"I'm far from enthusiastic about everything,
what I see around me... but I swear
honor, for nothing in the world I
would like to change the Fatherland, or
have a different story than
history of our ancestors, such
what God gave it to us."
(A.S. Pushkin)

By five in the morning the air became so dry and warm that there was no way to breathe, much less to make any movements. The air resembled liquid glass, heated to a melting point, it trembled slightly, flowed and somehow reluctantly rose up. It seemed that all living things hid deep underground and the world ceased to exist. The column froze in anticipation of a common command - "By cars and go!"
There was not a rustle of leaves, not a whisper of the wind in the bushes near the waterway, as if everything had died out. Even the ubiquitous sparrows have disappeared somewhere.
"Why are we at war with them? ... - flashed an afterthought, - why and for what?" And for some reason it always spins in the brain: "Do what you must, and let it be what will be."
At political classes, I myself told my soldiers: - Guys, the government of the Soviet Union granted the request of the Afghan side, although I myself knew everything from short messages from TASS.
One thing I can say is that the military needs to be distracted from the war, otherwise you can go crazy. Sometimes you just have to fool around, it somehow relaxes. I just sometimes write - this is also a kind of relaxation.
If you're in a bad mood, think that when you die, you won't have that either.
War is a spiritual harvest sanctioned by God. For those who have not heard the signals from above, one thing remains, to enjoy life, and if you miss this moment, then a person comes to God and gives his life for the sake of the people. We will not beg the algorithm - everyone undergoes purification, you will have the same thing in a certain individual channel for each. Everyone will take exactly as much as they can take, because everyone came with a different vessel, and there is no way to carry away more than they enter into it.
Only a shock causes awakening and a very rapid evolutionary spiritual growth of a person.
And only at the moment of shock does a person begin to function. In a combat situation, in minutes of battle, people solve a question that normally takes part of their lives, only at this moment of shock does a person begin to function. Why so many wars, why so many upheavals? You just need to understand that the objective process, we are forced to wake up. We wake up and none of this will happen, we understood everything, and there are no mechanisms for shocks, and then we will figure it out ourselves. What time are we living in? Once in 20 thousand years there is such a time. And not the most came the worst people to get into this period, and we must take advantage of this time for spiritual evolution. It will seem to many, but it’s not the worst who die, right? Yes it is. But after all, not everyone was sent here, so someone needs it. And this moment should not be missed, because it will not be possible to come to the next life right away. I’ll have to stand in line with dispassion and jealousy to get into this time, and knock that last time I missed it, missed it, and now I’m ready ...
The world is complacent and always happy, open to any personality, only the personality itself is blocked by crooked mirrors from the world. You don’t need to think about death if you want to live, and it doesn’t matter how much you have left, a year, two, a minute or a second, it doesn’t matter, you just can’t put it off until later, if you put it off again, then you will never move to the next moment will, and that's the problem. For people, there is no armageddon, no tomorrow, no next moment, there is now, and if you miss now, tomorrow will not come. Tomorrow will be the same as now, and freedom will be ghostly, like the horizon, no matter how much you run to it. You can be sad, dream that now I will get up and go, and find a way out, but he will not come close to you, although you got up and went. What is inside a person, it never lies. If there is a striving of the individual for freedom, no one will defeat him. Life is Beautiful!
And about whether you are lucky or not, you can argue for a long time, but we say: "Where luck ends, there begins a cemetery!" If I had not been lucky, I would not have lived in this world for a long time. As Zhelezov says: - Man is fragile. You stand - varicose veins. Sitting - hemorrhoids. Lying down - tissue necrosis. So it's better to keep moving.
For the fourth day, side by side with units of the 20th Afghan division, two operational battalions of the MGB (Ministry of State Security) and a tsarandoy, we keep Said's detachment in a tight block. Of ours, two D-30 batteries and a reconnaissance battalion company are participating in this event.
We shoot decently from the guns, but it is difficult to say about the results of our fire. Among the officers of the Afghan division there are artillerymen who were trained in the Soviet Union, so they correct the fire. They give us the coordinates, and we process these areas with fire. Whom they hit, we have no idea. Judging by the reviews of the Afghan command, they are satisfied with the fire. One thing is bad, we break our barrels, because we brought high-explosive fragmentation shells with a full charge, there is not a single box with a reduced variable charge. Several guns leaked recoil.
Fifth day on one Afghan plov. Of course, they cook perfectly, but we are used to our cuisine, and if it weren’t for the soldier’s ingenuity, it’s hard to even imagine where to find strength ...
For some reason, I didn’t think about pickles and cognacs, I wanted a simple scrambled egg - with a shiny, swaying yolk from the breath, with fried edges, with thin slices of bacon cut into pieces, and it must certainly float in a fair amount of fat. and next to it is a mountain of lush pancakes. I imagined what it would be like later, when I returned home, I sat down to have breakfast, Lyuba put a dish of scrambled eggs, poured a glass of "own" drink, from a bottle slightly fogged from storage in the refrigerator. Oh, dreams, dreams!
