Soviet soldiers - martyrs of Afghanistan (4 photos)

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

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

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

3. Old Herat.

4. Damaged BMP-2.

5. Junior Soldier Salnikov with the Afghan warrior Sarboz and Bacha. Shindant.

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

7. Shindant airfield after the shelling.

8. Dushmansky "Katyushas". 107 mm RS 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 at the machine gun.

15. Leshchenko with a machine gun.

Afghan 1985-1987

Photos from the archive of Afghan war veteran Gennady Tishin.

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

3. Malishi - local self-defense units. Together with the 2nd MSB they are conducting an operation to eliminate the gang.

4. Joint operation with DRA troops. Maravara Gorge. Kunar Province.

5. 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 6th MSR company.

8. Birthday of the sergeant major of the 6th MSR, warrant officer Vasily Yakimenko.

9. Company fun monkey Masha.

10. Explosion of the Soviet T-62D tank.

11. War trophies. DP-27 machine gun (made in China "Type53"), Lee-Enfield "Boer" rifle (England).

12. Exploded military equipment.

13. Afghan vending machine. Conducting a convoy inspection.

14. "Rose". Neutralization of damaged equipment when retreating to reserve positions.

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

16. Field medical station of the battalion.

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

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

19. The fortified point of the Mujahideen was taken.

I continue to publish photographs 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 Sutham. 1984

4. Aerodrome in Moskovskoye, Odessa residents - helicopter pilots before departure in 1983.

5. In the smoking room at the Minbat behind there is a 120mm Sani 1984 mortar.

6. Beware of mines! 1984

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

8. A damaged water carrier. Chakhiab 1984

9. Tolya Pobedinsky with his nurse, Masha, 1983.

10. Trophies DShK, Zikuyuk and small things 1984

11. Hawn. Construction of a power line in the village of Khon, 1983.

12. MI-26 delivered the BTR-60PB. Hone 1984

13. Sarboz at the barbuhayka in front of the entrance to the point. Chakhiab 1983.

14. Head of Khada Mirvayz, Ulyanich, head of the airport and Nikolay Kondakov. Hone 1984

15. Captured bandit leaders with Safar (in front). Chakhiab 1984

16. A rusty mine along the Basmachi trail. Chashmdara November 7, 1983

17. Below the village of Sutham 1983.

18. Soyunov (in the center) plays chess. Chakhiab 1984

19. Chakhiab dukan maker at the bazaar 1984

20. Chakhiab blacksmith 1984

21. DShG after surgery (in the center of Lipovskikh, Volkov, Popov). Chakhiab 1984

Afghanistan 1983-1985

The introduction of units and units of the Soviet army and their participation in the civil war in Afghanistan between armed opposition groups and the government of the Democratic Republic of 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 CPSU Central Committee, guided by the article on mutual obligations to ensure the territorial integrity of the friendship treaty with the DRA, decided to send troops to Afghanistan . It was assumed that the troops of the 40th Army would provide protection to 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 Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR were introduced into Afghanistan along with support and service units. Soviet troops guarded roads, gas fields, power plants, ensured the functioning of airfields, and transport of military and economic cargo. However, support for government troops in combat operations against armed opposition groups further aggravated the situation and led to an escalation of armed resistance to the ruling regime.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet internationalist soldiers return to their homeland. Road through the Salang Pass, Afghanistan. May 16, 1988. RIA Novosti

Actions of a limited contingent Soviet troops in Afghanistan can be roughly divided into four main stages. At the 1st stage (December 1979 - February 1980) the introduction of troops, deployment to garrisons and organization of security of deployment points and various objects were carried out.

Photographer A. Solomonov. Soviet soldiers carry out engineering survey of roads. Afghanistan. 1980s RIA News

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

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

At the 3rd stage (May 1985 - December 1986) there was a transition from active combat operations primarily 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 “support” 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 and assistance to the civilian population did not stop.

