February 15 in Russia and other former Soviet republics is celebrated as a public holiday - the Day of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan lasted for almost ten years (1979-1989). Until now, there are disputes about the reasons for the introduction of troops and the appropriateness of this step. The only thing that needs no comment is the terrible price that our country paid, which is about 15,000 dead children and tens of thousands of disabled people, in addition, countless Afghan rebels and civilians died.
The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began on May 15, 1988, in accordance with the Geneva agreements concluded on April 14, 1988, and ended on February 15, 1989. According to these agreements, the USSR undertook to withdraw its contingent within nine months, and half of the troops had to leave the territory during the first 3 months. The withdrawal operation was constantly attacked by the Mujahideen.
Main stages
- March 1988: Statement by the Soviet Government that the signing of the Geneva Accords is being delayed due to the fault of the Afghan opposition, and the start of the withdrawal of troops will be delayed accordingly. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan
The last column of Soviet troops crosses the Afghan-Soviet border, February 15, 1989
However, in March 1988, the withdrawal of troops had already actually begun - the operational groups of the Representation of the KGB of the USSR began to leave the provincial centers of Afghanistan.
The last column of Soviet troops crosses the Afghan-Soviet border, February 15, 1989 - April 7, 1988: Meeting in Tashkent of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, M. S. Gorbachev, and the President of Afghanistan, Najibullah, at which decisions were made allowing the immediate signing of the Geneva Accords and the start of the withdrawal of troops from May 15, 1988, as previously expected.
- April 14, 1988: signing of the Geneva agreements on a political settlement around Afghanistan, between the USSR, the USA, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- May 15, 1988: Soviet withdrawal begins: first six regiments from northern provinces move home
- Early November 1988: Suspension of the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
- February 15, 1989 - the end of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
medal
Afghan War Awards
Medal for the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of troops 
For courage and courage - Afghan 
Winners or losers?
Disputes do not subside about the status in which the USSR left Afghanistan - as a winner or a vanquished. However, no one calls the Soviet troops the winners in the Afghan war, opinions are divided on whether the USSR lost or did not lose this war. According to one point of view, the Soviet troops cannot be considered defeated: firstly, they have never been officially placed before the task of complete military victory over the enemy and control over the main territory of the country. The challenge was to relatively stabilize the situation, help strengthen the Afghan government and prevent possible outside intervention. With these tasks, according to the supporters of this position, the Soviet troops coped, moreover, without suffering a single significant defeat.
Opponents say that in fact the task of complete military victory and control over the Afghan territory was, but it could not be fulfilled - the tactics of guerrilla warfare were used, in which the final victory is almost unattainable, and the main part of the territory was always controlled by the Mujahideen. In addition, it was not possible to stabilize the position of the socialist Afghan government, which, as a result, three years after the withdrawal of troops, was overthrown.
Military losses and economic costs.
It was estimated that during the war, the USSR annually spent 3.8 billion US dollars on Afghanistan (3 billion on the military campaign itself). The official losses of the Soviet troops are 14427 people killed, more than 53 thousand wounded, more than 300 prisoners and missing. At the same time, there is an opinion that the real death toll is 26 thousand - the official reports did not take into account the wounded, who died after being transported to the territory of the USSR.
Nevertheless, despite all the complexity, inconsistency and political assessment of these events, it should be noted that the Soviet military personnel, military advisers and specialists, were faithful to their military duty to the end and fulfilled it with dignity. Eternal glory to the heroes!
An interesting fact - the military in Afghanistan after February 15, 1989
It is safe to say that February 15 became only a conditional, symbolic date for the withdrawal of troops. For another three years, our military, mainly pilots and technical specialists, were on the territory of Afghanistan. The fact is that the military supplies left by the 40th Army were already coming to an end. 
And it was decided to establish an air bridge between the USSR and Afghanistan, through which military supplies would be carried out. Then it was decided to increase military and humanitarian aid. The Ministry of Defense formed four convoys (one hundred KamAZ vehicles each) to send cargo to Afghanistan. Soviet volunteers were at the controls of transport aircraft overloaded with military equipment and at the wheel of vehicles that were continuously fired upon by the Mujahideen. It happened that they died.
At that time, Afghanistan was supplied latest technology, and not the same as before the introduction of troops - during the Second World War. By the way, an interesting episode is connected with these deliveries. Among other things, T-34 tanks were supplied to Afghanistan to equip Afghan tank units. But when there was a change of power in the country and cases of Afghan military units going over to the side of the Mujahideen became more frequent, many tanks were captured by the rebels. And soon they began to be used against the Soviet troops. But since the fuel supply was limited, the Mujahideen could only use the tanks as fixed firing points, camouflaging them in the mountains. The "thirty-four" hidden in this way was almost impossible to destroy with artillery fire. Then they began to destroy them with the help of guided anti-tank missiles fired from helicopters. This weapon was used for the first time. It was paradoxical that they had to destroy their own equipment.