Her tear-stained face suddenly appeared before her eyes at the Chita airport, just before boarding the plane. I look at her, and my heart somehow became even worse, what if I don’t come back? And she stands and looks after me, while she herself is like from a fairy tale; - Soft blond hair and blue, with small green speckles, eyes on her face, thin beautiful lips, black eyebrows, straight fair hands, a snow-white body, as if it had never been exposed to the caressing rays of the sun, small rounded knees, slender exquisite legs, and all this is collected in one place, with packaging in almost an aspen waist, as if it had just been created according to the sketches of the Creator, a light Slavic dialect that absorbed all the dialects of the Rus - all of an excellent look, image, addition and completion. A beautiful winter outfit complemented this picture, in which she flew in from Donbas to take me to this land.
The battle beyond the mountains is "not sickly", peals from firing from tank guns are heard. After setting up a barrage, a command was received to shift fire in order to cut off the tanks from Said's infantry. And again there is a clarification - at what line to cut off?
- Where to give fire? Give the coordinates or at least a square?
Yes, the interaction itself is heavily organized, and even more so the firing of artillery.
- Where are the advisers? Give the phone to shuravi!
After a few minutes, they nevertheless contacted our adviser from the tsarandoi, but he turned out to be no better than the Afghan spotters.
- Guys, cover up, we're retreating from a height.
You will really go crazy from such control of the battle. From what height? And where are you going?
And the broadcast was instantly filled with "Russian command", went solid ....
It's not a problem to fire artillery, but we don't know where the infantry is, and where does it go? And to mess up firewood, you don’t need a lot of mind, but then, who will answer for this?
With difficulty, but came to some kind of understanding, and we opened fire. On the air it sounded great! Give me more! We give! For everyone, we turn on all the "Mayaks" and record commands on tape.
Toward evening, a command was received to put up a barrage to bring the infantry out of the fire. When asked to give the coordinates of the ZO, they gave one point with the addition - to the right and left of 500 meters. So we think, where is their right, and where is their left? It took a long time to achieve the coordinates of the ZO line. Having somehow understood each other, we organized fire with two batteries. Although, as I noted with two, but in reality we already fired 10 guns, two were completely out of order. The rollback is limiting, and the rollback, at least rest against the breech with a horn, but he does not want to return to the combat position. The recoil leaked completely.
Looking at how we shamelessly destroy our materiel, firing only with full charges, I had to remember how we already got out of such a situation once. One "but", then the weather was divine, the air was warmed up by only thirty, and now it is the mouth of a volcano. You can’t touch the shells with your bare hands, and, alas, no one gave us gloves. Our loaders carry shells using rags, but there is no other way. After agreeing with our output manager, we began to use the method of completing the charge according to the principle - pour one army mug of gunpowder from the main beam, and you already get a reduced charge. According to all instructions, such "deeds" are not permissible, but "need" is cunning for inventions. The reduced charge makes it possible to save the barrels, and the guns themselves. Conducted a couple of test shots, it turned out quite accurately, and it started like an adult.
A report was heard next to the gun: - The barrel is clean, rollback ****ets, the stock has been cut off!
- Calculation stop! Cannon release, bring to the stowed position!
Those times, this is the third weapon that has failed. Only repairmen in the places of deployment will be able to restore.
From early childhood, as far as I can remember, the most difficult thing for me was to get out of a warm bed. The cadet years, and then the cadet years, completely destroyed these habits of mine. Instead of an alarm clock, he always raised the voice of the orderly, and when he became an officer, he jumped up and ran to the barracks to his favorite personnel. On these combat ones we sleep right on the boxes with ammunition, next to the guns. Sometimes I even like it, because the roar of guns somehow calms, and the sleep from this becomes even stronger. There seems to be a sense of security inside. And the silence itself begins to put pressure on the brains, and for some reason it seems that if it’s quiet, then something is wrong, and stupid thoughts begin to creep into your head, but how without them?
- Lyokha get up! And then you sleep like Napoleon after Waterloo, and I'm sitting on the drum. Let's take control, and I'll go into the arms of Morpheus, - said V.P.
Valery Pavlovich lay down on the boxes and fell asleep instantly, without even having time to cover himself with his pea coat. I, who have seen everything, envied his ability to quickly turn off, and trudged to the CP.
One might think that we sleep in soft beds, and not on boxes, but on combat beds this sleep is very important, and it seems that a featherbed would do more harm than this bed.
At night, we conduct harassing fire on previously planned targets, so there is time to dream. But some thoughts are too far from reality.
And now, for some reason, I remembered when I received four points at the state exams in scientific communism, and therefore a blue diploma, I just hated "Marxism" and all the other "isms". And when, in the officer rank, the political officers demanded to outline the works of these luminaries of "isms", I, of course, rewrote this nonsense, but I always had the effect of being hit with a log on the head, or even worse - with a sickle on ...
I just now realized that in our officer environment there is the most severe stratification. The officers are divided into several strata: the children of high-ranking members of the Central Committee, the children of the generals, the children of just parents without power, but with connections and a rootless rascal like me. The first two have their whole life already programmed, regardless of the quality of their work, they knew everything about their future. The second had hopes for a brighter future, subject to shock communist labor and an ascetic lifestyle. The third one, that's me, didn't stand a chance, except for one. From time to time, cadres throw a bone to one plebeian out of thousands to show other plebeians that promotion depends only on them.