Cameramen G. Gavrilov, S. Gusev. Cargo 200. Sealing a container with the body of a deceased Soviet soldier before being sent to his homeland. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

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

Cameramen V. Dobronitsky, I. Filatov. A column of Soviet armored vehicles moves 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 units 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 border and internal troops) 15,051 people. 417 military personnel went missing and were captured, of which 130 returned to their homeland.

Cameraman R. Romm. Column of Soviet armored vehicles. Afghanistan. 1988. RGAKFD

Sanitary losses amounted to 469,685 people, including 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, armored personnel carrier – 1,314; guns and mortars - 433; radio stations, command and staff vehicles - 1,138; engineering vehicles – 510; flatbed vehicles and fuel tankers – 1,369.

Cameraman S. Ter-Avanesov. Paratroopers reconnaissance unit. Afghanistan. 1980s RGAKFD

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

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

Cameramen 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 Kabul airfield. Afghanistan. June 16, 1988. RIA Novosti

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

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

Cameramen 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 Paghman area. Suburb of Kabul. Afghanistan. September 1, 1988. RIA Novosti

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

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

Cameramen E. Akkuratov, M. Levenberg, A. Lomtev, I. Filatov. 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 over the river. Panj. Tajikistan. February 15, 1989. RGAKFD

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

Photos are borrowed from the publication: Military Chronicle of Russia in Photographs. 1850s – 2000s: Album. – M.: Golden-Bi, 2009.

The location of Afghanistan, in the very center of Eurasia, at the junction of “South” and “Central” Asia, places it among the key regions in ensuring the stability of the military-political situation in the entire Central Asian region, where the interests of all the leading powers of the world intersect for centuries.

Soviet troops entered Afghanistan unhindered at the end of 1979. This issue contains photographs from the time of the Afghan war of 1979 - 1989.

The purpose of the entry of Soviet troops at the end of 1979 was to secure its southern borders and the USSR's desire to support the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.

1. Soviet tanks near Kabul. (AP Photo):

2. Afghan combat helicopter. Provides cover for the Soviet convoy, which supplies food and fuel to Kabul. Afghanistan, January 30, 1989. (Photo by AP Photo | Liu Heung Shing):

3. Afghan refugees, May 1980. (AP Photo):

5. Muslim insurgents with AK-47s, February 15, 1980. Despite the presence of Soviet and Afghan government troops, insurgents patrolled the mountain ranges along the Afghan border with Iran. (Photo by AP Photo | Jacques Langevin):

6. Soviet troops on the way to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s. (Photo by Georgi Nadezhdin | AFP | Getty Images):

7. A detachment of Muslim insurgents near Kabul, February 21, 1980. At the time, they were attacking convoys moving from Pakistan to Afghanistan. (AP Photo):

8. Soviet soldiers are observing the area. (Photo by AP Photo | Estate of Alexander Sekretarev):

9. Two Soviet soldiers captured. (AFP Photo | Getty Images):

10. Afghan partisans atop a downed Soviet Mi-8 helicopter, January 12, 1981. (AP Photo):

11. Before the start of the withdrawal of Soviet troops in May 1988, the Mujahideen had never managed to carry out a single major operation and failed to occupy a single one large city. (AP Photo | Barry Renfrew):

The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. The most common figure is 1 million dead; Available estimates range from 670 thousand civilians to 2 million in total.

12. Afghan guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud surrounded by Mujahideen, 1984. (Photo by AP Photo | Jean-Luc Bremont):

Interestingly, according to UN statistics on demographic situation in Afghanistan, in the period from 1980 to 1990, there was a decrease in the mortality rate of the Afghan population compared to previous and subsequent periods.

13. Afghan partisan with an American Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missile system, 1987. (AP Photo | David Stewart Smith):

USSR losses are estimated at about 15,000 people.

