Photos from the veteran's archive afghan war Sergei Salnikov.

T-62D shot down on the Shindant-Kandahar road, Delaram province area. 1985

2. Officers of the 5th Guards MSD with a friendly gang of spooks. Old Herat. 1986

3. Old Herat.

4. Padded BMP-2.

5. Ml.s-t Oil seals Afghan warrior sarboz and bacha. Shindant.

6. T-34-85 - firing point of the Afghan army.

7. Airfield Shindant after shelling.

8. Dushmansky Katyushas. 107 mm PC made in China.

9. Column near Kandahar. T-62D with TMT-5 trawl.

10. Near Kandahar. The column passes the gorge.

11. UR-67, in the background is a BRDM-2 without a turret.

12. Trophies.

13. Local prison. Farah province.

14. Leshchenko behind a machine gun.

15. Leshchenko with a gun.

Afghan 1985-1987

Photos from the archive of the veteran of the Afghan war Gennady Tishin.

2. Gennady Tishin - commander air assault battalion(in the center). Asadabad city, Kunar province.

3. Malishi - local self-defense units. Together with the 2nd SME, they are carrying out an operation to eliminate the bandit formation.

4. Joint operation with the troops of the DRA. Maravara gorge. Kunar province.

5. The T-54 tank of the DRA army blown up by a landmine.

6. Italian plastic anti-tank mine. It was used to undermine Soviet and Afghan armored vehicles.

7. Combat satellite of the company of the 6th MSR.

8. Birthday of the foreman of the 6th MSR ensign Vasily Yakimenko.

9. Fun monkey Mashka.

10. Demolition Soviet tank T-62D.

11. Battle trophies. Machine gun DP-27 (made in China "Type 53"), Rifle Lee-Enfield "Bur" (England).

12. Undermined military equipment.

13. Afghan trading machine. Column inspection.

14. "Rose". Neutralization of undermined equipment during retreat to reserve positions.

15. Combat operation to eliminate a caravan with weapons from Pakistan. Province of Logan.

16. Field medical station of the battalion.

17. Command of the 6th company of the 2nd MSB.

18. Personnel 6th MSR on the implementation of intelligence. River Kunar. In the distance is Pakistan.

19. Mujahideen fortified point taken.

I continue to publish photos from the personal archives of veterans of the war in Afghanistan.
Photos from the personal archive of Major Vasily Ulyanovich Polishchuk. PV USSR.

2. Column to Chakhiab across the Pyanj River. 1984

3. On Suthama. 1984

4. Airfield in Moscow, Odessa - helicopter pilots before the flight in 1983.

5. In the smoking room at the minbat behind the 120mm mortar Sani 1984.

6. Beware of mines! 1984

7. Water intake from the Chakhiab well. Dushmans often mined this place.

8. Undermined water carrier. Chahiab 1984

9. Tolya Pobedinsky with a wet nurse, Masha, 1983

10. Trophies DShK, Zikyuyuk and small things 1984

11. Hawn. Construction of a power line in Khown village 1983

12. MI-26 delivered BTR-60PB. Hawn 1984

13. Sarbozes at the barbukhayka in front of the entrance to the point. Chakhiab 1983.

14. Head Khada Mirvayz, Ulyanych, head of the airport and Kondakov Nikolay. Hawn 1984

15. Captive bandglavari with Safar (in front). Chahiab 1984

16. Rusty mine along the Basmachi path. Chashmdara November 7, 1983

17. Below the kishlak Sutkham 1983

18. Soyunov (center) plays chess. Chahiab 1984

19. Chakhiab dukan maker at the bazaar, 1984

20. Chakhiab blacksmith 1984

21. DSHG after surgery (in the center of Lipovskikh, Volkov, Popov). Chahiab 1984

Afghanistan 1983-1985

Probably write about such terrible things in new year holidays- it's not quite right. However, on the other hand, this date cannot be changed or changed in any way. After all, it was on the eve of the new year 1980 that the commissioning of Soviet troops to Afghanistan, which became Starting point many years of the Afghan war, which cost our country many thousands of lives ...

Today, hundreds of books and memoirs have been written about this war, all kinds of other historical materials. But here's what catches your eye. The authors somehow diligently avoid the topic of the death of Soviet prisoners of war on Afghan soil. Yes, some episodes of this tragedy are mentioned in separate memoirs of participants in the war. But the author of these lines has never come across a systemic, generalizing work about the dead prisoners - although I follow the Afghan historical theme very carefully. Meanwhile, whole books (mainly by Western authors) have already been written about the same problem from the other side - the death of Afghans at the hands of Soviet troops. There are even websites (including those in Russia) that tirelessly expose “the crimes of the Soviet troops, who brutally destroyed civilians and Afghan resistance fighters. But almost nothing is said about the often terrible fate of Soviet captured soldiers.