I turned out to be so lucky, and now I'm already on Afghan soil. Looking at everything that happens, I become some kind of terry anti-communist. At first I was "lowered" when I entered the academy, I was given two points with an excellent transfer of fire from a benchmark by a live projectile at a target. But now, after speaking at the party meeting, they throw me into all the "holes". At the same time, bitches emphasize that they put me in the most important areas. And I, even at one time, almost became proud: - Look how smart I am, a master of artillery fire, and they appreciate me. Only here, on this earth, it dawned on me that my category would not achieve more, everything had already been decided there. Okay, enough snot, that's not what I wanted to write about.
The sixth morning came, and again pilaf and lamb flatbread were on the table. I looked with disgust at this "wealth" and at the same time thought, yes, it is clear that for these fighting I eat pilaf for the rest of my life, it even seemed to me that buckwheat with and without water is not at all such a bad food.
The Afghan division seems to have stopped in its offensive, yesterday, late in the evening, the Saidites burned two tanks, and two BRDMs. We don’t know a more specific state of affairs, but judging by the periodically going “barbuhayks” with the wounded and killed, something is going wrong there, because they planned to leave for a couple of days, and the sixth is already on. They have an interesting war, they pray three times a day, at night we fire harassing fire, and they rest. So you can fight until the winter. One thing reassures - our soldiers do not die there, because they are not on the front line, only Afghans are fighting.
In the region of the mountains, according to the adviser, several bands gathered under the general leadership of Said. exact amount personnel no one knows, but according to rumors, more than a thousand people. This is a serious force, well trained, armed and equipped. The gang consists mainly of militants trained in Pakistan, ammunition, medicines and, of course, money come from there. There are many Arabs among the militants, all the advisers are Europeans, there are also Americans.
Judging by the first impression of our advisers to the division commander and tsarande, the impression was that the guys were all infantrymen, but with important persons, they say you are newbies, and we are doing a very important job. Well, so be it. The adviser to the division commander, who looked about forty years old, probably a colonel, but very important. Questions about how to behave? He answered dismissively: - You support the division, and do not confuse it with attached units, do your job according to the Combat Regulations. After these words, our V.P. it just exploded, damn it, and they seem to be not from our environment. But there's nothing to be done, they are always under the conduits, and we are for them, and said, I'm even afraid to repeat ...
Commander 20 infantry division, a strong young man with an open face framed by a sparse beard and heavy blue eyes, one could feel the presence of Slavic blood, although he belonged to the Pashtun tribe. His entire division is one name, if you look at the number of personnel, then this is about two sensible battalions. The personnel is so diverse that it is difficult to say about their age. You look at individual soldiers and want to cry, because they can see more years than the mountains of Afghanistan. Among them there are volunteers, and so mostly caught during the so-called mobilization raids. And the most interesting thing is that they got into the ranks of the army - they fight, and the term is over - they go into gangs.
I have in intelligence the children of the working people who have no acquaintances in power. All thieves serve in the warm places of the USSR. There was, of course, a case, according to the stories of my friends, conscripts who dropped out of service in Central Asia, for various reasons, and most of all, through calls from "influential" persons to the head of the transit point, with one request to leave their "protégé" to serve in the territory of the internal districts . The head of the transfer complied with their requests, and sent all these "sons" to serve in the archipelago New Earth, where minus forty in winter, plus four in summer. Storms and winds up to fifteen meters per second, and at the same time all year round. And the most warmed and "frostbitten" are taken to the headquarters on the territory of the military registration and enlistment offices, so they simply do not reach the shipment. Here are the pies. To say that this is some kind of secret, God forbid, everyone knows about it, but they can’t change anything, such is the system.
After breakfast, what Allah sent, and he, as I have already noted, does not differ in variety for several days in a row. Zhelezov sent me to the command post to the Afghans. The task is simple - to provide assistance right on the spot. I got to the command post quickly, and on the spot I was assigned the following task: - Ensure the withdrawal of the advanced units of the division to the starting line. It turns out that the Afghans poked themselves into the mountains, but they couldn’t advance a single meter further than the first one, they ran into such a powerful fire from the Saids that, apart from the loss of personnel and equipment, the result is zero. And now it is necessary to give the opportunity to the regular army to modestly retire from this area. As the divisional commander said: - There is nothing to do here without shuravi! Having dealt with the situation, I prepared the lines for opening fire, and our artillery guys worked very well and with high quality. We even found a couple of boxes of remote fuse V-90. But this was a completely different matter, they drove the bearded into underground tunnels, so that the Afghans flew off the mountains in a matter of minutes, but the damaged equipment had to be abandoned, because it was no longer subject to restoration.
Having returned the "woe" of the soldiers to the valley, in a matter of an hour we built columns and left for our bases. One thing may be noted; during this time we shot so much ammunition that it is even hard to imagine - and why was this necessary?
In principle, this is how you can fight.