Photo of the withdrawal of troops on February 15, 1989
1 of 15
February 15 - Day of Remembrance for Russians who performed their official duty outside the Fatherland. This memorable date was established in honor of the soldiers - internationalists who performed their combat duty outside the borders of their native country. Twenty-eight years ago, on February 15, 1989, the last column of Soviet troops left the territory of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. "Afghans", combat veterans in the DRA, are considered the most massive category of soldiers - internationalists. But, of course, Soviet, and then Russian military personnel, employees of special services and internal affairs bodies took part not only in hostilities in Afghanistan, but also in a number of armed conflicts in other countries. China and Korea, Angola and Mozambique, Egypt and Ethiopia, Yemen and Syria, Lebanon and Algeria, Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia and Bangladesh - this is not a complete list of countries visited by Soviet soldiers - internationalists.
Although Soviet military personnel participated in hostilities outside the USSR before the Second World War (Civil War in Spain, Civil War in China), the practice of using internationalist soldiers reached a particularly serious scale in the post-war period. Since the late 1940s in the countries of Asia and Africa, national liberation movements intensified, advocating the liberation of their countries from colonial dependence. Support for the anti-colonial struggle fit perfectly into the framework of the ideology prevailing in the USSR, but apart from ideological considerations Soviet Union was also guided by more mundane tasks - to prevent the establishment of pro-American regimes in a number of countries in Asia and Africa.
The concept of "international duty" arose, which consisted in the opposition of the socialist countries to world imperialism in its most diverse manifestations. The Soviet Union, as well as other socialist countries, including Cuba, China, the DPRK, the GDR, began to provide military assistance to the national liberation movements, people's democratic governments, revolutionary and communist organizations waging an armed struggle against their opponents. Since the United States and other Western countries most often stood behind the opponents of decolonization or people's democracies, the revolutionaries of the "Third World" needed large-scale military assistance - and the USSR provided it to them, not only in the form of military equipment and ammunition, but also in the form of military advisers, instructors, and even direct power support by sending contingents of Soviet troops.
One of the first examples of the participation of Soviet military personnel in hostilities outside the USSR after World War II can be called military assistance to the People's Liberation Army of China in 1946-1950. In many ways, it was the help of the Soviet Union that played one of the key roles in the victory of the Chinese Communists over the forces of the Kuomintang and in the creation of the People's Republic of China. Soviet military specialists assisted in the maintenance of military equipment, the training of the command and engineering staff of the PLA.
By the end of December 1949, 1,012 Soviet military specialists were assisting the PLA. However, in addition to military advisers and instructors, entire military units and formations of fighter aviation and air defense anti-aircraft artillery took part in the hostilities in China. Since the PLA did not have its own highly qualified pilots, aircraft engineers, and air defense specialists, Soviet military personnel took over the protection of the sky over the liberated regions of China. Soviet aviation played essential role in the defense of Shanghai and the surrounding area from raids air force Kuomintang. Of course, the prolonged provision of military assistance to China was accompanied by impressive human losses. So, according to some reports, up to 900 Soviet servicemen died in 1946-1949. on Chinese soil. In China, there are several graves of Soviet soldiers who participated in hostilities in the country. The lists of the dead include officers, sergeants, privates of the Soviet Army.
The Soviet army also took part in the Korean War, although it was not advertised. The fighting on the Korean Peninsula was one of the first examples of open confrontation between the socialist and capitalist worlds in the Cold War. The United States and numerous allies of Washington came to the aid of South Korea, help North Korea provided primarily by the Soviet Union and China. From the USSR, the Group of Soviet military specialists in Korea and the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps participated in the hostilities, first of all. The total number of Soviet military personnel who took part in the conflict reached 30 thousand people. The 64th IAK included all flying and anti-aircraft units and subunits involved in hostilities in Korea. During their participation in the war, the pilots of the 64th Fighter Air Corps made about 64,000 sorties and conducted 1,872 air battles. Corps losses amounted to 335 aircraft. At least 120 pilots and 68 anti-aircraft gunners were killed in the fighting. In total, at least 300 Soviet military personnel, including 160 fighter aviation and anti-aircraft artillery officers, were killed or died from wounds in the fighting in Korea.
Soviet soldiers - internationalists took part in the national liberation struggle of the peoples of Indochina against the pro-American regimes, and then the American invaders. So, back in 1960, crews of transport aircraft were sent to Vietnam to deliver aid to the partisans of the Pathet Lao front in Laos. In total, from 1960 to 1970. 113 Soviet military personnel visited Laos, mostly officers - pilots. Much more extensive was the participation of Soviet troops in the Vietnam War - one of the bloodiest conflicts after military history XX century. More than 6 thousand Soviet military personnel, primarily pilots, anti-aircraft artillery specialists, engineering services, in different time took part in the hostilities in Vietnam, the losses of Soviet military specialists amounted to 7 people - according to official data.