I did not make a reservation - it was a terrible fate. The thing is that Afghan dushmans doomed to death of Soviet prisoners of war rarely killed immediately. Those whom the Afghans wanted to convert to Islam were lucky, exchanged for their own or donated as a "gesture of goodwill" to Western human rights organizations, so that they, in turn, glorified the "generous Mujahideen" all over the world. But those who were doomed to death ... Usually the death of a prisoner was preceded by so terrible torture and torture, from the mere description of which immediately becomes uncomfortable.

Why did the Afghans do it? Apparently, the whole point is in the backward Afghan society, where the traditions of the most radical Islam, which demanded the painful death of the infidel as a guarantor of getting into paradise, coexisted with the wild pagan remnants of individual tribes, where human sacrifices were practiced, accompanied by real fanaticism. Often this served as a means psychological warfare in order to frighten the Soviet enemy - the mutilated remains of captured dushmans were often thrown to our military garrisons ...

As experts say, our soldiers were captured in different ways - someone was in unauthorized absence from a military unit, someone deserted for a reason hazing, someone was captured by dushmans at a post or in a real battle. Yes, today we can condemn these prisoners for their rash acts that led to the tragedy (or vice versa, admire those who were captured in a combat situation). But those who took martyrdom, have already atoned for all their obvious and imaginary sins by their death. And therefore they - at least with a clean christian point of vision - in our hearts deserve no less blessed memory than those soldiers of the Afghan war (living and dead) who performed heroic, recognized feats.

Here are just some of the episodes of the tragedy of the Afghan captivity, which the author managed to collect from open sources.

The legend of the "red tulip"

From book American journalist George Crile "Charlie Wilson's War" unknown details CIA covert war in Afghanistan):

"They say it true story, and although the details have changed over the years, in general it sounds something like this. On the morning of the second day after the invasion of Afghanistan, a Soviet sentry spotted five jute sacks on the edge of the airstrip at the Bagram Air Base near Kabul. At first he did not give it of great importance, but then he jabbed the barrel of his machine gun into the nearest bag and saw blood come out. Explosives experts were called in to check the bags for booby traps. But they discovered something much more terrible. Each bag contained a young Soviet soldier wrapped in his own skin. As far as I could determine medical expertise, these people died especially painful death: their skin was cut on the abdomen, and then pulled up and tied over their heads.

This type of brutal execution is called the "red tulip", and almost all the soldiers who served on Afghan soil have heard of it - doomed man, having introduced a large dose of the drug into unconsciousness, they hung them by the arms. The skin was then trimmed around the entire body and rolled up. When the action of the dope ended, the condemned, having experienced a strong pain shock, first went crazy, and then slowly died ...

Today it is difficult to say how many of our soldiers found their end in this way. Usually there was and is a lot of talk among veterans of Afghanistan about the “red tulip” - one of the legends was just brought by the American Crile. But few of the veterans can name the specific name of this or that martyr. However, this does not mean at all that this execution is only an Afghan legend. Thus, the fact of the use of the “red tulip” on private Viktor Gryaznov, the driver of an army truck who went missing in January 1981, was reliably recorded.

Only 28 years later, Viktor's countrymen, journalists from Kazakhstan, were able to find out the details of his death.

In early January 1981, Viktor Gryaznov and ensign Valentin Yarosh were ordered to go to the city of Puli-Khumri to a military warehouse to receive cargo. A few days later they went to Return trip. But on the way the column was attacked by dushmans. The truck driven by Gryaznov broke down, and then he and Valentin Yarosh took up arms. The battle lasted for half an hour ... The ensign's body was later found not far from the place of the battle, with a broken head and gouged out eyes. But the dushmans dragged Victor with them. What happened to him later is evidenced by a certificate sent to Kazakhstani journalists in response to their official request from Afghanistan:

“In early 1981, the Mujahideen of Abdul Razad Askhakzai’s detachment, during a battle with the infidels, was captured by Shuravi (Soviet), he called himself Gryaznov Viktor Ivanovich. He was asked to become a devout Muslim, a Mujahideen, a defender of Islam, to participate in gazavat - holy war- with unfaithful kafirs. Gryaznov refused to become a true believer and destroy the Shuravi. By the verdict of the Sharia court, Gryaznov was sentenced to death penalty- red tulip, sentence carried out.

Of course, everyone is free to think about this episode as he pleases, but personally it seems to me that Private Gryaznov committed real feat, refusing to go to betrayal and accepting a fierce death for it. One can only guess how many more of our guys in Afghanistan have committed the same heroic deeds which, unfortunately, remain unknown to this day.