(Summer of the year 1987)

The tragedy and valor of Afghan Lyakhovsky Alexander Antonovich

The state of the DRA army

The state of the DRA army

In fact, the only organized force on which the new Afghan leadership could rely in its efforts to stabilize the situation in the country was the Afghan army.

By the time of the removal of Amin and the transfer of power in the country and the party to B. Karmal, more than 90% of the party officers were khalkists. After December 1979 and the appointment of Parchamist M. Rafi to the post of Minister of Defense of the DRA, many Khalqist officers, expecting imminent reprisals and not being sure of their future, withdrew from the leadership of subordinate units and subunits.

Their fears were soon justified. A new wave of intra-party struggle swept over the army (as well as other institutions of power). In addition, there was a close connection of some officers with the rebels. The order that prevailed in the DRA Armed Forces can be judged from the following excerpt from the speech of the military adviser to the commander of the 11th Infantry Division of the DRA Armed Forces (Jalalabad) at a conference held in Kabul in April 1980: between two currents in the party (both in the division and in the cities and districts). In this regard, the results of hostilities to liberate the counties are reduced to a minimum. For example, during the Kama operation, 96 dushmans were taken prisoner, and now only 13 remain in prison. The provincial committee of the PDPA and the head of the tsarandoi (police) released about 50 bandits who were taken in positions and many of them then shot back to the last bullet.

Commander Afghan regiment with a weapon in his hands, he tried to force the head of counterintelligence to release a bandit relative, etc.

To resolve certain issues, various commissions arrive in the division and in the city. They consider cases and draw conclusions in their offices over tea and, of course, cannot make justified decisions ... "

The fragmentation of the army had a negative impact on the state of the army. Amin's administration, trying to establish control over the largest possible part of the country's territory, dispersed a significant number of troops into small garrisons to protect representatives of the new government in provincial and district centers. In the hands of the government, there were not enough forces left to conduct active hostilities with opposition formations. At the same time, small garrisons were poorly supplied with the prescribed types of allowances and ammunition, did not have support from their units, did not receive information about the events taking place in the country. combat readiness, surrendered or themselves went over to the side of the opposition, replenishing its ranks. The personnel of the army had low (or rather, did not want to show) moral and combat qualities. In this regard, I must say that I was always surprised by a circumstance that was universal for our "allies" in various countries- everyone we supported was weak in spirit (Ethiopia, Angola, Nicaragua, Mozambique, etc.), although the same Afghans (Eritreans, Mozambicans ...), fighting in the ranks of the rebels, acted selflessly and effectively, as if they were completely different people. Describing the state of the Afghan army at that time, the commander of the 40th Army noted in his report: “Many unresolved problems remain in the issue of strengthening the armed forces of Afghanistan. Significant difficulties are noted in the recruitment of troops. Now the staffing of the DRA Armed Forces is 65% of the regular strength. The combat effectiveness of the troops, their political and morale and fighting spirit as a whole do not meet the requirements and remain at a low level. Separate parts are not able to carry out combat missions. Many unit and subunit commanders are indifferent to the performance of their official duties. Military personnel in battle often show cowardice, are prone to panic, and evade military duty. The facts of mass desertion are noted.

