February 15th is a holiday for all the guys who had the opportunity to fulfill their international duty in Afghanistan, defending people other than their own, being seriously wounded and maimed, dying in a foreign country in a strange, but not our, war. Large, bright, anniversary. This year marks exactly 20 years since the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the DRA.
The war in Afghanistan lasted from 1979 to 1989. It lasted nine years, one month and nineteen days. On December 25, 1979, on the basis of the Soviet-Afghan treaty of 1978, the introduction of Soviet troops into the DRA began in three directions: Kushka-Shindand-Kandahar, Termez-Kunduz-Kabul, Khorog-Fayzabad. The troops landed at the airfields of Kabul, Bagram, and Kandahar.
The official purpose of the entry was to prevent the threat of foreign military intervention, but very soon our limited contingent (OKSV) was drawn into the flaring up civil war and became its active participant
Some of those who went through all the circles of hell in this war are trying to forget about it, not to remember or share memories, someone has become completely embittered White light for a crippled body, soul, youth, life, someone, on the contrary, believes that they have gone through a harsh, but very necessary school of life.
But be that as it may, February 15, 1989 became a starting point for all survivors. Countdown to peaceful life…..
Every year on this day, “Afghans” remember and commemorate their comrades who died on foreign soil and remained young forever. This year will be no exception.
Statistics on losses.
Total losses:
1979 - 86 people
1980 - 1484 people
1981 - 1298 people
1982 - 1948 people
1983 - 1446 people
1984 - 2346 people
1985 - 1868 people
1986 - 1333 people
1987 - 1215 people
1988 - 759 people
1989 - 53 people.
Total deaths: 14,453 people.
In combat: 9511
Died from wounds: 2386
Died from disease: 817
Died in accidents, disasters, as a result of incidents, committed suicide: 739.
By rank:
Generals and officers: 2129
Ensigns: 632
Sergeants and soldiers: 11,549
Workers and employees: 139.
Missing and captured: 417
Released: 119
Returned home: 97
Live in other countries: 22
Total sanitary losses in Afghanistan: 469,685
Wounded, shell-shocked, injured: 53,753
Sick: 415 392
Of them:
- returned to service: 455 071
- dismissed due to health reasons: 11,654
- died (included in the number of irretrievable losses): 2960
- Of 11,654 dismissed for health reasons
- became disabled: 10,751
1 group: 672
2 groups: 4216
3 groups: 5863
Equipment losses:
Aircraft: 118
Helicopters: 333
Tanks: 147
BMP, armored personnel carrier, BRDM: 1314
Guns, mortars: 433
Radio stations, command and staff vehicles: 1138
Engineering vehicles: 510
Flatbed vehicles, fuel tankers: 11,369.
Losses local population 1 million 240 thousand people. (9 percent of the country's population).
Well, very interesting information on political and economic analysis of events and interesting statistical data can be obtained at.
In December 1979, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in order to support a friendly regime, and intended to leave within a year at most. But the original plan turned into a long war, the cost of which was heavy losses.
At a meeting on December 12, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee decided to send troops to Afghanistan. Military measures were taken not to seize the territory of Afghanistan, but to protect state borders. Another reason for the deployment of troops is to stop US attempts to gain a foothold in this territory. The formal basis for military assistance was the requests of the Afghan leadership.
Data published in newspapers
The Izvestia newspaper provides other data: “about the losses of government troops - during 5 months of fighting from January 20 to June 21, 1989: 1,748 soldiers and officers were killed and 3,483 were wounded.” It turns out that 4,196 people were killed and 8,360 people were injured per year. It must be borne in mind that any information from the front was carefully controlled, and newspapers published underestimated numbers of wounded and killed. At this time, the USSR was trying to create a positive image of a peacekeeping country, and such losses for a charitable mission were simply unacceptable.
Official data
In total, during the period, the troops stationed in Afghanistan passed military service 620 thousand military personnel, including 525.5 thousand soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army, 21 thousand civil servants, 95 thousand representatives of the KGB (including border troops), internal troops and police.