Foreign witnesses speak

However, in the arsenal of dushmans, in addition to the “red tulip”, there were many more brutal ways to kill Soviet prisoners.

The Italian journalist Oriana Falacci, who repeatedly visited Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 80s, testifies. During these trips, she finally became disillusioned with the Afghan Mujahideen, whom Western propaganda then painted exclusively as noble fighters against communism. "Noble fighters" turned out to be real monsters in human form:

“In Europe, they didn’t believe me when I talked about what they usually did with Soviet prisoners. How Soviet hands and feet were sawn off... The victims did not die immediately. Only after some time the victim was finally decapitated and the severed head was played in buzkashi, an Afghan variety of polo. As for the arms and legs, they were sold as trophies in the market...”.

Something similar is described by the English journalist John Fullerton in his book “ Soviet occupation Afghanistan":

“Death is the usual end of those Soviet prisoners who were communists ... The first years of the war, the fate of Soviet prisoners was often terrible. One group of flayed prisoners was hung on hooks in a butcher's shop. Another prisoner became the central toy of an attraction called "buzkashi" - the cruel and savage polo of Afghans riding horses, snatching a headless sheep from each other instead of a ball. Instead, they used a prisoner. Alive! And he was literally torn to pieces.”

And here is another shocking confession of a foreigner. This is an excerpt from Frederick Forsyth's novel The Afghan. Forsyth is known for his closeness to the British intelligence agencies who helped the Afghan spooks, and therefore, knowingly, he wrote the following:

“The war was brutal. Few prisoners were taken, and those who died quickly could consider themselves lucky. The highlanders especially fiercely hated Russian pilots. Those who were captured alive were left in the sun with a small incision in the abdomen, so that the entrails swelled, spilled out and fried until death brought relief. Sometimes the prisoners were given to women who ripped off the skin of the living with knives ... ".

Outside human mind

All this is confirmed by our sources. For example, in the memoir of the international journalist Iona Andronov, who has repeatedly been to Afghanistan:

“After the battles near Jalalabad, I was shown in the ruins of a suburban village the mutilated corpses of two Soviet soldiers captured by the Mujahideen. The bodies cut open by daggers looked like a sickeningly bloody mess. I heard about such fanaticism many times: the flayers cut off the ears and noses of the captives, dissected the bellies and pulled out the intestines, cut off the heads and stuffed the open peritoneum inside. And if they captured several captives, they tortured them one by one in front of the next martyrs.

Andronov in his book recalls his friend, military translator Viktor Losev, who had the misfortune of being wounded and captured:

"I learned that ... the army authorities in Kabul were able, through Afghan intermediaries, to buy Losev's corpse from the Mujahideen for a lot of money ... The body of a Soviet officer given to us was subjected to such abuse that I still do not dare to describe it. And I don’t know: whether he died from a combat wound or the wounded was tortured to death by monstrous torture.The hacked remains of Victor in tightly soldered zinc were taken home by the “black tulip”.

By the way, the fate of the captured Soviet military and civilian advisers was really terrible. For example, in 1982, an employee was tortured by dushmans military counterintelligence Viktor Kolesnikov, who served as an adviser in one of the parts of the Afghan government army. These Afghan soldiers went over to the side of the dushmans, and as a “gift” they “presented” a Soviet officer and translator to the Mujahideen. Major of the KGB of the USSR Vladimir Garkavy recalls:

“Kolesnikov and the translator were tortured for a long time and subtly. In this case, the “spirits” were masters. Then they cut off their heads and, having packed the tormented bodies in bags, threw them into the roadside dust on the Kabul-Mazar-i-Sharif highway, not far from the Soviet checkpoint.

As we can see, both Andronov and Garkavy refrain from details of the death of their comrades, sparing the reader's psyche. But one can guess about these tortures - at least from the memories former officer KGB Oleksandr Nezdoli:

“And how many times, due to inexperience, and sometimes as a result of elementary neglect of security measures, not only internationalist soldiers died, but also Komsomol workers seconded by the Central Committee of the Komsomol to create youth organizations. I remember a case of blatantly brutal reprisal against one of these guys. He was to fly from Herat to Kabul. But in a hurry, I forgot the folder with documents and returned for it, and catching up with the group, I ran into dushmanov. Having captured him alive, the “spirits” cruelly mocked him, cut off his ears, cut open his stomach and stuffed him and his mouth with earth. Then the still living Komsomol member was put on a stake and, demonstrating their Asian cruelty, was carried in front of the population of the villages.