Political work is poorly carried out in the troops, monetary and clothing allowances are not issued in time. There are cases of a negative attitude of officers towards soldiers (bullying, sodomy, etc.) ... "

In order for the DRA army to be able to fulfill the duties assigned to it, constant efforts were needed on the part of the Soviet Union.

With the help of the Center, the Soviet representatives in Kabul, the Soviet apparatuses did a great job, as a result of which they managed to stop the parchamization of the army, the final expulsion of all Khalqists from it, to convince the Khalqist officers of the prospects of their service, which had a certain positive value for strengthening the army. Although these actions did not succeed in achieving unity of the Party organizations in the army, open manifestations of intra-Party struggle in them were suspended.

On the recommendations of Soviet advisers, the government of the DRA took a number of measures to increase the staffing of the armed forces, their organizational strengthening, to combat desertion, which has become massive (in 1980, more than 24 thousand people deserted), etc.

Military advisers assisted in solving the whole range of issues related to the life and activities of the army: assistance in the training of commanders, headquarters and troops, planning and organization of hostilities, organizing work to recruit replenishment into the armed forces of the DRA, strengthening discipline, training and education of soldiers, improving the material and living conditions of the troops, etc.

When the Soviet troops began to participate in hostilities, practical training of Afghan military personnel was carried out by their own example.

And yet, one cannot but admit that the combat effectiveness of the Afghan armed forces remained relatively low, since the government itself did practically nothing to strengthen them. The recommendations of our military advisers and the Soviet military command in the DRA, as a rule, were accepted in words, but ignored in practice. And the army still remained mostly Daud-royal. She was demoralized and unable to fight the rebels.

Moreover, the position of B. Karmal himself in relation to the Afghan army, which he did not trust, caused great damage to the military construction, since the positions of the Khalqists were still strong in it. B. Karmal repeatedly put forward the idea of ​​breaking up the then existing army and creating a "new type army" devoted to him personally. His approaches to resolving military issues were based on factional, Parchamist interests. As an alternative to the army, B. Karmal rapidly developed the troops of the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, promoting Parchamists to command positions in them.

From the book The collapse of power and the army. (February–September 1917) author Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Chapter II Status old army before the revolution, the Japanese war was of great importance in the history of the development of the Russian army. The bitterness of defeat, the clear consciousness of their terrible backwardness caused a great upsurge among military youth and forced them to change

From the book The collapse of power and the army. (February–September 1917) author Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Chapter XXV State of the Army at the Time of the July Offensive external factors that influenced the life, relationships and military service of the once glorious Russian army, I will turn to the mournful pages of its fall. I was born into the family of an army officer,

author Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Chapter XI Military reforms of Kerensky - Verkhovsky - Verderevsky. The state of the army in September, October. Occupation of Moonsund by the Germans

From the book The Struggle of General Kornilov. August 1917–April 1918 [L/F] author Denikin Anton Ivanovich

Chapter XXI The turn of the army to the south: the battle at Ust-Laba; Kuban Bolshevism; army headquarters Moved on a cold night. It was supposed to stop for a big halt in the village of Razdolnaya, but as soon as dawn broke, the Bolshevik troops, who occupied immediately after the departure of our rearguard

author

State of the Russian army under Peter the Great Organization? Higher tactical formations? Acquisition; allowance; quartering; central government reform. Troop control in wartime? Discipline? Tactical training of the army? Combat

From the book History of the Russian Army. Volume One [From the Birth of Russia to the War of 1812] author Zayonchkovsky Andrey Medardovich

Military art and the state of the Russian army under the closest successors of Peter the Great Alexei Konstantinovich Baiov, ordinary prof. Imperial Nikolaev Military Academy, Colonel General

From the book History of the Russian Army. Volume two author Zayonchkovsky Andrey Medardovich

The state of the Russian army at the end of the reign of Alexander I Vladimir Pavlovich Nikolsky, Colonel of the General Staff Influence of foreign campaigns Growth of political self-awareness in the Russian army? Organization of schools and Lancaster schools for soldiers Patriotic War