In 1956 and in 1968 Soviet military personnel had to take part in operations on the territory of the Warsaw Pact countries - respectively, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In 1956, Soviet troops were brought into Hungary to suppress the anti-communist uprising, which grew into a real uprising that threatened the political system of Hungary and called into question the prospects for the further stay of the Hungarian People's Republic in the socialist camp. It was the Soviet troops that played a key role in suppressing the Budapest uprising and restoring order in the country. In total, at least 31.5 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were involved in Hungary, the losses amounted to 669 killed, 1251 wounded, 51 missing. Thus, the Hungarian events, in terms of the number of troops involved and human losses, became by that time the largest example of the use of Soviet troops abroad.
In late August - early September 1968, Soviet troops participated in Operation Danube on the territory of Czechoslovakia - again, in order to suppress anti-communist demonstrations in the country. The troops of the USSR, the GDR, Poland, Hungary and the NRB were introduced into the territory of Czechoslovakia. Soviet troops numbered about 170 thousand soldiers and officers and included 18 motorized rifle, tank and airborne divisions, 22 aviation and helicopter regiments.
Another "hot region" of the planet, in the conflicts of which Soviet military personnel managed to take part, was the Middle East. First of all, we are talking about the Arab-Israeli conflict, stretching for decades. In the 1950s - early 1970s. Egypt was the main target of Soviet military aid in the Middle East. The USSR supported the national socialist leadership of the country, headed by Gamal Abdel Nasser. First of all, the Soviet Union supplied Egypt with weapons, however, since the level of training of Egyptian military personnel, especially pilots and technical specialists, was extremely low, military advisers and instructors were sent to this country.
In 1967, the Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations with Israel. By March 1970, 1.5 thousand Soviet military personnel with the latest air defense systems, and about 150-200 fighter pilots arrived in Egypt. By the end of 1970, the number of Soviet troops in Egypt had risen to 20,000 servicemen. First of all, Soviet servicemen served in the anti-aircraft missile divisions deployed to Egypt, in ship crews sent to the Suez Canal zone and in fighter aircraft. In the fighting in Egypt, more than 40 Soviet servicemen were killed - sailors, anti-aircraft gunners, aviators, military advisers of a combined arms profile. In addition to Egypt, Soviet military personnel, namely military advisers and transport aviation crews, took part in the civil war in Yemen in 1962-1969. Soviet military advisers were in Syria, where they performed the duties of providing advice to the army of the Syrian Arab Republic.
In 1982, Soviet troops were sent to Syria - in connection with the next aggravation of Syrian-Israeli relations. The leadership of the USSR decided to send 3 long-range anti-aircraft missile regiments, a technical regiment and electronic warfare units with a total number of 5-6 thousand military personnel to Syria. Soviet soldiers and officers were transferred to Syria in civilian clothes, under the guise of tourists. Soviet troops were in Syria until July 1984.
The long history of the Soviet military presence on the continent, stretching for several decades, is connected with the provision of assistance to the national liberation movements of Africa. Back in 1962-1964. Soviet military experts assisted the young sovereign Algeria in demining its territory - eliminating the consequences of a long and bloody struggle for its political independence, the largest French colony in North Africa. On July 27, 1963, an agreement was signed between the Soviet Union and Algeria on the gratuitous demining of the Algerian territory by the USSR. More than 100 Soviet military specialists - miners arrived in the republic.
Soviet military specialists played a crucial role in the wars on the territory of the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique. Soviet military specialists were sent to Mozambique in 1976. These were military advisers and translators who served with units and formations of the People's Liberation Forces of Mozambique (FPLM). During the years of armed conflict in Mozambique, 6 Soviet servicemen were killed, 2 more died of disease.
On a larger scale was the participation of Soviet military personnel in the civil war in Angola, where they assisted the ruling pro-Soviet MPLA party in the fight against the UNITA rebels. Cuba sent a 15,000-strong military contingent to Angola, and the USSR helped, first of all, with weapons and specialists. Thousands of Soviet military personnel passed through Angola - advisers, instructors, specialists and translators. In this distant country, 7 officers, 2 ensigns and 2 employees of the Soviet Army perished or died of disease.
In 1977-1979. Soviet military personnel took part in the hostilities in the Horn of Africa - the Ogaden War. The Soviet Union decided to provide military assistance to Ethiopia in an armed conflict with neighboring Somalia. For this purpose, impressive contingents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba and the army of South Yemen, and over 1.5 thousand Soviet military advisers and specialists, were sent to Ethiopia. The losses of the Soviet side amounted to about thirty military personnel.