The total number of deaths during the period of more than nine years of military presence was 15,051 people, of which 14,427 were members of the armed forces who died both as a result of combat wounds and from accidents and illnesses. The percentage of combat losses is 82.5%. The number of irretrievable combat and non-combat losses includes those who died in hospitals and those who died from the consequences of illness after leaving the armed forces.
Unofficial version
Fighting Mujahideen attacks against Soviet soldiers were particularly cruel. For example, the authors of the book “Battles that Changed the Course of History: 1945-2004” make the following calculations. Since opponents considered the Russians to be “interventionists and occupiers,” when counting those killed, about 5 thousand per year—13 people died per day in the Afghan war. There were 180 military camps in Afghanistan, 788 battalion commanders took part in military operations. On average, one commander served in Afghanistan for 2 years, therefore, in less than 10 years, the number of commanders changed 5 times. If you divide the number of battalion commanders by 5, you get 157 combat battalions in 180 military camps.
1 battalion – no less than 500 people. If we multiply the number of towns by the number of one battalion, we get 78,500 thousand people. Troops fighting the enemy need a rear. The auxiliary units include those who transport ammunition, replenish provisions, guard roads, military camps, treat the wounded, and so on. The ratio is approximately three to one, meaning another 235,500 thousand people were in Afghanistan per year. Adding the two numbers, we get 314,000 people.
According to this calculation by the authors of “Battles that Changed the Course of History: 1945-2004”, over 9 years and 64 days, a total of at least 3 million people took part in military operations in Afghanistan! Which seems like absolute fantasy. Approximately 800 thousand participated in active hostilities. The losses of the USSR were at least 460,000 people, of which 50,000 were killed, 180,000 were wounded, 100,000 were blown up by mines, about 1,000 people are listed as missing, more than 200,000 people were infected with serious diseases (jaundice, typhoid fever). These numbers show that the data in the newspapers is underestimated by a factor of 10.
It must be admitted that both the official data on losses and the figures given by individual researchers (probably biased) are unlikely to correspond to reality.
On the same topic:
How many Soviet soldiers died in the Korean War? How many Soviet soldiers died during the Korean War? How many Soviet soldiers died in Afghanistan?
Source: The classification has been removed. Losses of the armed forces of the USSR in wars, combat operations and military conflicts: Stat. research / Ed. Ph.D. Colonel General G. F. Krivoshein \M.: Voenizdat, 1993
Number of troop personnel and their losses
The length of stay of military personnel as part of the limited contingent of Soviet troops (LCSV) in Afghanistan was set at no more than 2 years ≈ for officers and 1.5 years for sergeants and soldiers.
Total for the period from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989 completed military service in the troops stationed on the territory of the DRA 620,000 people.
of them:
in units of the Soviet Army 525,000 people.
SA workers and employees 21000 people.
in border and other units of the KGB of the USSR 90,000 people.
in the formations of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs 5000 people.
Annual list of SA troops amounted to 80 - 104 thousand military personnel And 5-7 thousand workers and employees.
Total irretrievable loss of life(killed, died from wounds and illnesses, died in disasters, as a result of incidents and accidents) 14453 people.
Including:
Soviet army 13833 people.
KGB 572 people.
Ministry of Internal Affairs 28 people.
Goskino, Gosteleradio, Ministry of Construction, etc. 20 people.
Among the dead and dead:
military advisors (all ranks) 190 people.
generals 4 people.
officers 2129 people.
warrant officers 632 people.
soldiers and sergeants 11549 people.
SA workers and employees 139 people.
Missing and captured: 417 people.
The following were released: 119 people.
Of them:
returned to their homeland 97 people.
are in other countries 22 people.
Sanitary losses made up 469685 people.
Including:
wounded, shell-shocked, injured 53753 people.
got sick 415932 people.
Among them:
officers and warrant officers 10287 people.
sergeants and soldiers 447498 people.
workers and employees 11905 people.
From 11654 people., discharged from the army due to wounds, injuries and serious illnesses and became disabled: 10751 people.