From the book The Opium Wars. Review of European wars against China in 1840-1842, 1856-1858, 1859 and 1860 author Butakov Alexander

The state of the Chinese army: By the 40s of the XIX century, the population of China numbered about 400 million people, that is, it exceeded the population of Europe and North America taken together. The number of ethnic Manchus was a little over 3% of this number, but the backbone

From the book Defense of Odessa. 1941. The first battle for the Black Sea author Yunovidov Anatoly Sergeevich

Appendices Data from the staffing department of the headquarters of the Primorsky Army on some issues of the army's combat activities in the defense of Odessa Appendix 1 List of units disbanded in Odessa 1. Head road department of the UShOSDOR NKVD2. 33rd road maintenance

From the book Logistics of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Great Patriotic War author Military science Team of authors --

CHAPTER II THE STATE OF THE SOVIET ARMY'S LOGO FACILITIES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR The high level of technical equipment of the Soviet Army, achieved thanks to the successes of the socialist economy during the first five-year plans, the increase in its numbers and the threat of impending war strongly

author Goncharov Vladislav Lvovich

Chapter III The Mood and Condition of the Army after the February Revolution (from March to June 1917

From the book 1917. The decomposition of the army author Goncharov Vladislav Lvovich

Chapter IX State and mood of the army in July-October 1917. Kornilov rebellion and

From the book History of the Civil War the author Rabinovich S

§ 9. Preparation of the Red Army's retaliatory strike, breakthrough of the First Cavalry Army The command of the Red Army, on the instructions of Lenin, began to strengthen our forces on the Polish front from the beginning of the spring of 1920. According to the conditions of the terrain, all Soviet troops on this front were divided into two parts.

From the book Generals of Catherine II author Kopylov N. A.

Bayov L.K., Military art and the state of the Russian army under the closest successors of Peter the Great (Excerpt) // Course in the history of Russian military art, - St. Petersburg, 1909–1913 Rumyantsev for the first time expresses the idea of ​​​​forming standing armies in accordance with the characteristics of the border

From the book The Great Patriotic War - known and unknown: historical memory and modernity author Team of authors

E. N. Kontsova. The work of political agencies and the moral and psychological state of the personnel of the Red Army in the final stages of the Great Patriotic War: historical realities and modern ideas In 1944, the Red Army launched an offensive in all sectors of the front

From the book Nestor Makhno, an anarchist and leader in memoirs and documents author Andreev Alexander Radievich

“The sanitary condition of the army We will touch on this issue only because it clearly reveals the difference in the methods of struggle between regular, whether bourgeois or proletarian, and partisan, peasant armies. One of the basic principles of organizing any

On December 25, 1979, the entry of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan began.

This undeclared war, which lasted 9 years, 1 month and 19 days, remains an unknown war to this day despite numerous published books of memoirs of participants, very detailed descriptions of the events of the war, veteran websites, etc. If we compare how much is known about the three-year Patriotic war of 1812 and the four-year Great Patriotic War, then we can say that about Afghan war we know next to nothing. The image of a ten-year "camp across the river" in the minds of people, filmmakers and journalists is not at all cleared up, and, after 33 years, all the same clichés about a "senseless bloody war", about "mountains of corpses" and "rivers of blood", about numerous, veterans who went crazy from these "rivers of blood", who then drank themselves or became bandits.

Some young people, seeing the abbreviation OKSVA, think that this stupid tattoo artist made a mistake in the word "Moscow". I was 16 years old when this strange war began, and a year later I graduated from school and either entered college or the army. And me and my comrades really did not want to get into this very OKSVu in Afghanistan, from where the first zinc coffins had already begun to come! Although some reckless ones themselves rushed there ...

And the way it all began...

The decision to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan was made on December 12, 1979 at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and formalized by a secret decree of the CPSU Central Committee. The official purpose of the entry was to prevent the threat of foreign military intervention. As a formal basis, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU used the repeated requests of the leadership of Afghanistan for the introduction of Soviet troops.

The armed forces of the government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) on the one hand and the armed opposition (mujahideen, or dushmans) on the other took part in this conflict. The struggle was for complete political control over the territory of Afghanistan. During the conflict, the Dushmans were supported by US military specialists, a number of European countries- NATO members, as well as Pakistani intelligence services.

December 25, 1979 at 15:00 Soviet troops began to enter the DRA in three directions: Kushka - Shindand - Kandahar, Termez - Kunduz - Kabul, Khorog - Faizabad. The troops landed at the airfields of Kabul, Bagram, Kandahar. On December 27, the KGB special forces "Zenith", "Grom" and the "Muslim battalion" of the GRU special forces stormed the Taj Beck Palace. During the battle, Afghan President Amin was killed. On the night of December 28, the 108th motorized rifle division, taking control of all the most important objects of the capital.