The war in Afghanistan is forever inscribed in the military history of our state. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops passed through Afghanistan during the ten years of the war. Therefore, it is with the "Afghans", in the first place, that the warriors - internationalists are personified by people who are far from military service and military history. A lot has been written about the participation of the Soviet Army in the Afghan war, so there is no point in retelling what has already been said once again. It is only worth noting that the problems of many soldiers - internationalists who fought in Afghanistan, often have not been resolved so far - the state does not provide the support that former officers and soldiers who paid their international duty outside the country can quite rightly count on.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the point of view was actively promoted in society that the participation of Russian citizens in armed conflicts abroad was a thing of the past. Tendentious politicians and journalists tried to convince the public of the exclusive fault of the Soviet Union for the use of Soviet military personnel in foreign wars. However, life itself has shown the fallacy of such reflections.
Russia is a great power, and, like any other power, it has to defend its geopolitical interests, including by resorting to armed intervention. Especially when the national security of the Russian state which is inextricably linked with such topical areas as, for example, the fight against international terrorism. Today, servicemen of the Russian army and other law enforcement agencies are serving outside Russia, risking their lives hourly and every minute. First of all, these are our military, fighting in Syria against terrorists. Of course, we should not forget about the thousands of retired military men who went to defend the people of Donbass.
The main problem that needs to be addressed at the state level today remains the issue of social (including financial) support for combatants outside the country. Unfortunately, often soldiers who heroically defended the interests of their homeland are left without deserved awards, without significant material assistance (combat veterans, as we know, receive very small payments if they are not military pensioners). But another aspect is no less important - when “they are not there”, then officers and soldiers are not officially honored, they try in every possible way to hide their very participation in certain conflicts.
It remains to congratulate all the soldiers - internationalists on this memorable date, wish them good health, fewer losses - both in combat and in peacetime. Eternal memory to all fallen internationalist soldiers, and to those of them who passed away after returning to their homeland.
Class hour on the topic:
"25th anniversary of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan"
Target:
1. Expand students' knowledge of the war in Afghanistan.
2. Help the children understand why we must remember the difficult times in the life of our people, our loved ones.
3. To cultivate a sense of respect for the participants in the Afghan events.
4. Help to comprehend the events of the Afghan war from a universal point of view;
5. Raising patriotism and internationalism in the younger generation.
6. Form an idea of duty, honor, responsibility, morality.
I don't know who and why
It is necessary,
Who sent them to their deaths
with an unshakable hand,
It's just so useless
So evil and unnecessary
They were released into eternal rest. (A. Vertinsky)
More than 20 years ago, the ten-year war in Afghanistan ended. These events played a significant role in the history of our Motherland. Afghanistan is located in South Asia, separated from the rest of Asia by a chain of massive mountain ranges. The second highest mountain range in the world, the arid Hindu Kush, stretches across the territory of Afghanistan, which runs through Central Afghanistan.
Area of Afghanistan: 649,507 sq. km.
Population 25,825,000 people.
Capital: Kabul.
Currency: 1 afghani.
Official language: Afghan, Persian, Pashto.
Other languages: Uzbek, Turkish.
Main religions: Islam 99%, Hinduism, Judaism.
On February 15, 1989, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was completed. This year we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of this event. More than 14 thousand soldiers who did not return from Afghanistan, such is the price of this war.
For the first time, the issue of bringing our troops into Afghanistan was put on the agenda on March 15, 1979, when an anti-government rebellion broke out among the population in Herat. The Afghan leaders asked for military assistance in suppressing this rebellion by bringing Soviet troops into the territory of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA).
On December 25, 1979, at 15:00, a limited contingent of Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, through Kushka to Herat and Kandahar, and then to Kabul. On the night of December 27, 1979, special groups of the KGB of the USSR "Zenith" and "Thunder", formed for the duration of the operation in Afghanistan from the employees of "Alpha", together with the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate, stormed the presidential palace on the outskirts of Kabul. The entire operation "Storm-333" lasted no more than 20 minutes, in addition to the palace, 17 more objects in Kabul were captured.
The next morning, Soviet troops began to arrive in Kabul. Thus began the ten-year Afghan war...
Hymn
Just an hour before departure we are given,
Just an hour of final respite.
They told us: we are flying to Afghanistan.
Yesterday's boys are flying to Kabul.
Today we do not write no lines.
And, entrusting their fate to the domes,
Let's sink into the Afghan sands,
And with boots we will measure the rocks ...
1 student: That spring is already coming
Without the whistle of bullets in the Afghan whirlwind,
But the mountains again come to me in dreams,
Those mountains on which the sea of death.
The desert snapped hotly,
In the sands hiding the ghost of a caravan,
Everything was, everything was left behind,
But I will not forget Afghanistan for a century.
2 student. Memory, memory, call for yourself
In those distant days gone by
You revive the friends of my dead,
And return youth to friends living.