14. Soviet soldiers leave an Afghan store in the center of Kabul, April 24, 1988. (Photo by AP Photo | Liu Heung Shing):

800 million US dollars were spent annually from the USSR budget to support the Kabul government. From 3 to 8.2 billion US dollars were spent annually from the USSR budget on the maintenance of the 40th Army and the conduct of combat operations.

15. A village destroyed during fighting between the Mujahideen and Afghan soldiers in Salang, Afghanistan. (AP Photo | Laurent Rebours):

16. Mujahideen 10 kilometers from Herat, waiting for a Soviet convoy, February 15, 1980. (Photo by AP Photo | Jacques Langevin):

17. Soviet soldiers with German shepherds trained to detect mines, Kabul May 1, 1988. (AP Photo | Carol Williams):

18. Mangled Soviet cars in northeast Pakistan, February 1984. (AP Photo):

20. A Soviet plane comes in to land at Kabul Airport, February 8, 1989. (Photo by AP Photo | Boris Yurchenko):

21. Our plane, cars and shell casings at the air base in Kabul, January 23, 1989. (Photo by AP Photo | Liu Heung Shing):

23. Afghan firefighters and a girl killed in a powerful explosion in the center of Kabul, May 14, 1988. (Photo by AP Photo | Liu Heung Shing):

24. Soviet soldiers in the center of Kabul, October 19, 1986. (Photo by Daniel Janin | AFP | Getty Images):

25. Soviet and Afghan officers pose for the press in central Kabul, October 20, 1986. (Photo by Daniel Janin | AFP | Getty Images):

26. The beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, May 1988. (Photo by Douglas E. Curran | AFP | Getty Images):

27. A column of Soviet tanks and military trucks leaves Afghanistan, February 7, 1989. (AP Photo):

28. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the situation on the Soviet-Afghan border became significantly more complicated: there were shelling of the territory of the USSR, attempts to penetrate into the territory of the USSR, armed attacks on Soviet border guards, and mining of Soviet territory.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Scanpix

35 years ago, an official decision was made to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan. By sending its soldiers to “fulfill their international duty,” the USSR was trying to support the supporters of the concept of socialism who came to power as a result of the April Revolution of 1978, and also wanted to secure its southern borders. As a result, a quick and victorious war did not work out: fighting lasted for ten years and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Among them are at least 63 residents of Latvia.

Socialist revolution which led to the war

Photo: AP/Scanpix

On October 8, 1979, Nur Muhammad Taraki, the founder of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan and the first leader of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, was killed. Hafizullah Amin came to power in the country, who had his own opinion on the further construction of Afghan society.

These events were regarded in the Kremlin as a counter-revolutionary coup. It was decided to support supporters of the concept of socialism in Afghanistan, who came to power as a result of the April Revolution of 1978, faced with powerful opposition to their social, economic and political strategy. American military-economic activities in the region created the threat of Afghanistan leaving the Soviet sphere of influence.

Photo: Reuters/Scanpix

The fall of the pro-Soviet government in itself would mean swipe on the foreign policy positions of the USSR. At the international level, it was stated that the USSR was guided by the principles of “proletarian internationalism.”

As a formal basis, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee used repeated requests from the leadership of Afghanistan and Hafizullah Amin personally to provide military assistance to the country to fight anti-government forces.

The beginning of the Afghan war and the storming of Amin's palace

Photo: afghanistānas karš

When developing the operation to overthrow Amin, it was decided to use Amin’s own requests for Soviet military assistance. In total, from September to December 1979 there were 7 such appeals.

At the beginning of December 1979, the so-called “Muslim battalion” was sent to Bagram - a detachment special purpose GRU - specially created in the summer of 1979 from Soviet military personnel of Central Asian origin to guard Taraki and carry out special tasks in Afghanistan.