The composition of the Soviet contingent included: the administration of the 40th Army with support and maintenance units, divisions - 4, separate brigades- 5, separate regiments - 4, military aviation regiments - 4, helicopter regiments - 3, pipeline brigade - 1, material support brigade - 1. And also, units Airborne Troops Ministry of Defense of the USSR, parts and subdivisions of the GRU General Staff, Office of the Chief Military Adviser. In addition to formations and units of the Soviet Army, there were separate units of the border troops, the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in Afghanistan.

On December 29, Pravda publishes the “Appeal of the Government of Afghanistan”: “The Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, taking into account the increasing intervention and provocations of the external enemies of Afghanistan in order to protect the gains of the April Revolution, territorial integrity, national independence and the maintenance of peace and security, based on the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness dated December 5, 1978, appealed to the USSR with an urgent request for urgent political, moral, economic assistance, including military aid, with which the government of the DRA had previously repeatedly appealed to the government of the Soviet Union. The government of the Soviet Union granted the request of the Afghan side.

Soviet troops in Afghanistan guarded roads, objects of Soviet-Afghan economic cooperation (gas fields, power plants, a nitrogen fertilizer plant in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, etc.). Ensured the operation of airfields in major cities. Contributed to the strengthening of government in 21 provincial centers. They conducted convoys with military and national economic goods for their own needs and in the interests of the DRA.

The stay of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and their combat activities are conditionally divided into four stages.

1st stage: December 1979 - February 1980 The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, their placement in garrisons, the organization of the protection of deployment points and various objects.

2nd stage: March 1980 - April 1985 Conducting active hostilities, including large-scale ones, together with Afghan formations and units. Work on the reorganization and strengthening of the armed forces of the DRA.

3rd stage: May 1985 - December 1986 Transition from active combat operations mainly to support of the actions of the Afghan troops by Soviet aviation, artillery and sapper units. Special Forces units fought to prevent the delivery of weapons and ammunition from abroad. The withdrawal of six Soviet regiments to their homeland took place.

4th stage: January 1987 - February 1989 Participation of Soviet troops in the Afghan leadership's policy of national reconciliation. Continued support for the combat activities of Afghan troops. Preparation of Soviet troops for their return to their homeland and the implementation of their complete withdrawal.

On April 14, 1988, with the mediation of the UN in Switzerland, the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan signed the Geneva Agreements on a political settlement of the situation around the situation in the DRA. Soviet Union undertook to withdraw its contingent within 9 months, starting from May 15; The US and Pakistan, for their part, had to stop supporting the Mujahideen.

In accordance with the agreements, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began on May 15, 1988.

February 15, 1989 Soviet troops were completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the troops of the 40th Army was led by the last commander of the limited contingent, Lieutenant General Boris Gromov.

Losses: According to updated data, total in the war Soviet army lost 14 thousand 427 people, the KGB - 576 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 28 people dead and missing. More than 53 thousand people were wounded, shell-shocked, injured. The exact number of Afghans killed in the war is unknown. Available estimates range from 1 to 2 million people.

Materials of the sites: http://soldatru.ru and http://ria.ru and photos from open Internet sources were used.

This text was prepared on the basis of the analytical reports of the CISA specifically for Afghanistan.Ru.

The formation of the modern armed forces of Afghanistan began in 2002 after the fall of the Taliban regime. This process was extremely slow due to the loss of army traditions during civil war 1992-2001, when the political vacuum was filled by their own armed detachments of various political forces participating in the conflict. Initially, these formations were given the status of army corps with a prescribed territorial affiliation. In total, 8 corps were created, of which 6 were based on the formation of the Northern Alliance.

In 2002-2003 with the participation of foreign military in Afghanistan, the process of disarming non-governmental armed groups and the formation of regular armed forces began. Initially, this process was extremely difficult, in 2003 the total payroll of the Afghan army was less than 6,000 people, and there were practically no police forces.

By the beginning of 2015, the payroll of the Afghan National Army reached 178 thousand people, the number of police units - more than 150 thousand people. The law enforcement agencies also include local police units (about 28 thousand people) or local armed self-defense units that have received official status.