Including:
first group 672 people.
second group 4216 people.
third group 5863 people.
Losses of equipment and weapons amounted to:
aircraft 118
helicopters 333
tanks 147
BMP, BMD, armored personnel carrier 1314
guns and mortars 433
radio stations and command and staff vehicles 1138
engineering machines 510
flatbed vehicles and fuel tankers 11369
Brief information about the recipients and the national composition of the dead
Source: Lyakhovsky A.A., Zabrodin V.M. Secrets of the Afghan war. M.: Planet, 1991.
Awarded medals and orders of the USSR 200153 people, of them 10955 people ≈ posthumous.
Hero Titles Soviet Union awarded 71 people, of them 25 ≈ posthumous.
Among the awarded ≈ 110 thousand soldiers and sergeants,
near 20 thousand warrant officers,
more 65 thousand officers and generals,
more 2.5 thousand SA employees, including ≈ 1350 women
During the 110 months of war in Afghanistan, people died:
Russians - 6888 people.
Ukrainians - 2376 people.
Belarusians - 613 people.
Uzbeks - 1066 people.
Kazakhs - 362 people.
Turkmens - 263 people.
Tajiks - 236 people.
Kyrgyz - 102 people.
Georgians - 81 people.
Azerbaijanis - 195 people.
Armenians - 95 people.
Moldovans - 194 people.
Lithuanians - 57 people.
Latvians - 23 people.
Estonians - 15 people.
Abkhazians - 6 people.
Balkars - 9 people.
Bashkirs - 98 people.
Buryats - 4 people.
Jews - 7 people.
Ingush - 12 people.
Kabardians - 25 people.
Kalmyks - 22 people.
Karakalpaks - 5 people.
Karelians - 6 people.
Komi - 16 people.
Mari - 49 people.
Mordva - 66 people.
Nationalities of Dagestan - 101 people.
Ossetians - 30 people.
Tatars - 442 people.
Tuvans - 4 people.
Udmurts - 22 people.
Chechens - 35 people.
Chuvash - 125 people.
Yakuts - 1 person.
Other peoples and nationalities - 168 people.
Irreversible losses of the Soviet Union in Afghan war. Data from the General Staff of the USSR Ministry of Defense
The Soviet-Afghan War lasted more than nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. Rebel groups of “mujahideen” fought during it against the Soviet Army and allied Afghan government forces. Between 850,000 and 1.5 million civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country, mostly to Pakistan and Iran.
Even before the arrival of Soviet troops, power in Afghanistan through 1978 coup captured by the communists and installed as president of the country Noor Mohammad Taraki. He undertook a number of radical reforms, which turned out to be extremely unpopular, especially among the rural population committed to national traditions. The Taraki regime brutally suppressed all opposition, arresting many thousands and executing 27,000 political prisoners.
Chronology of the Afghan War. Video
Armed groups began to form throughout the country for the purpose of resistance. By April 1979, many large areas of the country were in revolt, and in December the government held only the cities under its rule. It itself was torn apart by internal strife. Taraki was killed soon after Hafizullah Amin. In response to requests from the Afghan authorities, the allied Kremlin leadership, led by Brezhnev, first sent secret advisers to the country, and on December 24, 1979, sent the 40th Soviet army of General Boris Gromov there, declaring that it was doing this in fulfillment of the terms of the 1978 treaty on friendship and cooperation and good neighborliness with Afghanistan.
Soviet intelligence had information that Amin was making attempts to communicate with Pakistan and China. On December 27, 1979, about 700 Soviet special forces captured the main buildings of Kabul and stormed the Taj Beg presidential palace, during which Amin and his two sons were killed. Amin was replaced by a rival from another Afghan communist faction, Babrak Karmal. He headed the Revolutionary Council Democratic Republic Afghanistan" and requested additional Soviet assistance.