Photo: AFP/Scanpix

On December 12, 1979, at the proposal of the Politburo Commission of the CPSU Central Committee on Afghanistan, which included Andropov, Ustinov, Gromyko and Ponomarev, a resolution was adopted to provide military assistance to Afghanistan by introducing Soviet troops into the country.

Almost immediately, the army was reinforced with helicopter units and fighter-bombers from the TurkVO and SAVO bases. Simultaneously with the deployment of troops, an operation of the Soviet special services was carried out under the code name "Storm-333", the purpose of which was the physical elimination of the head of Afghanistan Hafizullah Amin.

On December 25, 1979, the 40th Army entered Afghanistan under the command of Lieutenant General Yuri Tukharinov.

On the evening of December 27, Soviet special forces stormed Amin's palace in Kabul; the operation lasted 40 minutes; during the assault, Amin was killed. According to the official version, “as a result of the rising wave of popular anger, Amin, along with his henchmen, appeared before a fair people’s court and was executed.”

In addition to the main facility, the military units of the Kabul garrison, the radio and television center, the ministries of security and internal affairs were blocked and taken under control, thereby ensuring that the special forces completed their task. The second most important facility was also stormed - the complex of buildings of the general headquarters of the Afghan army.

Photo: AFP/Scanpix

On the night of December 27-28, an Afghan politician, one of the founders of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), Babrak Karmal, who in the fall of 1978 was accused of organizing an anti-government conspiracy and removed from the post of ambassador to Czechoslovakia, arrived in Kabul from Bagram. He made an appeal to the Afghan people, in which the “second stage of the revolution” was proclaimed. After entering forces Soviet army to Afghanistan in December 1979, Kamal became general secretary Central Committee of the PDPA.

The operation to “provide international assistance to the Afghan people” took place in conditions of strict secrecy. $800 million was spent annually from the USSR budget to support the Kabul government. From 3 to 8.2 billion dollars were spent annually from the USSR budget on the maintenance of the 40th Army and the conduct of combat operations.

The UN Security Council qualified the action of the Soviet Union as open application armed force beyond its borders and military intervention. The USSR vetoed the Security Council resolution; it was supported by five Third World Council member states. On January 14, 1980, the UN General Assembly at its Extraordinary Session confirmed the Security Council resolution.

Stalemate situation and withdrawal of Soviet troops

Photo: RIA Novosti/Scanpix

On April 7, 1988, a meeting was held in Tashkent Secretary General The Central Committee of the CPSU Gorbachev and the President of Afghanistan Najibullah, at which decisions were made allowing the signing of the Geneva Agreements and the beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

The Geneva agreements were signed on April 14, 1988, through the mediation of the UN, by the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan; the USSR and the USA became guarantors of the agreements.

The USSR pledged to withdraw its contingent within nine months, starting on May 15; The United States and Pakistan, for their part, had to stop supporting the Mujahideen.

On August 15, 1988, the first stage of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was completed. 50.2 thousand people returned to the USSR - 50% of OKSV personnel. Soviet troops still remained in six provinces, with 50.1 thousand people, in addition, 55% of the 40th Army Air Force remained in Afghanistan.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Scanpix

On November 15, 1988, the second stage of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began. On February 13, 1989, the last unit of the Soviet Army left Kabul.

On February 15, 1989, Soviet troops were completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the troops of the 40th Army was led by the last commander of the Limited Military Contingent, Lieutenant General Gromov. According to the official version, he was the last to cross the border river Amu Darya (city of Termez).

The border troops of the KGB of the USSR carried out tasks to protect the Soviet-Afghan border in separate units on the territory of Afghanistan until April 1989. In addition, some Soviet military personnel went over to the side of the Mujahideen and voluntarily remained in Afghanistan.

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the situation on the Soviet-Afghan border became significantly more complicated: there were shelling of the territory of the USSR, attempts to penetrate into the territory of the USSR, armed attacks on Soviet border guards, etc.