Memory, memory, you can, you must
For a moment, turn these arrows,
I don't just want to remember the names,
I want to look my friends in the eyes!
Conditions in Afghanistan bore little resemblance to familiar airfields and training grounds. In winter, thirty-degree frosts were suddenly replaced by prolonged rains and slush, dust storms often flew in, reducing visibility to 200-300 meters. It was even worse in the summer, when the air temperature rose to + 52C, and the skin of the aircraft heated up to + 80C under the scorching sun. Constantly withering heat, which did not subside day or night, monotonous food and lack of conditions for rest exhausted people.
Remember!
He protected others on the battlefield
Fell without stepping back
And this hero has a name -
Great army simple soldier!
We kneel before those
who survived, who is in the ranks today.
And the heart contracts with pain -
you went through this war.
It's a pity we can't forget the war...
But besides the desire to survive,
There is still courage to live!
My friends, all those killed in wars,
Let's remember and be silent for a minute.
The events of those years are assessed differently. Those who gave orders and those who carried them out look differently at the Afghan war. But for those and other actions that took place on the territory of Afghanistan fit into one capacious and scary word- war. A war that must never be repeated, the lessons of which must be learned for the rest of one's life.
When the war ended, soldiers, sergeants, officers returned to their native land with a sense of accomplishment. Their fathers and mothers, wives and children, friends and loved ones met them with great joy. And a calm, peaceful life began ...
They managed to overcome physical and spiritual traumas and, relying on their solidarity and mutual support, stand firmly and reliably on their feet and become real men in civilian life - strong, reliable, wise.
For those who returned from Afghanistan, seemingly alive and well, the war was not in vain. We often hear that people who have returned from "hot spots" are embittered at the whole world and can no longer live as before in peaceful conditions, but strive to where there is risk. Let's think: could it be otherwise? After all, hundreds, thousands of kilometers of someone else's pain passed before their eyes. There was not a soldier in Afghanistan who was not aware of the fact that the head of a Soviet officer was estimated at 300,000 afghani, and the harvest from an average peasant allotment was worth only 50,000. And many "peaceful peasants" cultivated their piece of land during the day, and at night they went out to fish of a completely different kind. And the Soviet soldiers knew that a "surprise" could be expected from everyone, whether it was an old man, a woman or a child. Just as there was no front line in Afghanistan, there was no border between “peaceful” and “non-peaceful”population. The soldiers had a question: why are we here? And the understanding constantly came that this is a world that lives according to a special law, you need to leave it alone, give it the opportunity to solve all problems on its own, without “entering someone else’s monastery with its charter.” Yes, and the Afghans said quite frankly: Go away, Shuravi, we we'll figure it out ourselves. This is our business."
The "Afghans" returned and were simply not needed. Then the Society of Afghan Wars appeared. In 1992, the Russian Union of Afghanistan Veterans was established in Moscow. The Union provides assistance to the families of the victims, because there are no funds to provide assistance to all members of the Union. Moral trauma to the “Afghans” is caused by the fact that they were simply forgotten. They say time heals. But this pain is unlikely to subside. War is always war. Under her black veil will certainly be someone's house, someone's family.
When the Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, many hoped that the world would become more peace that wars will be engaged in creative work, that the hearts of their mothers and wives will calm down. But, alas, it did not happen. Not much time passed, and conflicts began in Chechnya. And again, the help of Russian soldiers was required, and again mothers began to lose their sons and shed endless tears.
A moment of silence.
Battles end, but history is eternal. The Afghan war also went down in history. But it will live in human memory for a long time, because it was written with the blood of soldiers and the tears of mothers. She will live in the memory of orphans left without fathers. It will live on in the hearts of those who participated in it.
On February 15, 1989, the last Soviet units left the territory of Afghanistan. In front of a bridge across the border river Amu Darya, Colonel-General Boris Gromov, the future governor of the Moscow region and then commander of the Limited Contingent in Afghanistan, jumped from an armored personnel carrier to cross the border on foot. Izvestia's special correspondents N. Sautin and V. Kuleshov were also present.
Photo: TASS/Victor Budan, Robert Netelev, Khodzhaev I.
“Today, thousands of people who have gathered on the high bank of the Amu Darya are watching armored vehicles go over the bridge linking our country and Afghanistan. On the first armored personnel carrier under the guards banner - Lieutenant Alexei Sergachev, who started in Afghanistan as a simple soldier, ”special correspondents wrote in the editorial of the newspaper on February 15, 1989.
However, Boris Gromov and the units following with him were far from the last to leave Afghanistan - behind him there were still border guards and special forces covering the outgoing troops (they would be on Soviet territory only by the evening of the same day), as well as several hundred military personnel who remained in the Afghan captivity.
