Victims of the Afghan War. War in Afghanistan: causes, course of events, consequences

The military conflict in Afghanistan, which began more than thirty years ago, remains the cornerstone of world security today. The hegemonic powers, in pursuit of their ambitions, not only destroyed the previously stable state, but also crippled thousands of destinies.

Afghanistan before the war

Many observers, describing the war in Afghanistan, say that it was an extremely backward state before the conflict, but they are silent about some facts. Before the confrontation, Afghanistan remained a feudal country in most of its territory, but in large cities such as Kabul, Herat, Kandahar and many others, there was a fairly developed infrastructure, they were full-fledged cultural and socio-economic centers.

The state developed and progressed. There was free medicine and education. The country produced good knitwear. Radio and television broadcast foreign programs. People met in movies and libraries. A woman could find herself in public life or run a business.

Fashion boutiques, supermarkets, shops, restaurants, and a host of cultural entertainment existed in the cities. The beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the date of which is interpreted in different ways in the sources, put an end to prosperity and stability. The country in an instant turned into a center of chaos and devastation. Today, power in the country has been seized by radical Islamist groups, which benefit from maintaining unrest throughout the territory.

Reasons for the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan

To understand the true reasons for the Afghan crisis, it is worth remembering history. In July 1973, the monarchy was overthrown. The coup was carried out by the king's cousin, Mohamed Daoud. The general announced the overthrow of the monarchy and appointed himself President of the Republic of Afghanistan. The revolution took place with the assistance of the People's Democratic Party. The course of reforms in the economic and social spheres was announced.

In reality, President Daoud did not carry out reforms, but only destroyed his enemies, including the leaders of the PDPA. Naturally, discontent in the circles of the Communists and the PDPA grew, they were constantly subjected to repression and physical violence.

Social, economic, political instability in the country became, and the external intervention of the USSR and the United States served as an impetus for even more massive bloodshed.

Saur revolution

The situation was constantly heating up, and on April 27, 1987, the April (Saur) revolution took place, organized by the country's military detachments, the PDPA and the communists. New leaders came to power - N.M. Taraki, H. Amin, B. Karmal. They immediately announced anti-feudal and democratic reforms. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan began to exist. Immediately after the first jubilation and victories of the united coalition, it became clear that there was a rift between the leaders. Amin did not get along with Karmal, and Taraki closed his eyes to this.

For the USSR, the victory of the democratic revolution came as a real surprise. The Kremlin waited for what would happen next, but many prudent military leaders and Soviet apparatchiks understood that the start of the war in Afghanistan was not far off.

Participants in a military conflict

A month after the bloody overthrow of the Daoud government, new political forces were mired in conflicts. The Khalq and Parcham groups, like their ideologues, did not find common ground between themselves. In August 1978, Parcham was completely removed from power. Karmal, together with his like-minded people, travels abroad.

Another setback befell the new government - the implementation of reforms was hampered by the opposition. Islamist forces unite in parties and movements. In June in the provinces of Badakhshan, Bamyan, Kunar, Paktia and Nangarhar, armed uprisings against the revolutionary government begin. Despite the fact that historians call 1979 the official date of the armed clash, hostilities began much earlier. The year of the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan is 1978. The civil war was the catalyst that pushed foreign countries to intervene. Each of the mega-powers pursued their own geopolitical interests.

Islamists and their goals

Back in the early 70s, the Muslim Youth organization was formed on the territory of Afghanistan. Members of this community were close to the Islamic fundamentalist ideas of the Arab Muslim Brotherhood, their methods of struggle for power, up to political terror. all kinds of reforms that contradict the Koran - these are the main provisions of such organizations.

In 1975, Muslim Youth ceased to exist. It was absorbed by other fundamentalists - the Islamic Party of Afghanistan (IPA) and the Islamic Society of Afghanistan (IAO). These cells were led by G. Hekmatyar and B. Rabbani. Members of the organization were trained in the conduct of hostilities in neighboring Pakistan and were sponsored by the authorities of foreign states. After the April Revolution, opposition societies united. The coup in the country became a kind of signal for military action.

Foreign support for radicals

One should not lose sight of the fact that the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the date of which in modern sources is 1979-1989, was planned as much as possible by the foreign powers participating in the NATO bloc and some. If earlier the American political elite denied involvement in the formation and financing of extremists, then the new century brought very interesting facts to this story. Former CIA officers left behind a plethora of memoirs exposing their own government's policies.

Even before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the CIA funded the mujahideen, set up training bases for them in neighboring Pakistan and supplied the Islamists with weapons. In 1985, President Reagan personally hosted a Mujahideen delegation at the White House. The most important US contribution to the Afghan conflict has been the recruitment of men throughout the Arab world.

Today there is information that the war in Afghanistan was planned by the CIA as a trap for the USSR. Once caught in it, the Union had to see the entire inconsistency of its policy, drain its resources and "fall apart." As you can see, it happened. In 1979, the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, or rather, the introduction of a limited contingent became inevitable.

USSR and PDPA support

There are opinions that the USSR had been preparing the April Revolution for several years. Andropov personally supervised this operation. Taraki was an agent of the Kremlin. Immediately after the coup, the Soviets began friendly assistance to fraternal Afghanistan. Other sources claim that the Saur revolution was a complete surprise to the Soviets, albeit a pleasant one.