USSR losses

Photo: AFP/Scanpix

After the end of the war, in August 1989, the USSR published the numbers of dead Soviet soldiers, broken down by year:

1979 - 86 people
1980 - 1484 people
1981 - 1298 people
1982 - 1948 people
1983 - 1448 people
1984 - 2343 people
1985 - 1868 people
1986 - 1333 people
1987 - 1215 people
1988 - 759 people
1989 - 53 people
Total - 13,835 people.

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

Soviet Army - 14,427 people
KGB - 576 (including 514 border troops)
Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28
Total - 15,031 people.

According to official statistics, during the fighting in Afghanistan, 417 military personnel were captured and went missing (of which 130 were released before the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan). The Geneva Agreements of 1988 did not stipulate the conditions for the release of Soviet prisoners.

Photo: AFP/Scanpix

15 February 1989 armed forces former USSR were withdrawn from Afghanistan, so this day is a day of remembrance for military personnel who died during the Afghan War and other military conflicts in which residents of Latvia were involved in the USSR army.

In the Afghan war, 3,640 residents of Latvia took part in the ranks of the Soviet troops. As a result of the fighting, 63 residents of the republic were killed and 177 people were injured. One person is listed as missing. Afghan war veterans in Latvia do not have any benefits.

This spring, in Riga, in the Quiet Garden (Latgale suburb), a monument was erected with the inscription: “To the sons of Latvia who died in the Afghan war.”

Money for the new monument was raised by the Foundation for the Memory of those Fallen in Afghanistan, which was created several years ago by a veteran of that war, musician Sergei Obolevich. And the head of the Latvian Association of Afghanistan War Veterans, Gunars Rusins, was the author of the monument.

In the center of the monument is a stone heart, split in two by a sword, and under it is a black marble book with the names of Latvian residents who died in Afghanistan. The old memorial stone, which appeared on this site in 2008, has also been preserved.

Afghan casualties

Photo: AFP/Scanpix

In 1988, Afghan President Najibullah reported that over 10 years, 243.9 thousand government troops, security forces, government officials and civilians had died in the country.

The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. The most common figure is 1 million dead; Available estimates range from 670 thousand civilians to 2 million in total.

According to UN statistics, between 1980 and 1990, the total mortality rate of the population of Afghanistan was 614,000 people. At the same time, in this period There was a decrease in the mortality rate of the population of Afghanistan compared to previous and subsequent periods.

Probably write about such terrible things in new year holidays- this is not entirely correct. However, on the other hand, this date cannot be changed or changed in any way. After all, it was on New Year’s Eve 1980 that the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began, which became the starting point of the many years of Afghan war, which cost our country many thousands of lives...

Today, hundreds of books and memoirs, and other various historical materials have been written about this war. 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 individual memoirs of war participants. But the author of these lines has never come across a systematic, generalizing work on the dead prisoners - although I very closely follow Afghan historical topics. Meanwhile, entire books have already been written (mainly by Western authors) about the same problem from the other side - the death of Afghans at the hands of Soviet troops. There are even Internet sites (including in Russia) that tirelessly expose “the crimes of Soviet troops, who brutally exterminated civilians and Afghan resistance fighters.” But practically nothing is said about the often terrible fate of Soviet captured soldiers.

I didn’t make a reservation - precisely a terrible fate. The thing is that Afghan dushmans rarely killed Soviet prisoners of war doomed to death right away. Lucky were those whom the Afghans wanted to convert to Islam, exchange for their own, or donate as a “gesture of goodwill” to Western human rights organizations, so that they, in turn, would glorify the “generous Mujahideen” throughout the world. But those who were doomed to death... Usually the death of a prisoner was preceded by so much terrible torture and torture, the mere description of which immediately makes one feel uneasy.