After this became known to everyone, each of the special forces of our Karpaty team made it a rule to wear an F-1 grenade in the left lapel of a jacket pocket. So that, in case of injury or stalemate not to fall into the hands of dushmans alive ... "

A terrible picture appeared before those who, on duty, had to collect the remains of tortured people - employees of military counterintelligence and medical workers. Many of these people are still silent about what they had to see in Afghanistan, and this is quite understandable. But some still dare to speak. Here is what a nurse at a Kabul military hospital once told Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich:

“The whole of March, right there, near the tents, cut off arms and legs were dumped ...

Corpses ... They lay in a separate room ... Half-naked, with gouged out eyes,

Once - with a carved star on his stomach ... Earlier in the movie about the civil

I saw this in the war."

No less amazing things were told to the writer Larisa Kucherova (author of the book “KGB in Afghanistan”) former boss special department of the 103rd airborne division, Colonel Viktor Sheiko-Koshuba. Once he happened to investigate an incident with the disappearance of a whole convoy of our trucks, along with drivers - thirty-two people, led by an ensign. This column left Kabul for the area of ​​the Karcha reservoir for sand for construction needs. The column left and ... disappeared. Only on the fifth day, the paratroopers of the 103rd division, alerted, found what was left of the drivers, who, as it turned out, were captured by dushmans:

"Mutilated, dismembered remains human bodies, powdered with thick viscous dust, were scattered over dry rocky ground. Heat and time have already done their job, but what people have created is beyond description! Empty sockets of gouged out eyes, staring at the indifferent empty sky, ripped and gutted bellies, cut off genitals ... Even those who had seen a lot in this war and considered themselves impenetrable men lost their nerves ... After some time, our intelligence officers received information that that after the guys were captured, the dushmans took them bound around the villages for several days, and civilians with furious fury they stabbed defenseless, mad with horror boys with knives. Men and women, old and young... Having quenched their bloody thirst, a crowd of people seized by a feeling of animal hatred threw stones at half-dead bodies. And when the stone rain knocked them down, spooks armed with daggers got down to business...

Such monstrous details became known from a direct participant in that massacre, captured during the next operation. Calmly looking into the eyes of those present Soviet officers he told in detail, savoring every detail, about the abuse that unarmed boys were subjected to. With the naked eye, it was clear that at that moment the prisoner received special pleasure from the very memories of torture ... ".

Dushmans really attracted the peaceful Afghan population to their brutal actions, which, it seems, took part in mockery of our servicemen with great willingness. This happened to the wounded soldiers of our special forces company, which in April 1985 fell into a dushman ambush in the Marawara gorge, near the Pakistani border. A company without proper cover entered one of the Afghan villages, after which a real massacre began there. Here is how the head of the Task Force of the Ministry of Defense described it in his memoirs Soviet Union in Afghanistan General Valentin Varennikov

“The company spread across the village. Suddenly, several large-caliber machine guns began to hit from the heights to the right and left at once. All the soldiers and officers jumped out of the yards and houses and scattered around the village, looking for shelter somewhere at the foot of the mountains, from where there was intense shooting. It was fatal mistake. If the company took refuge in these adobe houses and behind thick duvals, which are not penetrated not only by heavy machine guns, but also by a grenade launcher, then the personnel could fight for a day and more, until help came up.

In the first minutes, the company commander was killed and the radio station was destroyed. This made things even more disorganized. The personnel rushed about at the foot of the mountains, where there were neither stones nor a bush that would have sheltered from a leaden downpour. Most of people were killed, the rest were wounded.

And then the dushmans descended from the mountains. There were ten or twelve of them. They consulted. Then one climbed onto the roof and began to observe, two went along the road to a neighboring village (it was a kilometer away), and the rest began to bypass our soldiers. The wounded, having thrown a loop from a belt over their soles, were dragged closer to the kishlak, and all the dead were given control shot to the head.

Approximately an hour later, the two returned, but already accompanied by nine teenagers aged ten to fifteen years old and three large dogs - Afghan Shepherds. The leaders gave them certain instructions, and with squealing and shouting they rushed to finish off our wounded with knives, daggers and axes. Dogs gnawed our soldiers by the throat, the boys chopped off their arms and legs, cut off their noses, ears, ripped open their stomachs, gouged out their eyes. And adults cheered them up and laughed approvingly.

It was over in thirty or forty minutes. The dogs licked their lips. Two older teenagers chopped off two heads, strung them on a stake, raised them like a banner, and the whole team of frenzied executioners and sadists went back to the village, taking with them all the weapons of the dead.