To date, the ANA has abandoned the divisional link of subordination and has the following structure: roofing felts (company) - kandak (battalion) - brigade - corps. In total, there are 7 corps in the Afghan army:

• 201 Razliv Corps (Kabul), responsible for the security of the Afghan capital and southeastern provinces (considers it the most trained and combat-ready unit);
• 203 Corps "Thunder" (Gardez), operating on the territory of the regional command (military district) "Gardez", including the provinces of Khost, Paktika, Ghazni;
• 205 Corps "Hero" (Kandahar), area of ​​responsibility includes the provinces of Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan;
• 207 Corps "Victory" (Herat), provinces of Herat and Farah;
• 209 Corps "Falcon" (Mazar-i-Sharif);
• 215 Corps (Lashkar Gah).

Each corps includes at least 3 combined arms brigades, a battalion special purpose, headquarters battalion, as well as logistics and corps support units.

The number of armed forces in Afghanistan is quite large in comparison with states with similar populations, and this is explained by the need to fight against terrorist groups within the country.

In the current conditions, the state does not have sufficient own funds to finance army units, therefore, foreign financial assistance plays a significant role in the Afghan military development. In addition, the IRA army is dependent on imports of a number of types of weapons, equipment, equipment, and fuel and lubricants, which are not produced domestically in the required volumes. This circumstance makes the armed forces vulnerable in the event of a change in the foreign policy situation, so Afghanistan is faced with the task of increasing the independence of its own armed forces from external support.

The modern Afghan army has abandoned the forced mobilization practiced during the DRA. Soldiers serve on a contract basis. The first few weeks of service, personnel receive training in the army training centers, mainly in the Kabul region, then the learning process continues in military units, incl. with the participation of foreign instructors.

In the context of unconventional combat operations against enemy mobile units, special forces (“commandos”) play a special role in the ANA. Group Special Operations, created in 2011, includes 3-4 brigades. Its center, the "Murihed" base, is located in the province of Wardak. The number of units by 2012 was about 1000-1500 people.

ANA is multinational, but traditionally there is a large presence of ethnic Tajiks in its ranks. In 2013, they accounted for about 33.3% of the total personnel and 39% among the officers, which is significantly higher than their share in the total population of the country. According to unofficial data, among the commanders of brigades and above, ethnic Pashtuns are predominantly represented.

After 2011, the tasks facing the ANA became more complex due to the transfer of responsibility for security from ISAF forces to national security structures. The attacks of extremists in 2015 in Badakhshan, Kunduz and Wardak, which were accompanied by heavy losses, had a particularly negative effect on the mood of the Afghan army. During this period, there is an increase in cases of desertion, which is a shortcoming of the Afghan army over the past 35 years.

Despite the voluntariness of recruitment, the ANA is faced with the problem of unauthorized departure of personnel, both "AWOL" during the period of field work, and with flight without the intention of returning before the expiration of the contract. Usually these problems are related to the conditions of service and threats to life in the course of hostilities against the armed opposition. There is also the problem of "ghost soldiers", associated with the concealment of the facts of desertion or the inclusion of parts of fictitious persons in the lists of personnel in order to obtain additional allowances.

In 2015, a parliamentary investigation found an acute problem of corruption and embezzlement in the armed forces, including the illegal sale of fuel, weapons and vehicles, which can lead to the incapacity of individual units.

The ANA also faces a number of other difficulties caused by the rapid increase in the size of the armed forces in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Many units face a shortage of qualified officers, as well as problems in the training of enlisted personnel. The latter is due, among other things, to difficulties in the development of civil educational institutions and the lack of basic literacy among some of the recruits.

Also, the problem of the Afghan armed forces is the lack of certain types of weapons, including aviation and armored vehicles. This is partly due to the reluctance of foreign partners to provide the national army with some types of weapons that, according to foreign experts, the armed forces will not be able to use effectively at present or there is a risk of their capture by extremists. There is also an opinion that the level of equipment of the Afghan army is regulated by some kind of agreement between the United States and some countries of the region that are not interested in appearing on the territory of Afghanistan. powerful army. It partially compensates for the lack of equipment by supporting the operations of the Afghan military aviation of NATO, which remains in the country after 2014.

At the moment, a significant part of the military units cannot operate fully without the support of foreign military advisers and NATO units stationed in Afghanistan. Most often, there is a need for transport support, the provision of medical services and operational advice from military specialists.

Undoubtedly, during the period of the withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory of the country, the load on the Afghan military will increase, and they will face more and more complex tasks related to countering extremism, especially in the context of new regional threats. The success of solving these tasks will be largely determined by the increase in the combat capability and independence of the Afghan army, as well as the search for new mechanisms international cooperation and support.