, about 15,000 people did not return home to the USSR from Afghanistan. Soviet soldiers. So far, 273 people are listed as missing. More than 53 thousand soldiers were wounded and shell-shocked. The losses in the Afghan war for our country are colossal. Many veterans believe that the Soviet leadership made a big mistake by getting involved in this conflict. How many lives could have been saved if their decision had been different.

Until now, disputes have not ceased on the topic of how many people died in the Afghan war. After all, the official figure does not take into account the pilots who died in the sky, who were carrying cargo, the soldiers returning home and came under fire, the nurses and nurses who cared for the wounded.

Afghan war 1979-1989

On December 12, 1979, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, it was decided to send Russian troops to Afghanistan. They have been located in the country since December 25, 1979 and were supporters of the government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Troops were brought in to prevent the threat of military intervention from other states. The decision to help Afghanistan from the USSR was made after numerous requests from the leadership of the republic.

The conflict broke out between the opposition (dushmans, or Mujahideen) and the armed forces of the government of Afghanistan. The parties could not share political control over the territory of the republic. A number of European countries, Pakistani intelligence services and the US military provided support to the Mujahideen during the hostilities. They also provided them with the supply of ammunition.

The entry of Soviet troops was carried out in three directions: Khorog - Faizabad, Kushka - Shindad - Kandahar and Termez - Kunduz - Kabul. The airfields of Kandahar, Bagram and Kabul received Russian troops.

Main stages of the war

On December 12, after coordinating his actions with the commission of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Brezhnev decided to provide military assistance to Afghanistan. On December 25, 1979, at 15:00 Moscow time, the entry of our troops into the republic began. It should be noted that the role of the USSR in the Afghan war is enormous, since Soviet units provided all possible support to the Afghan army.

The main reasons for the failures of the Russian army

At the beginning of the war, luck was on the side of the Soviet troops, proof of this is the operation in Panjshir. The main misfortune for our units was the moment when Stinger missiles were delivered to the Mujahideen, which easily hit the target from a considerable distance. The Soviet military did not have the equipment capable of hitting these missiles in flight. As a result of the use of the Stinger by the Mujahideen, several of our military and transport aircraft were shot down. The situation changed only when the Russian army managed to get a few missiles in their hands.

Change of power

In March 1985, power in the USSR changed, the post of president passed to M. S. Gorbachev. His appointment significantly changed the situation in Afghanistan. Immediately the question arose that the Soviet troops should leave the territory of the country in the near future, and some steps were even taken to implement this.

A change of power also took place in Afghanistan: B. Karmal was replaced by M. Najibullah. The gradual withdrawal of Soviet units began. But even after that, the struggle between the Republicans and Islamists did not stop and continues to this day. However, for the USSR, the history of the Afghan war ended there.

The main reasons for the outbreak of hostilities in Afghanistan

The situation in Afghanistan has never been considered calm due to the fact that the republic is located in a geopolitical region. The main rivals who wanted to have influence in this country were at one time Russian empire and UK. In 1919, the Afghan authorities declared independence from England. Russia, in turn, was one of the first to recognize the new country.

In 1978, Afghanistan received the status of a democratic republic, after which new reforms followed, but not everyone wanted to accept them. This is how the conflict between Islamists and Republicans developed, which as a result led to civil war. When the leadership of the republic realized that they could not cope on their own, they began to ask for help from their ally - the USSR. After some hesitation, the Soviet Union decided to send its troops to Afghanistan.

Book of Memory

Farther and farther away from us is the day when the last units of the USSR left the lands of Afghanistan. This war left a deep, indelible mark, covered in blood, in the history of our country. Thousands of young people who had not yet had time to see the life of the guys did not return home. How scary and painful to remember. What were all these sacrifices for?

Hundreds of thousands of Afghan soldiers went through serious trials in this war, and not only did not break, but also showed such qualities as courage, heroism, devotion and love for the Motherland. Their fighting spirit was unshakable, and they went through this cruel war with dignity. Many were wounded and treated in military hospitals, but the main wounds that remained in the soul and are still bleeding cannot be cured by even the most experienced doctor. Before the eyes of these people, their comrades bled and died, dying painful death from wounds. The Afghan soldiers have only the eternal memory of their dead friends.