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

As experts say, our soldiers were captured in different ways - some were on unauthorized absence from a military unit, some deserted due to hazing, some were captured by dushmans at a post or in real battle. Yes, today we can condemn these prisoners for their rash actions that led to the tragedy (or, on the contrary, admire those who were captured in a combat situation). But those of them who accepted martyrdom had already atoned for all their obvious and imaginary sins by their death. And therefore, they - at least from a purely Christian point of view - deserve no less bright memory in our hearts than those soldiers of the Afghan war (living and dead) who performed heroic, recognized feats.

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

The legend of the "red tulip"

From the book of American journalist George Crile “Charlie Wilson’s War” (unknown details of the CIA’s secret war in Afghanistan):

“This is said to be a true story, and although the details have changed over the years, the overall story goes something like this. On the morning of the second day after the invasion of Afghanistan, a Soviet sentry noticed five jute bags on the edge of the runway at Bagram airbase outside Kabul. At first he didn't give it a thought of great importance, but then he poked the barrel of the machine gun into the nearest bag and saw blood coming out. Bomb 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 the medical examination was able to determine, these people died a particularly painful death: their skin was cut on the abdomen, and then pulled up and tied above the head."

This type of brutal execution is called “red tulip”, and almost all soldiers who served on Afghan soil have heard about it - doomed man, having been rendered unconscious with a large dose of the drug, they hung him up by his arms. The skin was then trimmed around the entire body and folded upward. When the effect of the dope wore off, the condemned man, having experienced a strong painful shock, first went crazy and then slowly died...

Today it is difficult to say how many of our soldiers met their end in exactly this way. Usually there was and is a lot of talk among Afghan veterans about the “red tulip” - one of the legends was cited by the American Crile. But few veterans can name the specific name of this or that martyr. However, this does not mean that this execution is only an Afghan legend. Thus, the fact of using 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, Victor’s fellow countrymen, journalists from Kazakhstan, were able to find out the details of his death.

At the beginning of January 1981, Viktor Gryaznov and warrant officer Valentin Yarosh received the task of going to the city of Puli-Khumri to a military warehouse to receive cargo. A few days later they set off on their return journey. But on the way the convoy was attacked by dushmans. The truck Gryaznov was driving broke down, and then he and Valentin Yarosh took up arms. The battle lasted about half an hour... The ensign's body was later found not far from the battle site, with a broken head and cut out eyes. But the dushmans dragged Victor with them. What happened to him later is evidenced by a certificate sent to Kazakh journalists in response to their official request from Afghanistan:

“At the beginning of 1981, the mujahideen of Abdul Razad Askhakzai’s detachment captured a shuravi (Soviet) during a battle with the infidels, and called himself Viktor Ivanovich Gryaznov. He was asked to become a devout Muslim, a mujahid, a defender of Islam, and to participate in ghazavat - a holy war - with infidel infidels. Gryaznov refused to become a true believer and destroy the Shuravi. By the verdict of the Sharia court, Gryaznov was sentenced to death - a red tulip, the sentence was carried out."

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

Foreign witnesses say

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

Italian journalist Oriana Falacci, who visited Afghanistan and Pakistan several times in the 1980s, testifies. During these trips, she finally became disillusioned with the Afghan mujahideen, whom Western propaganda then portrayed exclusively as noble fighters against communism. The “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 they sawed it off Soviet hands and legs... The victims did not die immediately. Only after some time the victim was finally beheaded and the severed head was used to play “buzkashi” - an Afghan version of polo. As for the arms and legs, they were sold as trophies in the bazaar...”

English journalist John Fullerton describes something similar in his book “The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan”:

“Death is the usual end for those Soviet prisoners who were communists... In the first years of the war, the fate of Soviet prisoners was often terrible. One group of prisoners, who were flayed, were hanged on hooks in a butcher's shop. Another prisoner became the central toy of an attraction called “buzkashi” - a cruel and savage polo of Afghans galloping on 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 from a foreigner. This is an excerpt from Frederick Forsyth's novel The Afghan. Forsyth is known for his closeness to the British intelligence services who helped the Afghan dushmans, and therefore, knowing the matter, he wrote the following:

“The war was brutal. Few prisoners were taken, and those who died quickly could consider themselves lucky. The mountaineers hated Russian pilots especially fiercely. Those captured alive were left in the sun, with a small incision made in the stomach, so that the insides swelled, spilled out and were fried until death brought relief. Sometimes prisoners were given to women, who used knives to skin them alive...”