The Afghan war, which lasted 10 years, from 1979 to 1989, cost the lives of thousands of Soviet troops - official statistics published back in 1989 estimated losses at 13 thousand people, but this figure did not take into account those who later died of wounds in hospitals . According to other researchers, the losses could exceed 20 thousand people. Izvestia recalls what happened in Afghanistan in those years, why the Soviet Union decided to send troops and how the events in this country are connected with a large-scale geopolitical game that was started by the Russian and British empires.
A year before the entry of Soviet troops, in 1978, Afghanistan began Civil War. At the end of April, as a result of the April Revolution, the People's Democratic Party came to power in the country, proclaiming a democratic republic in the country and setting out to carry out a number of reforms. Against were representatives of the opposition, expressing the interests of the conservative Islamic world. The political confrontation turned into a war. In 1979, the new leadership of Afghanistan turned to the USSR for support, but the difficulties that such intervention threatened were so obvious that the Soviet leadership refused, although the Soviet garrison on the border with Afghanistan was strengthened for security purposes. In total, the Soviet leadership will receive about 20 such requests over the next year.
Around the same time, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed a secret executive order under which the U.S. provided support to opposition forces, including supplying weapons to the rebels and providing training in military camps.
However, in the fall of 1979, a split within the PDPA party ripened in Afghanistan - on the orders of a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the party, Hafizullah Amin, its leader Nur Mohammad Taraki was arrested and then killed. Amina, having come to power, unleashed terror, which shook the position of the PDPA. Fearing that US-supported opposition forces, on whose side the Mujahideen were on the side, would come to power in Afghanistan, the USSR decided to send troops and conduct an operation to overthrow Amin. Numerous letters previously sent by the Afghan leadership to the Soviet government were used as the reason.
Why was Afghanistan important to the USSR?
Afghanistan, located at the junction of Central and South Asia, serves as a kind of intersection point for the interests of world powers fighting for dominance over the Central Asian region. It is the strategic location that has historically attracted the attention of a number of states to the country.
For the USSR, the conflict in Afghanistan was all the more important because it borders on three countries that were then part of the Union - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Unrest within the country could pose a threat to peace in the republics, and the coming to power of the opposition, supported by NATO forces under conditions cold war, was even more undesirable.
However, the armed conflict of the 1980s, which resulted in a confrontation between the Soviet Union and Western countries, became a kind of continuation of a geopolitical dispute that lasted almost two centuries. V early XIX century interests Russian Empire, expanding its presence in Central Asia in order to gain access to the goods of Asian peoples, as well as to stop raids on its southern territories, collided with the interests of the British Empire, which was interested in maintaining its influence in India and the surrounding territories. In the 1830s, Russian representatives won their first diplomatic victories in Kabul, followed by a series of Anglo-Afghan wars that lasted almost until the end of the century. By the beginning of the 20th century, the confrontation would rather remain at the level of intelligence, with the light hand of Rudyard Kipling, having received the name " big game". By the end of the Second World War, the "game" will gradually come to naught. But the conflict of interest remains.
Operation Storm
At the end of 1979, when the introduction of troops into Afghanistan was announced, the new Afghan president, Amin, thanked the USSR for the decision to provide military assistance and ordered to assist the Soviet troops. And in December of the same year, Soviet special forces launched Operation Storm - the assault on Amin's Kabul residence.
On the afternoon of December 27, Azerbaijani presidential cook Mikhail Talibov, who was a KGB agent, poisoned the meals served at dinner. When the Afghan president and the guests felt unwell, the Afghan leader's wife called doctors from the Soviet military hospital - unaware of the ongoing special operation, they helped everyone present.
In the evening of the same day, an assault began, as a result of which not only the presidential residence was captured, but also the buildings of the general headquarters of the Afghan army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, communication centers, radio and television. Hafizullah Amin was killed. The Soviet military doctor Kuznechenkov, who was at that moment inside the palace, also died. Almost all participants in the assault were wounded, in total, 20 Soviet servicemen were killed during the assault, as well as the head of the operation, Colonel Boyarinov.
However, the main goal of the Soviet leadership was achieved - instead of Amin, Karmal, who collaborated with the USSR, was brought to Kabul, and the "second stage of the revolution" was proclaimed in the country.
Photo: TASS/Victor Budan
Another "9th company"
Despite the fact that the Soviet contingent had been in Afghanistan for ten years, active fighting developed over five years - from March 1980 to April 1985. Most of the most tragic events in the history of the Soviet contingent in the country fell on the same five-year plan. And the biggest losses - over 2 thousand people - occurred in 1984.
On February 29, as part of the Kunar offensive, the first clash between the Airborne Forces and the Mujahideen took place in the history of this war - 37 military personnel were killed in a battle with rebel units that had previously acted on the side of government troops, and the total losses for the raid amounted to 52 people. Later, experts noted that the reason for such large losses in this battle was the disorientation of the command in unusual terrain.