The Book of Memory of the Afghan War has been created in Russia. It immortalizes the names of the heroes who fell on the territory of the republic. In each region there are separate Books of Memory of soldiers who served in Afghanistan, in which the names of the heroes who died in the Afghan war are entered by name. The pictures from which young handsome guys look at us make the heart shrink from pain. After all, none of these boys are already alive. “In vain the old woman is waiting for her son to go home…” - these words have been engraved in the memory of every Russian since the Second World War and make the heart shrink. So let the eternal memory of the heroes of the Afghan war remain, which will be refreshed by these truly sacred Books of Memory.

The outcome of the Afghan war for the people is not the result that the state has achieved to resolve the conflict, but the number of human casualties, which is in the thousands.

Losses of personnel according to official data. From the reference of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR: “In total, 546,255 people passed through Afghanistan. Losses of personnel of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in the Republic of Afghanistan in the period from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989. A total of 13,833 people were killed, died from wounds and diseases, including 1,979 officers (14.3%). A total of 49,985 people were injured, including 7,132 officers (14.3%). 6669 people became disabled. 330 people are on the wanted list.”

Awards. More than 200 thousand people were awarded orders and medals of the USSR, 71 of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Afghan figures. Another reference published in the Izvestia newspaper provides a report by the Afghan government "on the losses of government troops - for 5 months of fighting from January 20 to June 21, 1989: 1748 soldiers and officers were killed and 3483 were wounded." Recalculating losses for one year from a 5-month period, we get that approximately 4196 people could be killed and 8360 wounded. Considering that in Kabul, both in the Ministry of Defense and in other government bodies, Soviet advisers controlled any information, especially from the front, it is quite obvious that the numbers of losses of Afghan military personnel indicated in the newspaper are not only clearly underestimated, but also the ratio between the wounded and the dead. Nevertheless, even these fake figures can roughly determine the actual losses of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

13 people daily! If we assume that the military operations of the Mujahideen against the Soviet troops in the same areas were carried out with even greater bitterness and intensity, as against "gentiles and invaders", then we can roughly assume that our losses for the year were equal to at least 5 thousand killed - 13 people a day . The number of wounded is determined from the ratio of losses according to the certificate of our Ministry of Defense 1:3.6, therefore, their number will be about 180 thousand over ten years of war.

Permanent contingent. The question is, how many Soviet troops took part in the Afghan war? We learn from fragmentary information from our Ministry of Defense that there were 180 military camps in Afghanistan and 788 battalion commanders took part in the hostilities. We believe that the average battalion commander lived in Afghanistan for 2 years. This means that during the 10 years of the war the number of battalion commanders was updated 5 times. Consequently, in Afghanistan there were constantly about 788:5 annually - 157 combat battalions. The number of military camps and the number of battalions agree fairly closely with each other.

Assuming that at least 500 people served in the combat battalion, we get that there were 157 * 500 = 78500 people in the active 40th Army. For the normal functioning of the troops fighting the enemy, auxiliary units of the rear are necessary (delivery of ammunition, fuel and lubricants, repair and technical workshops, guarding caravans, guarding roads, guarding military camps, battalions, regiments, divisions, armies, hospitals, etc. .). The ratio of the number of auxiliary units to combat units is approximately 3:1 - this is approximately 235,500 military personnel. Thus, the total number of military personnel who were constantly in Afghanistan every year was at least 314 thousand people.

General numbers. So, during the 10 years of the war in Afghanistan, at least three million people passed, of which 800 thousand participated in hostilities. Our total losses amounted to at least 460 thousand people, of which 50 thousand were killed, 180 thousand were wounded, including 100 thousand who were blown up by mines - seriously wounded, 1000 were missing, 230 thousand were sick with hepatitis, jaundice, typhoid fever.

It turns out that in official data the terrible figures are underestimated by about 10 times.