After the successful revolution in Afghanistan, the USSR government began to monitor events in the country more closely. The new leadership in the person of Taraki showed loyalty to friends from the USSR. The KGB intelligence constantly informed the "leader" about instability in the neighboring region, but it was decided to wait. The Soviet Union took the beginning of the war in Afghanistan calmly, the Kremlin was aware of the US sponsoring the opposition, it did not want to give up the territory, but the Kremlin did not need another Soviet-American crisis either. And nevertheless, he was not going to stand aside, after all, Afghanistan is a neighboring country.

In September 1979, Amin assassinated Taraki and proclaimed himself president. Some sources indicate that the final discord in relation to the former comrades-in-arms was due to the intention of President Taraki to ask the USSR to send a military contingent. Amin and his associates were against it.

Soviet sources claim that about 20 appeals were sent to them from the Afghan government with a request to send troops. The facts prove the opposite - President Amin was opposed to the introduction of the Russian contingent. A resident in Kabul sent information about US attempts to involve the USSR in the USSR. Even then, the USSR leadership knew that Taraki and PDPA were residents of the States. Amin was the only nationalist in this company, and yet they did not share the $ 40 million paid by the CIA for the April coup with Taraki, this was the main reason for his death.

Andropov and Gromyko did not want to listen to anything. In early December, KGB General Paputin flew to Kabul with the task of persuading Amin to call up Soviet troops. The new president was relentless. Then on December 22, an incident occurred in Kabul. Armed "nationalists" broke into the house where the citizens of the USSR lived and cut off the heads of several dozen people. Having planted them on spears, the armed "Islamists" carried them along the central streets of Kabul. The police, who arrived at the scene, opened fire, but the criminals fled. On December 23, the government of the USSR sent a message to the government of Afghanistan in which it informed the president that Soviet troops would soon be in Afghanistan in order to protect the citizens of their country. While Amin was pondering how to dissuade the troops of the "friends" from invading, they had already landed at one of the country's airfields on December 24. The start date of the war in Afghanistan is 1979-1989. - will open one of the most tragic pages in the history of the USSR.

Operation Storm

Parts of the 105th Airborne Guards Division landed 50 km from Kabul, and the KGB special unit "Delta" surrounded the presidential palace on December 27. As a result of the capture, Amin and his bodyguards were killed. The world community "gasped", and all the puppeteers of this venture rubbed their hands. The USSR was hooked. Soviet paratroopers captured all the main infrastructure facilities located in large cities. For 10 years more than 600 thousand Soviet soldiers fought in Afghanistan. The year of the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan marked the beginning of the collapse of the USSR.

On the night of December 27, B. Karmal arrived from Moscow and announced the second stage of the revolution by radio. Thus, the beginning of the war in Afghanistan is 1979.

1979-1985 events

After the successful Operation Storm, Soviet forces took over all major industrial centers, with the Kremlin's goal to strengthen the communist regime in neighboring Afghanistan and drive out the spooks who controlled the countryside.

The constant clashes between the Islamists and the SA units led to numerous casualties among the civilian population, but the mountainous terrain absolutely disorientated the fighters. In April 1980, the first large-scale operation took place in Panjshir. In June of the same year, the Kremlin ordered the withdrawal of some tank and missile units from Afghanistan. In August of the same year, a battle took place in the Mashhad Gorge. SA troops were ambushed, 48 soldiers were killed and 49 were wounded. In 1982, on the fifth attempt, Soviet troops succeeded in occupying Panjshir.

During the first five years of the war, the situation developed in waves. SA occupied heights, then fell into ambushes. The Islamists did not carry out full-scale operations; they attacked the food convoys and individual units of the troops. The SA tried to push them away from the big cities.

During this period, Andropov had several meetings with the President of Pakistan and UN members. The USSR representative said that the Kremlin is ready for a political settlement of the conflict in exchange for guarantees from the United States and Pakistan to stop funding the opposition.

1985-1989

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first secretary of the USSR. He was in a constructive mood, wanted to reform the system, charted the course of "perestroika". The protracted conflict in Afghanistan impeded the process of normalizing relations with the United States and European countries. Active military operations were not carried out, but nevertheless, Soviet soldiers died with enviable constancy on Afghan territory. In 1986, Gorbachev announced a course for a phased withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. In the same year, B. Karmal was replaced by M. Najibullah. In 1986, the SA leadership came to the conclusion that the battle for the Afghan people was lost, since the SA could not take control of the entire territory of Afghanistan. 23-26 January A limited contingent of Soviet troops conducted their last Operation Typhoon in Afghanistan in Kunduz province. On February 15, 1989, all the troops of the Soviet army were withdrawn.

The reaction of the world powers

After the media announced the seizure of the presidential palace in Afghanistan and the assassination of Amin, everything was in a state of shock. The USSR immediately began to be seen as a total evil and an aggressor country. The beginning of the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) for the European powers signaled the beginning of the isolation of the Kremlin. The President of France and the Chancellor of Germany personally met with Brezhnev and tried to persuade him to withdraw the troops, Leonid Ilyich was adamant.

In April 1980, the US government authorized $ 15 million in aid to the Afghan opposition.

The United States and European countries called on the world community to ignore the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, but due to the presence of Asian and African countries, this sporting event took place.

The Carter Doctrine was drawn up during this period of exacerbated relations. Third world countries condemned the actions of the USSR by a majority vote. On February 15, 1989, the Soviet state, in accordance with agreements with UN countries, withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

Outcome of the conflict

The beginning and end of the war in Afghanistan are conditional, because Afghanistan is an eternal hive, as its last king spoke of his country. In 1989, a limited contingent of Soviet troops crossed the Afghan border in an "orderly" manner - this was reported to the top leadership. In fact, thousands of SA soldiers, forgotten companies and border detachments, covering the withdrawal of the same 40th Army, remained in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, after a decade of war, was plunged into absolute chaos. Thousands of refugees fled the borders of their country, fleeing the war.