Varenikov writes that only Lance Sergeant Vladimir Turchin. The soldier hid in the river reeds and saw with his own eyes how his comrades were being tortured. Only the next day did he manage to get out to his own. After the tragedy, Varenikov himself wished to see him. But the conversation did not work out, because as the general writes:

“He was shaking all over. Not only did he tremble a little, no, everything was trembling in him - his face, arms, legs, torso. I took him by the shoulder, and this trembling was transmitted to my arm. He had the impression that he vibration disease. Even if he said something, he clattered his teeth, so he tried to answer questions with a nod of his head (he agreed or denied). The poor man did not know what to do with his hands, they were trembling very much.

I realized that serious conversation it won't work with him. He sat him down and, taking him by the shoulders and trying to calm him down, began to console him, to speak kind words that everything is already behind, that you need to get into shape. But he continued to tremble. His eyes expressed the full horror of the experience. He was mentally severely traumatized."

Probably, such a reaction on the part of a 19-year-old boy is not surprising - from the spectacle he saw, even fully grown-up men who had seen the views could move their minds. They say that Turchin, even today, after almost three decades, still has not come to his senses and categorically refuses to talk to anyone about the Afghan topic ...

God be his judge and comforter! Like all those who have seen with their own eyes all the wild inhumanity of the Afghan war.

The entry of units and subunits of the Soviet army and their participation in the civil war in Afghanistan between the armed opposition and the government Democratic Republic Afghanistan (DRA). Civil War began to unfold in Afghanistan as a consequence of the transformations carried out by the pro-communist government of the country, which came to power after the April Revolution of 1978. On December 12, 1979, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, guided by an article on mutual obligations to ensure the territorial integrity of the friendship treaty with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, decided to send troops to Afghanistan . It was assumed that the troops of the 40th Army would provide protection for the country's most important strategic and industrial facilities.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet armored vehicles and Afghan women with children on one of the mountain roads to Jalalabad. Afghanistan. June 12, 1988. RIA Novosti

Four divisions, five separate brigades, four individual regiment, four regiments of military aviation, three helicopter regiments, a pipeline brigade and separate units of the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Soviet troops guarded roads, gas fields, power plants, ensured the operation of airfields, escorted vehicles with military and economic cargo. However, the support of the government troops in combat operations against the armed groups of the opposition aggravated the situation even more and led to an escalation of armed resistance to the ruling regime.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet soldiers-internationalists are returning to their homeland. Road through the Salang pass, Afghanistan. May 16, 1988. RIA Novosti

Actions limited contingent Soviet troops in Afghanistan can be roughly divided into four main stages. At the 1st stage (December 1979 - February 1980), troops were brought in, deployed to garrisons and organized the protection of deployment points and various objects.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet soldiers conduct road surveys. Afghanistan. 1980s RIA News

The 2nd stage (March 1980 - April 1985) was characterized by the conduct of active hostilities, including the implementation of large-scale operations using many types and branches of the armed forces together with the government forces of the DRA. At the same time, work was carried out to reorganize, strengthen and supply the armed forces of the DRA with everything necessary.

Operator unknown. Afghan Mujahideen fired from a mountain gun tank column limited contingent of Soviet troops. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

At the 3rd stage (May 1985 - December 1986) there was a transition from active combat operations mainly to reconnaissance and fire support for the actions of government troops. Soviet motorized rifle, airborne and tank formations acted as a reserve and a kind of "props" for the combat stability of the DRA troops. More active role was assigned to special forces units conducting special counterinsurgency combat operations. The provision of assistance in supplying the armed forces of the DRA, assistance to the civilian population did not stop.

Operators G. Gavrilov, S. Gusev. Cargo 200. Sealing the container with the body of the deceased Soviet soldier before being sent home. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

During the last, 4th, stage (January 1987 - February 15, 1989) full output Soviet troops.

Operators V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. A column of Soviet armored vehicles follows through an Afghan village. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

In total, from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989, 620 thousand military personnel served as part of a limited contingent of DRA troops (in the Soviet army - 525.2 thousand soldiers military service and 62.9 thousand officers), in parts of the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR - 95 thousand people. At the same time, 21 thousand people worked as civilian employees in Afghanistan. During their stay in the DRA, the irretrievable human losses of the Soviet armed forces amounted to (together with the border and internal troops) 15,051 people. 417 servicemen went missing and were captured, of which 130 returned to their homeland.

Operator R. Romm. A column of Soviet armored vehicles. Afghanistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Sanitary losses amounted to 469,685 people, including the wounded, shell-shocked, injured - 53,753 people (11.44 percent); ill - 415,932 people (88.56 percent). losses in weapons and military equipment amounted to: aircraft - 118; helicopters - 333; tanks - 147; BMP, BMD, BTR - 1,314; guns and mortars - 433; radio stations, command and staff vehicles - 1,138; engineering vehicles - 510; flatbed cars and fuel trucks - 1,369.