Beyond the Human Mind

All this is confirmed in our sources. For example, in the book-memoir of international journalist Iona Andronov, who repeatedly visited 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 ripped open by daggers looked like a sickening bloody mess. I have heard about such savagery many times: the knackers cut off the ears and noses of captives, cut open their stomachs and tore out their intestines, cut off their heads and stuffed them inside the ripped peritoneum. And if they captured several prisoners, 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 captured wounded:

“I learned that... the army authorities in Kabul, through Afghan intermediaries, were able 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 desecration that I still don’t dare to describe it. And I don’t know: whether he died from a battle wound or the wounded man was tortured to death by monstrous torture. The chopped remains of Victor in tightly sealed zinc were taken home by the “black tulip”.

By the way, the fate of captured Soviet military and civilian advisers was truly terrible. For example, in 1982, military counterintelligence officer Viktor Kolesnikov, who served as an adviser in one of the units of the Afghan government army, was tortured to death by dushmans. 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. USSR KGB Major Vladimir Garkavyi recalls:

“Kolesnikov and the translator were tortured for a long time and in a sophisticated manner. The “spirits” were masters in this matter. Then both their heads were cut off and, having packed their tortured bodies into bags, they were thrown into the roadside dust on the Kabul-Mazar-i-Sharif highway, not far from the Soviet checkpoint.”

As we see, both Andronov and Garkavy refrain from detailing the deaths of their comrades, sparing the reader’s psyche. But one can guess about these tortures - at least from the memoirs of former KGB officer Alexander Nezdoli:

“And how many times due to inexperience, and sometimes as a result elementary neglect security measures, not only internationalist soldiers died, but also Komsomol workers seconded by the Komsomol Central Committee to create youth organizations. I remember the case of a blatantly brutal reprisal against one of these guys. He was scheduled to fly from Herat to Kabul. But in a hurry, he forgot the folder with documents and returned for it, and while catching up with the group, he ran into the dushmans. Having captured him alive, the “spirits” cruelly mocked him, cut off his ears, ripped open his stomach and filled it and his mouth with earth. Then the still living Komsomol member was impaled and, demonstrating his 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 carry an F-1 grenade in the left lapel of his jacket pocket. So that, in case of injury or a hopeless situation, one does not fall into the hands of the dushmans alive...”

A terrible picture appeared before those who, as part of their duty, had to collect the remains of tortured people - military counterintelligence officers and medical workers. Many of these people are still silent about what they saw in Afghanistan, and this is understandable. But some still decide to speak. This is what a nurse at a Kabul military hospital once told the Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich:

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

The corpses... They lay in a separate room... Half naked, with their eyes gouged out,

Once - with a carved star on his stomach... Previously, in a movie about a civilian

I saw this during the war.”

He told writer Larisa Kucherova (author of the book “KGB in Afghanistan”) no less amazing things. former boss special department of the 103rd Airborne Division, Colonel Viktor Sheiko-Koshuba. Once he had a chance to investigate an incident involving the disappearance of an entire convoy of our trucks along with their drivers - thirty-two people led by a warrant officer. This convoy left Kabul to the Karcha reservoir area to get 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, had been captured by dushmans:

"Mutilated, dismembered remains human bodies, dusted with thick viscous dust, were scattered on the dry rocky ground. The heat and time have already done their job, but what people have created defies any 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 boys were captured, the dushmans led them tied up through the villages for several days, and civilians with frantic fury stabbed the defenseless boys, mad with horror, with knives. Men and women, old and young... Having quenched their bloody thirst, a crowd of people, overcome with a feeling of animal hatred, threw stones at the half-dead bodies. And when the rain of stones knocked them down, dushmans 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 the Soviet officers present, he spoke in detail, savoring every detail, about the abuse to which the unarmed boys were subjected. It was clear to the naked eye that at that moment the prisoner received special pleasure from the very memories of torture...”