In January 1980, the foreign ministers of the 34 countries of the Islamic Conference approved a resolution demanding the “immediate, urgent and unconditional withdrawal of Soviet troops” from Afghanistan. The UN General Assembly, by a vote of 104 to 18, adopted a resolution protesting Soviet intervention. President of the U.S.A Carter announced a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Afghan fighters began receiving military training in neighboring Pakistan and China - and receiving huge amounts of aid, funded primarily by the United States and the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf. In conducting operations against Soviet forces CIA Pakistan actively helped.
Soviet troops occupied cities and main lines of communication, and the Mujahideen waged guerrilla warfare in small groups. They operated on almost 80% of the country's territory, not subject to the control of the Kabul rulers and the USSR. Soviet troops widely used aircraft for bombing, destroyed villages where the Mujahideen could find refuge, destroyed irrigation ditches, and laid millions of landmines. However, almost the entire contingent introduced into Afghanistan consisted of conscripts who were not trained in complex tactics of fighting partisans in the mountains. Therefore, the war was difficult for the USSR from the very beginning.
By the mid-1980s, the number of Soviet troops in Afghanistan had increased to 108,800 soldiers. The fighting took place throughout the country with greater energy, but the material and diplomatic cost of the war for the USSR was very high. In mid-1987 Moscow, where a reformer had now come to power Gorbachev, announced its intention to begin withdrawing troops. Gorbachev openly called Afghanistan a “bleeding wound.”
On April 14, 1988, in Geneva, the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the participation of the United States and the USSR as guarantors, signed the “Agreements to resolve the situation in the Republic of Afghanistan.” They determined the schedule for the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent - it ran from May 15, 1988 to February 15, 1989.
The Mujahideen did not take part in the Geneva Accords and rejected most of their terms. As a result, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops Civil War in Afghanistan continued. New pro-Soviet leader Najibullah barely held back the onslaught of the Mujahideen. His government split, many of its members entered into relations with the opposition. In March 1992, Najibullah was no longer supported by General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his Uzbek police. A month later, the Mujahideen took Kabul. Najibullah hid in the UN mission building in the capital until 1996, and then was captured by the Taliban and hanged.
The Afghan war is considered part Cold War . In Western media it is sometimes called “Soviet Vietnam” or “Bear Trap”, because this war became one of the most important reasons for the fall of the USSR. It is believed that about 15 thousand Soviet soldiers died during it, and 35 thousand were wounded. After the war, Afghanistan lay in ruins. Grain production there fell to 3.5% of pre-war levels.
The fighting of the Mujahideen against Soviet soldiers was particularly brutal. For example, the authors of the book “Battles that Changed the Course of History: 1945-2004” make the following calculations. Since opponents considered the Russians to be “interventionists and occupiers,” when counting those killed, about 5 thousand per year—13 people died per day in the Afghan war. There were 180 military camps in Afghanistan, 788 battalion commanders took part in military operations. On average, one commander served in Afghanistan for 2 years, therefore, in less than 10 years, the number of commanders changed 5 times. If you divide the number of battalion commanders by 5, you get 157 combat battalions in 180 military camps.
1 battalion – no less than 500 people. If we multiply the number of towns by the number of one battalion, we get 78,500 thousand people. Troops fighting the enemy need a rear. The auxiliary units include those who transport ammunition, replenish provisions, guard roads, military camps, treat the wounded, and so on. The ratio is approximately three to one, meaning another 235,500 thousand people were in Afghanistan per year. Adding the two numbers, we get 314,000 people.
According to this calculation by the authors of “Battles that Changed the Course of History: 1945-2004”, over 9 years and 64 days, a total of at least 3 million people took part in military operations in Afghanistan! Which seems like absolute fantasy. Approximately 800 thousand participated in active hostilities. The losses of the USSR were at least 460,000 people, of which 50,000 were killed, 180,000 were wounded, 100,000 were blown up by mines, about 1,000 people are listed as missing, more than 200,000 people were infected with serious diseases (jaundice, typhoid fever). These numbers show that the data in the newspapers is underestimated by a factor of 10.
It must be admitted that both the official data on losses and the figures given by individual researchers (probably biased) are unlikely to correspond to reality.