The exact number of Afghans killed is still unknown. Researchers have voiced a figure of 2.5 million dead and wounded, mostly civilians.

The SA lost about 26 thousand soldiers in ten years of war. The USSR lost the war in Afghanistan, although some historians claim the opposite.

The economic expenses of the USSR in connection with the Afghan war were catastrophic. $ 800 million was allocated annually to support the Kabul government, and $ 3 billion was allocated for arming the army.

The beginning of the war in Afghanistan marked the end of the USSR, one of the world's largest powers.

The favorable geopolitical position of this small and poor country in the center of Eurasia has 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.

Prewar years: 1973-1978

Officially, the civil war in Afghanistan began in 1978, but it was led by events that had occurred several years earlier. For many decades, the state system in Afghanistan was a monarchy. In 1973, statesman and general Muhammad Daoud overthrew his cousin King Zahir Shah and established his own authoritarian regime, which neither local Islamists nor communists liked. Daoud's attempts to carry out reforms have failed. The situation in the country was unstable, conspiracies were constantly organized against the Daoud government, in most cases they were suppressed.

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

Finally, in 1978, the left-wing People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) carried out the April 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. 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 opposition of local Islamists to the PDPA authorities, constant riots and uprisings became the reason for PDPA to turn to the USSR for help. Initially, the Soviet Union did not want military intervention. However, the fear that forces hostile to the USSR would come to power in Afghanistan forced the Soviet leadership to enter into a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

The Afghan war for the USSR began with the fact that the Soviet troops eliminated the PDPA leader who was 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 hoped that the war would not be long, but it dragged on for 10 years. The government troops and Soviet soldiers were opposed by the Mujahideen - Afghans who joined the armed formations and adhere to a 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 in the framework of Operation Cyclone.

In 1986, the new president of Afghanistan was Mohammad Najibullah, and in 1987 the government set a 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. Despite the large number of military operations carried out, it was not possible to suppress the opposition forces, and the civil war in the country continued.

The fight of the Afghan government against 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 the government forces. Therefore, the hopes for a quick victory of the Mujahideen did not come true.

At the same time, after the collapse of the USSR, the government's position worsened, Russia stopped supplying weapons to Afghanistan. At the same time, some prominent military personnel who 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 step down. 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 fight among themselves. The new government soon fell apart. In these conditions, the Islamist Taliban movement was formed in the south of the country under the leadership of Muhammad Omar... The adversary of the Taliban was an association of field commanders called the Northern Alliance.

In 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul, executed former President Najibullah, who was hiding in a UN mission building, and declared the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which virtually no one officially recognized. Although the Taliban did not fully control the country, they introduced Sharia law in the occupied territory. Women were forbidden to work and study. Music, television, computers, the Internet, chess, and the visual arts were also banned. Thieves' hands were cut off, they were stoned for infidelity. The Taliban were also characterized by extreme religious intolerance towards those who adhered to other faiths.

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

NATO in Afghanistan: 2001 - present

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, a new stage of the war began in New York, which continues to this day. The United States suspected terrorist number one Osama bin Laden in organizing the terrorist attacks and demanded the Taliban to extradite him and the leadership of Al-Qaeda. The Taliban refused to do so, and in October 2001, US and British forces, backed by the Northern Alliance, launched an offensive in Afghanistan. Already in the first months of the war, they succeeded in overthrowing the Taliban regime and removing them from power.

The NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contingent was deployed in the country, a new government appeared in the country, led 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 of the militants were killed. The Americans called the operation successful, at the same time the command underestimated the forces of the militants, and the actions of the coalition forces were not coordinated properly, which caused many problems during the operation.

In subsequent years, the Taliban began to gradually gain strength and organize suicide attacks, in which both contingent soldiers and civilians were killed. At the same time, ISAF forces began to gradually move to the south of the country, where the Taliban were entrenched. In 2006-2007, fierce hostilities were conducted 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, and NATO asked Russia 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 the Kandahar prison. The propaganda of the Taliban among the local population led to the fact that civilians began to show dissatisfaction with NATO's presence 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 for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

A major American victory was the elimination of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. In the same year, NATO decided to gradually withdraw the contingent from the country and to 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 reported that the Afghan government controls the areas in which 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 and 9 thousand American soldiers should remain in Afghanistan. In the same year, a new international peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan should start, which does not imply the conduct of hostilities.

War of the USSR in Afghanistan 1979-1989

Completed by: Bukov G.E.

Introduction

Afghan War 1979-1989 - an armed conflict between the Afghan government and allied forces of the USSR, which sought to preserve the pro-communist regime in Afghanistan, on the one hand, and the Muslim Afghan resistance, on the other.

Of course, this period is not the most positive in the history of the USSR, but I wanted to open a small curtain in this war, namely, the reasons and main tasks for the USSR to eliminate the military conflict in Afghanistan.

1. The reason for the hostilities

The main reason for the war was foreign intervention in the Afghan internal political crisis, which was a consequence of the struggle for power between the government of Afghanistan and numerous armed formations of Afghan mujahideen ("dushmans"), enjoying the political and financial support of the leading NATO states and the Islamic world, on the other hand.