Operator S. Ter-Avanesov. Reconnaissance paratrooper unit. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

During their stay in Afghanistan, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 86 servicemen. Over 100 thousand people were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Checkpoint of a limited contingent of Soviet troops on the protection of the Kabul airfield from the attacks of the Mujahideen. Afghanistan. July 24, 1988. RIA Novosti

Operators G. Gavrilov, S. Gusev. Soviet helicopters in the air. In the foreground is a Mi-24 fire support helicopter, in the background is a Mi-6. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

Photographer A. Solomonov. Mi-24 fire support helicopters at the Kabul airfield. Afghanistan. June 16, 1988. RIA Novosti

Photographer A. Solomonov. Checkpoint of a limited contingent of Soviet troops on guard mountain road. Afghanistan. May 15, 1988. RIA Novosti

Operators V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. Meeting before a combat mission. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

Operators V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. Carrying shells to the firing position. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

Photographer A. Solomonov. Artillerymen of the 40th Army suppress enemy firing points in the Pagman area. Suburb of Kabul. Afghanistan. September 1, 1988. RIA Novosti

Operators A. Zaitsev, S. Ulyanov. The withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. A column of Soviet armored vehicles passes over the bridge over the river. Panj. Tajikistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Operator R. Romm. Military parade of Soviet units on the occasion of the return from Afghanistan. Afghanistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Operators E. Akkuratov, M. Levenberg, A. Lomtev, I. Filatov. The withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General B.V. Gromov with the last armored personnel carrier on the bridge across the river. Panj. Tajikistan. February 15, 1989. RGAKFD

Operators A. Zaitsev, S. Ulyanov. Soviet border guards at the border post on the border of the USSR and Afghanistan. Termez. Uzbekistan. 1988. RGAKFD

The photographs are taken from the publication: Military Chronicle of Russia in Photographs. 1850s - 2000s: Album. – M.: Golden Bee, 2009.

Canadian soldier Chris Kezar of the NATO Coalition-led 7th Platoon rests after heavy fighting against insurgents in a Taliban stronghold in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan on March 20, 2009.

Several US Army field artillery units are patrolling the area where the Taliban were spotted.

A shepherd boy watches his goats February 27, 2009 in Nuristan province, northeast Afghanistan.

U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Nicholas Bender launches a drone aircraft(UAV) with a video camera in order to be able to monitor the base around the entire perimeter and timely track the movements of the Taliban, whose attacks have become more frequent with the advent of spring in Farah province in southwestern Afghanistan.

An Afghan woman wearing a veil walks to the old bazaar in Kabul on March 4, 2009.

A US Air Force C-17 military transport plane, dropping paratroopers, flies over an opium poppy field on March 22, 2009, located near the US Marine Corps base in Kalanderabad (a city in southwestern Afghanistan).

Farmer Haji Abdul Khan shows the Marines to a poppy they damaged during the landing. The soldiers assured the old man that they would soon compensate him for all the damage. The Taliban often extort farmers a percentage of their crop profits, while marines On the contrary, they do not have a mandate to eradicate opium poppy crops and, moreover, rely on farmers who supply them with data on the activities of the Taliban.

An Afghan miner works at a coal mine in Pul-i-Kumri, about 170 kilometers north of Kabul, on March 7, 2009. Two hundred and eighty workers produce about one hundred tons of coal a day and receive from 70 to 110 dollars a month for this.

Man suspected of aiding Taliban who fired rockets military base on the evening of February 18, 2009 in the province of Nuristan, Afghanistan.

The body of one of the rebels lies in a truck after the battle on March 26, 2009 outside of Ghazni (a city in Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul, located on a mountainous plateau). During the shootout, four Taliban were killed, seven policemen and two civilians were injured.

A USMC counterintelligence soldier and his interpreter met with local Afghan residents on March 23, 2009 in Kirta, southwestern Afghanistan.

Sergeant Darin Hendrix peers into a small cave in a remote village in Nuristan province in search of Taliban rocket launchers.

Mohammed Amin, an Afghan boy, sells balloons in a field in Kabul on February 27, 2009.

A woman makes prosthetic limbs at the Kabul Orthopedic Organization (KPO), Afghanistan.

A US Marine and an Afghan police officer during a joint patrol of the area. Local opium poppy and wheat farmers said the presence of the Marines in the region, previously controlled by the Taliban, made it safer.

An M-4 rifle rests on sandbags at a US observation post in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

About 40 former Taliban (Islamic movement) fighters surrender their weapons to the Afghan government in Herat, west of Kabul, on March 10, 2009, as a sign of reconciliation.