The dushmans really attracted the civilian Afghan population to their brutal actions, who, it seems, eagerly participated in mocking our military personnel. This is what happened with the wounded soldiers of our special forces company, who in April 1985 were caught in a Dushman ambush in the Maravary gorge, near the Pakistani border. The company, without proper cover, entered one of the Afghan villages, after which a real massacre began there. This is how the head of the Operational Group of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, General Valentin Varennikov, described it in his memoirs

“The company spread throughout the village. Suddenly, from the heights to the right and left, several large-caliber machine guns began firing at once. All the soldiers and officers jumped out of the courtyards and houses and scattered around the village, seeking refuge somewhere at the foot of the mountains, from where there was intense shooting. It was a fatal mistake. If the company had taken refuge in these adobe houses and behind the thick duvals, which cannot be penetrated not only by large-caliber machine guns, but also by a grenade launcher, then the personnel could fight for a day or more until help arrived.

In the very first minutes, the company commander was killed and the radio station was destroyed. This created even greater discord in the actions. The personnel rushed about at the foot of the mountains, where there were neither stones nor bushes that would shelter them from the lead rain. Most of the people were killed, the rest were wounded.

And then the dushmans came down from the mountains. There were ten to twelve of them. They consulted. Then one climbed onto the roof and began observing, two went along the road to a neighboring village (it was a kilometer away), and the rest began to bypass our soldiers. The wounded were dragged closer to the village with a belt loop placed on their foot, and all those killed were given a control shot in the head.

About an hour later, the two returned, but accompanied by nine teenagers aged ten to fifteen years and three big dogs- Afghan Shepherds. The leaders gave them certain instructions, and with squeals and screams they rushed to finish off our wounded with knives, daggers and hatchets. The dogs bit our soldiers by the throat, the boys cut off their arms and legs, cut off their noses and ears, ripped open their stomachs, and gouged out their eyes. And the adults encouraged them and laughed approvingly.

Thirty to forty minutes later it was all over. The dogs were licking their lips. Two older teenagers cut off two heads, impaled them, raised them like a banner, and the entire team of frenzied executioners and sadists went back to the village, taking with them all the weapons of the dead.”

Varenikov writes that only junior sergeant Vladimir Turchin remained alive then. The soldier hid in the river reeds and saw with his own eyes how his comrades were tortured. Only the next day he managed to get out to his people. After the tragedy, Varenikov himself wanted to see him. But the conversation did not work out, because as the general writes:

“He was shaking all over. He didn’t just tremble a little, no, his whole body trembled - his face, his arms, his legs, his torso. I took him by the shoulder, and this trembling was transmitted to my hand. It seemed like he had a vibration disease. Even if he said something, he chattered his teeth, so he tried to answer questions with a nod of his head (agreed or denied). The poor guy didn’t know what to do with his hands; they were shaking very much.

I realized that a serious conversation with him would not work. He sat him down and, taking him by the shoulders and trying to calm him down, began to console him, talking good words that everything is already behind us, that we need to get into shape. But he continued to tremble. His eyes expressed all the horror of what he had experienced. He was mentally seriously injured."

Probably, such a reaction on the part of a 19-year-old boy is not surprising - even fully grown, experienced men could be moved by the sight they saw. They say that even today, almost three decades later, Turchin still has not come to his senses and categorically refuses to talk to anyone about the Afghan issue...

God is his judge and comforter! Like all those who had the opportunity to see with their own eyes all the savage inhumanity of the Afghan war.