The internal political crisis in Afghanistan was the "April Revolution" - the events in Afghanistan on April 27, 1978, which resulted in the establishment of a Marxist pro-Soviet government in the country.

As a result of the April Revolution, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) came to power, of which he was in 1978. Nur Mohammad Taraki (was killed by order of Hafizullah Amin), and then Hafizullah Amin until December 1979, proclaiming the country the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA).

Attempts by the country's leadership to carry out new reforms that would make it possible to overcome the backlog of Afghanistan met with resistance from the Islamic opposition. In 1978, even before the introduction of Soviet troops, a civil war broke out in Afghanistan.

Not enjoying strong popular support, the new government brutally suppressed internal opposition. Unrest in the country and feuds between supporters of "Khalq" and "Parcham" (the PDPA was split into these two parts), taking into account geopolitical considerations (preventing the strengthening of US influence in Central Asia and protecting the Central Asian republics) pushed the Soviet leadership to commission in December 1979 Troops to Afghanistan under the pretext of providing international assistance. The entry of Soviet troops into the territory of Afghanistan began on the basis of a resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, without a formal decision regarding this Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan

In March 1979, during the mutiny in the city of Herat, the first request from the Afghan leadership for direct Soviet military intervention followed. But the commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU on Afghanistan reported to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU about the obviousness of the negative consequences of direct Soviet intervention, and the request was rejected.

However, the Herat rebellion forced the reinforcement of Soviet troops near the Soviet-Afghan border, and by order of Defense Minister D.F. Ustinov, preparations began for a possible landing of the 105th Guards Airborne Division in Afghanistan. The number of Soviet advisers (including the military) in Afghanistan was dramatically increased: from 409 in January to 4,500 by the end of June 1979.

The impetus for the intervention of the USSR was the US assistance to the Mujahideen. According to the official version of history, the CIA's assistance to the Mujahideen began during 1980, that is, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the reality, which has been kept secret to this day, is different: in fact, President Carter signed the first directive on secret aid to opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul on July 3, 1979.

December 1979 began the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in three directions: Kushka - Shindand - Kandahar, Termez - Kunduz - Kabul, Khorog - Faizabad.

The directive did not provide for the participation of Soviet troops in hostilities on the territory of Afghanistan; the procedure for the use of weapons, even for self-defense purposes, was not determined. True, on December 27, DF Ustinov's order appeared to suppress the resistance of the rebels in cases of attack. It was assumed that Soviet troops would become garrisons and take under protection important industrial and other facilities, thereby freeing up parts of the Afghan army for active operations against opposition units, as well as against possible external interference. The border with Afghanistan was ordered to cross at 15:00 Moscow time (17:00 Kabul) on December 27, 1979. But on the morning of December 25, the 4th battalion of the 56th Guards Airborne Assault Brigade crossed the built pontoon bridge across the border river Amu Darya, which was tasked with capturing the high-mountain Salang pass on the Termez-Kabul road in order to ensure the unhindered passage of Soviet troops. On the same day, the transfer of units of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division to the airfields of Kabul and Bagram began. The paratroopers of the 350 Guards Parachute Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel G.I. Shpaka.

The landing force landed at the airfields of Kabul, Bagram, Kandahar. Entering troops is not easy; during the seizure of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was killed. The Muslim population did not accept the Soviet presence, and an uprising broke out in the northeastern provinces that spread throughout the country.

Operation STORM-333

The general plan of the operation in Kabul, carried out on December 27, was developed by dishonest efforts of representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the KGB of the USSR, headed by Major Ya. Semyonov. The plan of the operation, code-named "Baikal-79", provided for the capture of the most important objects in the Afghan capital: the Taj Bek Palace, the buildings of the PDPA Central Committee, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Communications of the DRA, the General Staff, the headquarters of the military air forces and the headquarters of the Central Army Corps, military counterintelligence (KAM), a prison for political prisoners in Puli-Charkhi, a radio and television center, post office and telegraph office, the air force and air defense headquarters ... At the same time, it was planned to blockade the military units and formations of the armed forces located in the Afghan capital DRA by paratroopers of motorized rifle troops arriving in Kabul. In total, 17 objects were to be captured. For each object, appropriate forces and means were assigned, the order of interaction and control was determined.

In fact, by the beginning of the operation in Kabul, there were special units of the USSR KGB ("Thunder" - a little more than 30 people, "Zenith" - 150 people, a company of border guards - 50 people), as well as quite significant forces from the USSR Ministry of Defense: air an airborne division, the 154th special-purpose detachment of the GRU General Staff ("Muslim" battalion), units of the 345th separate parachute regiment, military advisers (a total of more than 10 thousand people). All of them performed their tasks, worked for the final result of the operation.

The most difficult and important object for the capture was the Taj Bek Palace, where the residence of H. Amin was located and he himself was located. Of all the officers and soldiers who took part in the assault on the Taj Bek Palace, almost no one fully knew the plan of the operation and did not know the general situation, and each acted in his own narrow sector, in fact, in the role of a simple soldier.

Therefore, for most of them, the events in Kabul focused only on their object, and for many fighters the operation still remains a mystery. For most of them, it was a "baptism of fire" - the first real battle in their lives. Hence the overlap of emotions in memories, the "thickening" of colors. Finding themselves in an extreme situation, each of them showed what they are worth and what they have achieved. The overwhelming majority completed the combat mission with honor showing heroism and courage. Many officers and soldiers were injured, some were killed.