The men work for salt mine in the province of Takhar, northeast of Kabul. The mine produces more than 23 thousand tons of salt per year.

A soldier from the 2nd Gurkha Regiment (British colonial troops recruited from Nepalese volunteers) cleans his weapons at a patrol base in Musa Qala, Helmand province, on March 27, 2009.

Marines The United States observes lightning on the horizon during a search operation near the village of Bakwa, in southwestern Afghanistan. Information was received that a group of armed Taliban were approaching their base through a hidden ravine, but no one was found in the end.

US Marine Lance Daniel Geary, 22, returns home in a zinc coffin. The photo was taken at the International Airport on March 26, 2009, in New York. Relatives, close friends and acquaintances gathered to see him off on his last journey.

Veterans salute the departing funeral cortege. Hundreds of people lined the street to see off those who gave their lives in the Afghan war.

Canadian soldiers carry the coffins of their compatriots at an airfield in Kandahar, a city in southern Afghanistan, on March 21, 2009.

Family and friends of Jack Trooper wait for a hearse during a repatriation ceremony in Trenton, Ontario, on March 23, 2009.
Repatriation is the return to their homeland of prisoners of war and civilians who found themselves outside its borders as a result of the war.

Lieutenant General David Hunton, Jr. kneels to pass American flag Nicole Banting, widow of 29-year-old Captain Brian Banting, at the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Brian died from an improvised explosive device that went off near his car.

A CH-53 military transport helicopter flies over rugged terrain in Farah province on March 17, 2009. Seventeen thousand additional US troops are scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan soon.

Canadian soldiers of the NATO coalition are sent to Kandahar, a city that is a stronghold of the Taliban.

A Canadian CH-146 military helicopter flies over Kandahar province, in southern Afghanistan, on March 27, 2009.

Canadian gunners open fire from a machine gun from a CH-146 military helicopter on Taliban groups.

Naseem is a heroin addict from Kabul. Drugs remain readily available, costing one dollar a dose. Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 per cent of the world's heroin supply. The annual opium harvest is up to $3 billion.

A security officer guards a drug burning on the outskirts of a city in Herat province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. More than two thousand kilograms of narcotic drugs, consisting of heroin, opium and hashish, were burned along with bottles of alcoholic beverages.

Afghan horsemen play Buzkashi (“goat hold”), an equestrian sport known since the time of Genghis Khan. This is national view sport of Afghanistan, which requires courage, agility and strength from the participants.

An Afghan man waits with his sick child to see one of the French doctors of the 27th BCA (Mountain Chasseurs Battalion) February 19, 2009, in Nijrab, Kapisa province.

british soldier during a foot patrol in a poppy field in Musa Qala, Helmand province, on March 28, 2009.

US Marines in an abandoned city in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

Air base in Bagram ( old City and a major airport 60 kilometers northwest of Kabul in Afghan province Parvan).

An Afghan policeman stands by the burned body of a suicide bomber near a US base north of Kabul on March 4, 2009. The suicide bomber blew himself up and a car at the main gate of the Bahamas airbase, injuring several contractors in the process.

An elderly Afghan man shakes hands with a Canadian 3rd Battalion soldier at a Taliban stronghold in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province on March 30, 2009.

Afghan girls at a school in the village of Sandarwa. The education of the female half has been seriously undermined, the rebellious Taliban practices a policy of intimidation of female students. Women, who make up a significant part of the population of Afghanistan, were shot, burned, and those who attend school were threatened with life.

Boys play snowballs on February 13, 2009 in Kabul.

Children in an overcrowded refugee camp in Helmand Province on February 10, 2009.

US Marines patrol during a March 22, 2009 sandstorm in remote Kalanderabad, southwestern Afghanistan.

The entry of units and subunits of the Soviet army and their participation in the civil war in Afghanistan between the armed opposition and the government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). The civil war began to unfold in Afghanistan as a consequence of the transformations carried out by the pro-communist government of the country, which came to power after the April Revolution of 1978. On December 12, 1979, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, guided by an article on mutual obligations to ensure the territorial integrity of the friendship treaty with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, decided to send troops to Afghanistan. It was assumed that the troops of the 40th Army would provide protection for the country's most important strategic and industrial facilities.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet armored vehicles and afghan women with children on one of the mountain roads to Jalalabad. Afghanistan. June 12, 1988. RIA Novosti