At the same time, the confrontation in the international arena also reached its peak - due to the conflict in Afghanistan, Western countries boycotted the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow, and Soviet athletes did not go to the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles.
Soviet military personnel had to fight in unfamiliar territory, which, however, was well known to members of local opposition-minded armed groups - Mujahideen or Dushmans. However, the danger was not always associated with the actions of the Mujahideen. The tunnel at the Salang Pass gained notoriety: on February 23, 1979, 16 servicemen suffocated in it due to a traffic jam, and three years later, in 1982, almost 180 people died under its arches due to a traffic jam that had already formed outside the tunnel. - 62 of them were Soviet military personnel. In 1985, another 17 people froze to death after their unit was forced to spend the night near a glacier in the Shutun Gorge.
Way back home
The main condition for the withdrawal of troops to the USSR was called the cessation of external interference in the internal life of Afghanistan. In 1983, talk about the withdrawal of the contingent began to sound more and more often, at the same time the eight-month program for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was almost completed, but due to the illness of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, the issue was removed from the agenda. The end of the Afghan conflict was postponed for another five years - in April 1988, with the mediation of the UN in Switzerland, the Geneva Agreement on the settlement of the situation around the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan will be signed, the guarantors of which were the USSR and the USA. In accordance with the document, the USSR undertook to withdraw its contingent from May 15 to February 15, 1989, and the United States and Pakistan - to stop supporting the rebels.
Soviet units began to return to their homeland, for many of them this meant the beginning of a new life, which they had to wait for more than one year.
“Do not believe it, but life has developed in such a way that for six years the bride Larisa Lobzhanidze, a student from Tiraspol, has been waiting for me. Write: let him get ready for the wedding, I'm going, ”said Lieutenant Viktor Kapitan, political officer of the sapper company, with Izvestia correspondents who were present at the bridge across the Amu Darya.
However, not everyone will be able to survive the 10 months remaining before returning to their homeland. During the withdrawal of troops due to attacks by the Mujahideen, according to the American newspaper The Washington Post, about 500 more troops will be killed. Among them was the Izvestia photojournalist, 29-year-old Alexander Secretaries.
“He died in Afghanistan in May last year, when preparations for the withdrawal of our troops were just beginning. Sasha then extended the business trip until May 15. And how carefully he prepared! How I dreamed of capturing the first column heading home for history! And, of course, I thought: I’ll shoot on May 15 and I’ll definitely come here on February 15 ... Geneva already connected these two dates for all of us, ”R. Armeev wrote about him in the issue of Izvestia on February 15, 1989, dedicated to the withdrawal of troops .
Photo: TASS / Georgy Nadezhdin
Remaining in Afghanistan
The Afghan war cost the lives of not only ordinary soldiers and officers, as well as civilian specialists, many of whom were captured or died during terrorist attacks organized in Kabul and other cities of the country, but also representatives of the commanding staff.
In 1981, when leaving the attack on the enemy’s command post, a helicopter was destroyed, in which Major General Khakhalov was located - all on board died. In 1985, the Mujahideen shot down a MiG-21 fighter piloted by Major General Vlasov. The pilot managed to eject, but after landing he was captured. To search for the general, the largest search operation in the entire war was launched, but it did not give any results - the general was shot in captivity shortly after his identity was established. In total, five Soviet generals were killed in Afghanistan.
And even after Boris Gromov crossed the symbolic Friendship Bridge across the Amu Darya in 1989, and the units covering the outgoing troops returned to their homeland, the Afghan war did not end for everyone.
According to official statistics, 417 military personnel were taken prisoner during the entire period of hostilities. 130 of them were released before the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, but the conditions for the release of the rest were not stipulated by the Geneva Accords. It is believed that about eight people were recruited by the enemy, 21 people were released with the help of the Committee for the Rescue of Soviet Prisoners, created by Russian émigrés in the United States, and after their release they emigrated to the West. More than a hundred prisoners died - including trying to escape from the camps on their own.
“There, beyond the Amu Darya, peace has not yet come. But there is still hope, and it is in the heart of every our internationalist soldier, that harmony in Afghanistan will be restored,” Izvestia correspondents N. Sautin and V. Kuleshov wrote on the day of the withdrawal of troops.
The Afghan conflict, which caused the introduction of troops in 1979, was never fully resolved - clashes in the country continue to this day.
Evgenia Priemskaya
May 15, 1988 - the day of the beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
AiF columnist Vladimir Svartsevich, an eyewitness to those events, recalls how it was.
Vladimir Svartsevich, together with the first units of the Soviet troops, made a 600-kilometer journey from the Afghan city of Jalalabad on the border with India to the Uzbek city of Termez on the state border of the USSR.