In the evening of December 25, General Drozdov, based on the results of reconnaissance of objects, held a meeting with the commanders of the reconnaissance and sabotage groups of the KGB of the USSR, determined the place of each in the capture of Taj Bek. Everyone was ready, the situation The only thing missing was the plan of the palace.

The officers of "Thunder" and "Zenith" M. Romanov, Y. Semenov, V. Fedoseev and E. Mazaev conducted a reconnaissance of the area, reconnaissance of firing points located nearby. Not far from the palace, on a high-rise, there was a restaurant (casino), where the highest officers of the Afghan army usually gathered. Under the pretext that it was required to order places for our officers to celebrate the New Year, the commandos also visited there. From there, the Taj Bek was clearly visible, all the approaches to it and the location of the storage posts were clearly visible. True, this amateur performance almost ended tragically for them.

By the beginning of Operation Storm-333, the special forces from the KGB groups of the USSR knew the target of the capture of Hajj Bek thoroughly: the most convenient ways of approach; sentry mode service; the total number of Amin's guards and bodyguards; location of machine gun "nests", armored vehicles and tanks; the internal structure of the rooms of the palace labyrinths; placement of radiotelephone communication equipment.

Signals for the start of the general operation "Baikal-79" were supposed to serve as a powerful explosion in the center of Kabul. The special group of the KGB of the USSR "Zenith", headed by B.A. Pleshkunov was supposed to blow up the so-called "well" - in fact, a neutral center of secret communications with the most important military and civilian objects of the DRA.

Assault ladders, equipment, weapons and ammunition were being prepared. Under the leadership of the battalion's deputy commander for technical affairs, Senior Lieutenant Eduard Ibragimov, Glaznoye's military equipment - secrecy and secrecy - was carefully checked and prepared.

The Taj Bek Palace was located on a high steep hill overgrown with trees and bushes, all approaches to it were mined. A single road led here, guarded around the clock. The palace itself was also an inaccessible structure. Its thick walls are capable of holding back an artillery strike. If we add to this that the area around was shot from tanks and large-caliber machine guns, then it becomes clear that it was very difficult to master it.

At about six o'clock in the evening, Colonel-General Magomedov called Kolesnik on the line and said "Due to unforeseen circumstances, the time of the assault has been postponed, we must start as soon as possible," and the operation began earlier than the set time. Literally fifteen to twenty minutes later, the capture group, led by Captain M. Sakhatov, drove out in the direction of the height where the tanks were buried. Among them were two officers of "Thunder" and "Zenith", as well as the chief of the battalion's reconnaissance, senior lieutenant A. Dzhamolov. The tanks were guarded by sentries, and their crews were in the barracks, located at a distance of 150-200 meters from them.

When the car of M. Sakhatov's group approached the location of the third battalion, there was suddenly heard shooting, which suddenly intensified. Colonel Kolesnik for the soldiers and officers of the "Muslim" battalion and special groups of the KGB of the USSR immediately start the command "Fire!" and "Forward!" Red rockets flew into the air. The clock was 19.15. The signal "Storm-333" was sent over the radio networks.

The first in the palace, at the command of Senior Lieutenant Vasily Prout, opened fire with direct fire two self-propelled anti-aircraft guns ZSU-23-4 "Shilki", unleashing a sea of shells on him. Two other installations hit the position of the infantry battalion, supporting the company of paratroopers. Automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 began to fire at the location of the tank battalion, preventing the crews from approaching the vehicles.

Subdivisions of the "Muslim" battalion began to move to the destination areas. The 3rd company of senior lieutenant Vladimir Sharipov was supposed to move to the Taj-bek palace, several subgroups of special forces officers from "Thunder" were deployed on its five infantry fighting vehicles together with the soldiers. Major Y. Semenov with the "Zenith" group on four armored personnel carriers of the platoon The 1st company of Lieutenant Rustam Tursunkulov was to move to the western part of the hill. Then go up the pedestrian staircase to the end of the Taj Bek, and at the front of the building, both groups had to unite and act together. But at the last moment everything got confused. As soon as the first armored personnel carrier passed the bend and approached the stairs leading to the end of the Taj Bek, heavy machine guns hit from the building. The armored personnel carrier, where the subgroup of Boris Suvorov was, was immediately knocked out, it caught fire. The personnel urgently began to parachute, some were wounded. The subgroup commander himself was hit in the groin, just below the bulletproof vest. He could not be saved - he bled out. Jumping out of the armored personnel carriers, "Zenith" and soldiers of Tursunkulov's platoon were forced to lie down and shoot at the windows of the palace, with the help of assault ladders they began to climb up the mountain.

At this time, the "Thunder" subgroups also began to move towards the Taj Bek.

When the group's machine gunner rushed out to the area in front of the Taj Bek, they came under heavy heavy machine gun fire. They seemed to be shooting from everywhere. The Grom officers rushed to the palace building, while the soldiers of Sharipov's company lay down and began to cover them with machine-gun and automatic rifle fire, as well as to repel the attack of Afghan soldiers in the guardroom. The platoon commander, Lieutenant Abdullaev, supervised their actions. Something unimaginable was happening. A picture of hell. "Shilki" shoot "nicely" after all. Everything was confused. But everyone acted in a single impulse, there was not a single one who would try to evade or sit in hiding, waiting out the assault. The number of assault groups was dwindling before our eyes. With incredible efforts, the special forces still managed to overcome the resistance of the Afghans and break through to the palace building. The fighters of the "Muslim" battalion rendered them great help in this. All groups and fighters mingled, and each was already acting on his own. There was no single team. The only goal was to run faster to the walls of the palace, somehow hide behind them and complete the task. The commandos were in a foreign country, in a foreign uniform, without documents, without any identification marks, except for white armbands on the sleeves, there was nothing. The density of fire was such that on all BMPs the triplexes were broken, bulwarks were pierced at every square centimeter, that is, they looked like a colander. The commandos were saved only by the fact that they were all in body armor, although almost all were wounded. The soldiers from the "Muslim" battalion were not wearing body armor, since, at the command of Koslesnik, they handed over their body armor to the soldiers of the assault groups. Of the thirty Zenit men and twenty-two fighters from the Thunder, no more than twenty-five men managed to break through to Taj Bek, and many of them were wounded. These forces were clearly not enough to guarantee the elimination of Amin. According to Alexander Ivashchenko, who was next to Colonel Boyarinov during the battle, when they burst into the palace and met stubborn resistance from the guardsmen, they realized that they could not fulfill the task with small forces. By the time the commandos entered the Shilki palace, they were supposed to have ceased fire, but communication with them was lost. Colonel V. Kolesnik sent a messenger, and “Shilki transferred fire to other objects. The infantry fighting vehicles left the site in front of the palace and blocked the only road. Another company and a platoon of AGS-17 grenade launchers and ATGMs fired at the tank battalion, then the soldiers captured the tanks, simultaneously disarming the tankers. A special group of the "Muslim" battalion took possession of the armament of the anti-aircraft regiment, and captured its personnel. In the palace, officers and soldiers of Amin's personal guard, his bodyguards (about 100-150 people) resisted staunchly, not surrendering. They were ruined by the fact that they were all armed mainly with MG-5 submachine guns, and they did not pierce our body armor.

"Shilki" again transferred fire, starting to beat at Taj Bek, on the site in front of him. A fire broke out on the second floor of the palace, which had a strong impact on the defending guards. As the special forces moved to the second floor, the shooting and explosions intensified. The soldiers from Amin's guard, who mistook the commandos for their own rebellious unit, heard Russian speech and surrendered to them. Lights were on everywhere in the palace. All attempts by Nikolai Shvachko to turn it off ended in vain. The power supply was autonomous. Somewhere in the depths of the building, perhaps in the basement, electric generators were working, but there was no time to look for them. Some soldiers fired at the light bulbs in order to somehow hide, because they were in full view of the defenders of the palace. By the end of the assault, only a few units remained intact from anti-aircraft devices, but they burned. The battle in the palace did not last long (43 minutes). Having received information about the death of Amin, the company commander, senior lieutenant V. Sharipov, also began to call Colonel V. Kolesnik by radio station to report on the completion of the task, but there was no connection. He still managed to contact the chief of staff of the battalion Ashurov and allegorically report that Amin had been killed. The chief of staff reported this to the battalion commander Major Khalbaev and Colonel Kolesnik. Major Khalbaev reported on the seizure of the palace and the liquidation of Amin to Lieutenant General N.N. Guskov, and he - Chief of the General Staff, Marshal of the Soviet Union N.V. Ogarkov. After Assadul Sarvari, who arrived at the palace (he did not participate in the assault), was convinced and confirmed that Amin was really dead, the corpse of the head of state and the leader of the PDPA was wrapped in a carpet ... The main task was completed. Success in this operation was ensured not so much by force as by surprise, audacity and swiftness of pressure. Immediately after the capture of Taj-Bek, Drozdov reported to Ivanov on the completion of the task, and then transferred the radio station to Evald Kozlov and ordered the results of the battle to be reported to the leadership. When Kozlov, who had not yet retired from the battle, began to report to General Ivanov, he interrupted him with a question “What's wrong with Oak ? " Ewald began to select words to covertly say about Amin's death, but Ivanov again asked: "Is he killed?" Kozlov replied: "Yes, he was killed." And the general immediately cut the connection. It was necessary to urgently report to Moscow Yu.V. Andropov on the fulfillment of the main task, and the group of Captain M. Sakhatov arrived at the palace building on two tanks captured from the Afghans. He reported to Kolesnik about the fulfillment of the combat mission, said: when they drove past the third battalion of the guard brigade, they saw - an alarm was announced there. Afghan soldiers received ammunition. The battalion commander and two more officers were standing next to the road along which the commandos were passing. The decision came quickly. Jumping out of the car, they seized the Afghan battalion commander and both officers, threw them into the car, and drove on. Some of the soldiers, who managed to get cartridges, opened fire on them. Then the entire battalion rushed in pursuit - to free its commander. Then the special forces dismounted, began to shoot from machine guns and machine guns at the fleeing infantry. The soldiers of Kurban Amangeldyev's company, which was supporting the operations of Sakhatov's group, also opened fire. During the night, the special forces guarded the palace, as they feared that the divisions and a tank brigade stationed in Kabul would attack it. But this did not happen. Soviet military advisers working in parts of the Afghan army and airborne troops deployed to the capital did not allow them to do this. In addition, the special services paralyzed the control of the Afghan forces in advance. Some units of the Afghan guard brigade continued to resist. In particular, they had to fight with the remnants of the third battalion for another day, after which the Afghans left for the mountains. Probably, some of the compatriots suffered from their own: in the dark, the personnel of the "Muslim" battalion and the special group of the KGB of the USSR recognized each other by the white armbands on the sleeves, the password "Misha - Yasha" and by the mat. But after all, everyone was dressed in Afghan uniforms, and they had to fire, throw grenades from a decent distance. So try to keep track of here in the darkness, confusion - who has a bandage on his sleeve, and who does not ?! Moreover, when they began to withdraw the captured Afghans, they also had white armbands on their sleeves. After the battle, the losses were counted. In total, five people were killed in the special groups of the KGB of the USSR during the storming of the palace. Almost everyone was injured, but those who could hold weapons continued to fight. In the "Muslim" battalion and the 9th paratrooper company, 14 people died, more than 50 were wounded. Moreover, 23 people who were injured remained in the ranks. The battalion medic took the seriously wounded fighters to the BMP, first to the first-aid post, and then to various medical institutions deployed at that time in Kabul. In the evening, the seriously wounded were transported to the Soviet embassy, and in the morning of the next day they were sent by plane to Tashkent. On the same day, December 27, the airborne units of the 103rd division and units of the 345th regiment, as well as the forces allocated to them from the border guards, the KGB groups of the USSR "Zenith" and "Thunder" went to the location of military units and formations , important administrative and special objects in the capital and established their control over them. The capture of these key targets took place in an orderly manner, with minimal losses.

The course of the war

The Soviet command hoped to entrust the suppression of the uprising to the Kabul troops, which, however, were greatly weakened by mass desertions and did not cope with this task. The "limited contingent" controlled the situation in the main cities for a number of years, while the rebels felt relatively free in the countryside. Changing tactics, Soviet troops tried to crack down on the rebels with tanks, helicopters and aircraft, but highly mobile Mujahideen groups easily avoided attacks. The bombing of settlements and the destruction of crops also did not work, but by 1982, about 4 million Afghans had fled to Pakistan and Iran. The supply of weapons from other countries allowed the partisans to hold out until 1989, when the new Soviet leadership withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

The stay of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and their combat activities are conditionally divided into four stages: stage: December 1979 - February 1980 The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, their deployment in garrisons, the organization of protection of deployment points and various objects. 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 Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Stage: May 1985 - December 1986. Transition from active hostilities mainly to support of the actions of the Afghan troops by Soviet aviation, artillery and engineer units. Special forces units fought to prevent the delivery of weapons and ammunition from abroad. The withdrawal of 6 Soviet regiments to their homeland took place. Stage: January 1987 - February 1989. The 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 the return to their homeland and the implementation of their complete withdrawal.

afghanistan war soviet contingent

5. Withdrawal of Soviet wars from Afghanistan

Changes in the foreign policy of the Soviet leadership during the period of "perestroika" contributed to a political settlement of the situation. The situation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Western forecasts that the Kabul regime will fall immediately after the end of the Soviet military presence due to its complete unviability, and that the coalition government of the mujahideen groups will lead the country to peace after the expulsion of the "communist plague" turned out to be untenable. On April 14, 1988, with the mediation of the UN in Switzerland, the USSR, the USA, Pakistan and Afghanistan signed the Geneva agreements on a phased peaceful solution of the Afghan problem. The Soviet government undertook to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989. 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 on May 15, 1988. On February 15, 1989, Soviet troops were completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the 40th Army was led by the last commander of a limited contingent, Lieutenant General Boris Gromov. This event did not bring peace, as various groups of mujahideen continued to struggle for power among themselves.

According to the updated official data, the irretrievable losses of the personnel of the Soviet army in the Afghan war amounted to 14,427 people, the KGB - 576 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28 people dead and missing. During the war, there were 49,984 wounded, 312 prisoners, and 18 internees. St. 53 thousand people. A significant number of people who were admitted to hospitals on the territory of the USSR died from the consequences of severe wounds and trauma. These people, who died in hospitals, were not included in the number of officially announced losses. The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. Available estimates range from 1 to 2 million people.

The aftermath of the war

After the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Afghanistan, the pro-Soviet regime of Najibullah (1986-1992) existed for another 3 years and, having lost the support of Russia, was overthrown in April 1992 by a coalition of field commanders-mujahideen. During the war in Afghanistan, the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda emerged and groups of Islamic radicals grew stronger.

Political implications:

In general, the Soviet troops did not experience any particular difficulties in conducting military operations on the territory of Afghanistan - the main problem was that military victories were not supported by the political and economic actions of the ruling regime. Assessing the consequences of the Afghan war, it can be noted that the benefits from the intervention turned out to be negligible in comparison with the damage caused to the national interests of the USSR and Russia. The intervention of Soviet troops in Afghanistan drew strong condemnation from most of the international community (including the United States, China, the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, including Pakistan and Iran, and even some socialist countries), weakened the influence of the USSR on the Non-Aligned Movement, marked the end of the "era of detente "1970s., Led to increased economic and technological pressure on the USSR from the West and even to some extent aggravated the crisis phenomena in the USSR itself.

The war in Afghanistan led to numerous casualties, squandered enormous material resources, destabilized the situation in Central Asia, contributed to the strengthening of Islam in politics, the intensification of the actions of Islamic fundamentalism and international terrorism. In fact, this war was one of the factors in the defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War. If we talk about a lesson, then the Afghan people really taught us a lesson of courage and valor in the struggle for their age-old traditions, culture, religion, and Motherland. And all valor should be glorified and admired even by the enemy. The main conclusion drawn from the Afghan war is that basically political problems cannot be solved by military methods.

Sources of information

1. ru.wikipedia.org - article "Afghan War 1979-1989" in Wikipedia;

History.org.ua - article "Afghan War 1979-1989" in the Encyclopedia of the History of Ukraine (in Ukrainian);

Mirslovarei.com - article "Afghan War" in the Historical Dictionary on the site "World of Dictionaries";

Rian.ru - "War in Afghanistan 1979-1989" (RIAN reference);

Rian.ru - "The statistics of the losses of the Soviet Army in Afghanistan does not include those who died from wounds in hospitals in the USSR" (RIAN report).

Alexander Lyakhovsky - The Tragedy and Valor of Afgan

Psi.ece.jhu.edu - secret documents of the Politburo and the Central Committee of the CPSU related to the entry of Soviet troops and their stay in Afghanistan;

Ruswar.com - archive of military photography and video footage;

Fergananews.com - “The complete truth about the Soviet troops entering Afghanistan has not yet been revealed” (B. Yamshanov).

Tutoring

Need help exploring a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Send a request with the indication of the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. The most common figure is 1 million deaths; available estimates range from 670,000 civilians to 2 million in total.

According to Harvard professor M. Kramer, American researcher of the Afghan war: "During the nine years of the war, more than 2.5 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 precise division of victims into government army soldiers, mujahideen and civilians.

Losses of the USSR:

Total - 13 833 people. These data first appeared in the Pravda newspaper in August 1989. Subsequently, the total figure increased slightly, presumably due to the deaths from the consequences of injuries and illnesses after being discharged from the armed forces.

As of January 1, 1999, the irretrievable losses in the Afghan war (killed, died from wounds, diseases and in accidents, missing) were estimated as follows:

Soviet Army - 14,427
KGB - 576
Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28

Total - 15,031 people. Sanitary losses - almost 54 thousand wounded, shell-shocked, traumatized; 416 thousand cases.

According to the testimony of a professor at the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Sidelnikov, the final figures do not include servicemen who died of wounds and diseases in hospitals on the territory of the USSR.

In a study of the Afghan war conducted by officers of the General Staff under the guidance of prof. Valentina Runova, an estimated 26 thousand dead, including those killed in action, those who died from wounds and diseases, and those killed in accidents:

Of the approximately 400 servicemen considered missing during the war, a certain number of prisoners were taken by Western journalists to countries in Western Europe and North America. According to the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in June 1989, about 30 people lived there. Three people returned to the Soviet Union after the statement of the Prosecutor General of the USSR that the former prisoners would not be subject to criminal prosecution. According to the data of 15.02.2009, the Committee on Internationalist Warriors under the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth (CIS) member states, 270 people remained on the list of missing Soviet citizens in Afghanistan in the period from 1979 to 1989.

The death toll of Soviet generals, according to publications in the press, is four people, sometimes the number 5 is called:

	Title, position		Circumstances
Vadim N. Khakhalov	Major General, Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Turkestan Military District	Lurkokh gorge	Killed in a helicopter shot down by the Mujahideen
Petr Ivanovich Shkidchenko	Lieutenant General, Chief of the Combat Operations Command under the Minister of Defense of Afghanistan	Paktia province	Killed in a helicopter shot down by ground fire. Posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (4.07.2000)
Anatoly Andreevich Dragun	Lieutenant General, Head of Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces	DRA, Kabul?	Died suddenly during a business trip to Afghanistan
Nikolay Vasilievich Vlasov	Major General, Adviser to the Commander of the Afghan Air Force	DRA, Shindand province	Shot down by a hit from a MANPADS while flying on a MiG-21
Leonid Kirillovich Tsukanov	Major General, Advisor to the Commander of Artillery of the Afghan Armed Forces	DRA, Kabul	Died from illness

Losses in equipment, according to official data, amounted to 147 tanks, 1,314 armored vehicles (armored personnel carriers, BMP, BMD, BRDM), 510 engineering vehicles, 11,369 trucks and fuel tankers, 433 artillery systems, 118 aircraft, 333 helicopters. At the same time, these figures were not specified in any way - in particular, information was not published on the number of combat and non-combat losses of aviation, on the losses of aircraft and helicopters by type, etc.

Some of the Soviet servicemen who fought in Afghanistan experienced the so-called "Afghan syndrome" - post-traumatic stress disorder. Testing conducted in the early 1990s showed that at least 35-40% of the participants in the war in Afghanistan were in dire need of the help of professional psychologists.

Economic losses of the USSR

About 800 million US dollars were spent annually from the USSR budget to support the Kabul government.

Introduction

The reason for the hostilities

On December 25, 1979, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began in three directions: Kushka - Shindand - Kandahar, Termez - Kunduz - Kabul, Khorog - Faizabad.

The directive did not provide for the participation of Soviet troops in hostilities on the territory of Afghanistan; the procedure for the use of weapons, even for self-defense purposes, was not determined. True, on December 27, DF Ustinov's order appeared to suppress the resistance of the rebels in cases of attack. It was assumed that Soviet troops would become garrisons and take under protection important industrial and other facilities, thereby freeing up parts of the Afghan army for active operations against opposition units, as well as against possible external interference. The border with Afghanistan was ordered to cross at 15:00 Moscow time (17:00 Kabul) on December 27, 1979. But on the morning of December 25, the 4th battalion of the 56th Guards Airborne Assault Brigade crossed the built pontoon bridge across the border river Amu Darya, which was tasked with capturing the Salang high-mountain pass on the Termez-Kabul road in order to ensure the unhindered passage of Soviet troops. On the same day, the transfer of units of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division to the airfields of Kabul and Bagram began. The paratroopers of the 350 Guards Parachute Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel G.I. Shpaka.