Four divisions, five separate brigades, four separate regiments, four combat aviation regiments, three helicopter regiments, a pipeline brigade and separate units of the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs were introduced into Afghanistan along with support and maintenance units. Soviet troops guarded roads, gas fields, power plants, ensured the operation of airfields, escorted vehicles with military and economic cargo. However, the support of the government troops in combat operations against the armed groups of the opposition aggravated the situation even more and led to an escalation of armed resistance to the ruling regime.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet soldiers-internationalists are returning to their homeland. Road through the Salang pass, Afghanistan. May 16, 1988. RIA Novosti

The actions of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan can be conditionally divided into four main stages. At the 1st stage (December 1979 - February 1980), troops were brought in, deployed to garrisons and organized the protection of deployment points and various objects.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet soldiers conduct engineering reconnaissance of roads. Afghanistan. 1980s RIA News

The 2nd stage (March 1980 - April 1985) was characterized by the conduct of active hostilities, including the implementation of large-scale operations using many types and branches of the armed forces together with the government forces of the DRA. At the same time, work was carried out to reorganize, strengthen and supply the armed forces of the DRA with everything necessary.

Operator unknown. Afghan Mujahideen are firing from a mountain gun tank column of a limited contingent of Soviet troops. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

At the 3rd stage (May 1985 - December 1986) there was a transition from active combat operations mainly to reconnaissance and fire support for the actions of government troops. Soviet motorized rifle, airborne and tank formations acted as a reserve and a kind of "props" for the combat stability of the DRA troops. A more active role was assigned to special forces units conducting special counterinsurgency combat operations. The provision of assistance in supplying the armed forces of the DRA, assistance to the civilian population did not stop.

Operators G. Gavrilov, S. Gusev. Cargo 200. Sealing a container with the body of a dead Soviet soldier before being sent home. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

During the last, 4th, stage (January 1987 - February 15, 1989), a complete withdrawal of Soviet troops was carried out.

Operators V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. A column of Soviet armored vehicles follows through an Afghan village. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

In total, from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989, 620 thousand military personnel served as part of a limited contingent of DRA troops (in the Soviet army - 525.2 thousand conscripts and 62.9 thousand officers), in parts of the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR - 95 thousand people . At the same time, 21 thousand people worked as civilian employees in Afghanistan. During their stay in the DRA, the irretrievable human losses of the Soviet armed forces amounted (together with the border and internal troops) to 15,051 people. 417 servicemen went missing and were captured, of which 130 returned to their homeland.

Operator R. Romm. A column of Soviet armored vehicles. Afghanistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Sanitary losses amounted to 469,685 people, including the wounded, shell-shocked, injured - 53,753 people (11.44 percent); sick - 415,932 people (88.56 percent). Losses in weapons and military equipment amounted to: aircraft - 118; helicopters - 333; tanks - 147; BMP, BMD, BTR - 1,314; guns and mortars - 433; radio stations, command and staff vehicles - 1,138; engineering vehicles - 510; flatbed cars and fuel trucks - 1,369.

Operator S. Ter-Avanesov. Reconnaissance paratrooper unit. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

During their stay in Afghanistan, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to 86 servicemen. Over 100 thousand people were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Checkpoint of a limited contingent of Soviet troops on the protection of the Kabul airfield from the attacks of the Mujahideen. Afghanistan. July 24, 1988. RIA Novosti

Operators G. Gavrilov, S. Gusev. Soviet helicopters in the air. In the foreground is a Mi-24 fire support helicopter, in the background is a Mi-6. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

Photographer A. Solomonov. Mi-24 fire support helicopters at the Kabul airfield. Afghanistan. June 16, 1988. RIA Novosti

Photographer A. Solomonov. Checkpoint of a limited contingent of Soviet troops guarding a mountain road. Afghanistan. May 15, 1988. RIA Novosti

Operators V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. Meeting before a combat mission. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

Operators V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. Carrying shells to the firing position. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

Photographer A. Solomonov. Artillerymen of the 40th Army suppress enemy firing points in the Pagman area. Suburb of Kabul. Afghanistan. September 1, 1988. RIA Novosti

Operators A. Zaitsev, S. Ulyanov. The withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. A column of Soviet armored vehicles passes over the bridge over the river. Panj. Tajikistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Operator R. Romm. Military parade of Soviet units on the occasion of the return from Afghanistan. Afghanistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Operators E. Akkuratov, M. Levenberg, A. Lomtev, I. Filatov. The withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General B.V. Gromov with the last armored personnel carrier on the bridge across the river. Panj. Tajikistan. February 15, 1989. RGAKFD

Operators A. Zaitsev, S. Ulyanov. Soviet border guards at the border post on the border of the USSR and Afghanistan. Termez. Uzbekistan. 1988. RGAKFD

The photographs are taken from the publication: Military Chronicle of Russia in Photographs. 1850s - 2000s: Album. - M.: Golden Bee, 2009.