More than 600 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers passed through Afghanistan. The leadership of the USSR could no longer hide the figures of our losses. Severe and exhausting, kept secret for many years Soviet people the war, which lasted 2238 days, claimed more than 14 thousand lives of our soldiers.
On this day, the implementation of the Geneva agreements on a political settlement of the situation around Afghanistan began.
The Soviet Union undertook to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan within nine months, before February 15, 1989, and half of the troops should be withdrawn within the first three months.
And in the first three months, 58,183 troops left Afghanistan. And another 50,100 people returned to the USSR in the period from August 15, 1988 to February 15, 1989.
It was a long way home.
The day before, he flew by AN-24 aircraft to the Afghan Jalalabad, from where the first column of Soviet troops was supposed to leave - in order to witness this event.
Each of the journalists was wearing a parachute - just in case. From a height of about 6000 meters, we did not land, but almost fell onto the runway of the airfield, which for a moment was illuminated by searchlights. They hardly saw the city - they immediately went to a press conference, which was arranged by local authorities in the only hotel in the city.
The event ended before it began - the hotel was subjected to mortar fire. We stood pressed against the wall, shards of glass from broken windows fell nearby. Everyone prayed to God that the mine would not cover us.
After that they returned to 15th GRU Special Forces Brigade, with which we had to go with the first column on the armor to Kabul.
Soviet soldier in Afghanistan. Farewell Afghanistan!
On that day, 29 years ago, we woke up long before dawn. Machine engines roared across the vast platform.
The outgoing personnel prepared for the solemn formation. It was then that some of these shots were taken. 
The places of the Soviet troops were already occupied by the Afghan army, Tsarandoy (police), Afghan security units (MGB). Military camps were handed over to them fully equipped - barracks, baths, canteens. Everything is in exemplary military order.
Even the beds were made up with new linen, bedside rugs were laid out, and in the barracks there were even slippers by the soldiers' bedside tables.
Equipment and weapons were transferred in good condition. Air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators remained with the Afghans. Even the situation in the commander's offices was preserved, the water supply was working properly.
One got the impression that the soldiers only left the barracks for a minute.
As one of the veterans of the brigade, the commander of the special forces, Colonel Yuri Starov, recalled, the next day he decided to say goodbye to his living module, in which he had spent two years.
It would be better if he didn't. Everything Starov saw shocked the combat officer - literally in a day, the military town was looted. All valuable property, down to bed linen, was stolen and sold through dukans - Afghan trading tents. There were no doors or window frames left in the premises.
And at that time, for some reason, the special forces were exporting to their homeland nobody needed rusty, empty safes.
May 1988 was especially hot, and already at eight in the morning the temperature in the shade was about 50 degrees, and the sun continued to "crush" all living things, heated up the armor on which it was impossible to sit - the comparison with a frying pan was real.
Our guys were standing on a huge platform, in an ironed field uniform with awards, with snow-white collars. On thousands of soldiers' berets, peeled to a shine, the rays of the merciless sun were reflected. 
About 15 thousand Afghans, ordinary peasants, local nobility and Afghan pioneers came to say goodbye to the Shuravi. The farewell was touching. Pressing one hand to their hearts, the old people wished "shuravi" a happy journey, local pioneers gave flowers, handed the soldiers postcards with quotations from the Koran in Russian.
And finally, a solemn march broke out - “Farewell of the Slavyanka”. With a parade step, with unfolded banners, the Soviet guys plunged onto the equipment.
Roaring with engines, the first column, through the human women and children, who formed a living corridor, headed for Kabul. And fresh flowers flew to the Soviet armor. At this moment, most of my shots were taken. 
The road to Kabul is winding, dangerous, unpredictable and amazingly beautiful. The gorges are so deep that the river flowing through them seems like a stream. Sometimes the rocks, so it seemed, just close overhead. Occasionally, along the road, like milestones, there were simple obelisks to our drivers who died here, under the slopes - the skeletons of burnt cars. 
It was hard for the equipment to reach the mountain pass, the engines choked from the heat and lack of oxygen. Time seemed like an eternity. 
100,000 people rally in Kabul. The speakers spoke politically literate words, and the speech of the head of Afghanistan, Najibullah, lasted 40 minutes.
A little more than 500 kilometers remained to the Motherland - the state border of the USSR in the Termez region, and each soldier's heart was torn to go home.
And here - hello native land!
The sounds of motors, solemn marches, the tears of thousands of people meeting local residents, wives, fathers, mothers of our soldiers and officers, merge into one big holiday.
On the banks of the Amu Darya, in a beautiful grove, all the soldiers are invited to a gala dinner. Twelve districts of the Surkhandarya region have their own dastarkhan table: golden pilaf, excellent lamb, fresh vegetables and scalding green tea. Everything is delicious, just like at home. But again the command sounds: “By cars!”.
... Eternal memory to those who stayed in Afghanistan forever.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors
