Day of remembrance of soldiers killed in the First World War. Day of Remembrance of Russian Soldiers Killed in the First World War

In 2005, Fyodor Bondarchuk’s film “9th Company” was released and a scandal immediately erupted around it: the authors were reproached for the unreliability of the story. Now a similar story is happening with the series “Badaber Fortress”.

The theme is the same: the heroism of Soviet officers and boy soldiers who were not lucky enough to get into the Afghan war. Only the location is different: a camp for training resistance forces against Soviet troops.

Where does the series take place?

The militant training center was located in Pakistan, in the village of Badaber. In 1983-84, prisoners of war captured by scattered groups of militants began to be taken there.

Before this, ours could still recapture our own who were held in prisons on the territory of Afghanistan. But on Pakistani territory, in a large military camp with six weapons depots, our prisoners of war were inaccessible.

In addition to three hundred heavily armed mujahideen and hundreds of Pakistani military personnel, about fifty foreign military specialists were located in the camp. There were several times fewer prisoners of war: 40 Afghans and 14 Shuravi - Soviet soldiers.

All of them were exhausted by hard work, unbearable living conditions, hunger and abuse from the guards.

Nevertheless, these people decided to openly revolt

Knowing that if they failed, they would face a brutal death, they tried anyway. According to some sources, they intended to fight their way through to their own people; according to others, they tried to seize a radio tower and send a radio signal to their own.

The prisoners seized one of the weapons depots and demanded to contact the Afghan authorities. But the Mujahideen commander Rabbani never took losses into account. At first, he threw the forces of the entire garrison against the prisoners barricaded in the warehouse, and when he realized that they were not going to surrender, he decided that destroying one of the warehouses would be cheaper than allowing an escape.

He leveled the warehouse. Of course, everyone who was in the warehouse died. During the preparations for the uprising, not everyone could be trusted, so several of the prisoners were left in the dark - they managed to survive. They later told what happened during the uprising on the territory of the Badaber fortress.

During the uprising, 54 people exhausted by captivity killed more than a hundred Mujahideen, 40-90 Pakistani military personnel (data vary) and 6 foreign instructors.

The series “Badaber Fortress” was filmed about the heroism of soldiers who reached despair.

Realizing that it is impossible to reliably recreate either that atmosphere or those events, we asked Director of the Center for Military-Political Studies, Professor at MGIMO Alexei Podberezkin, has he seen this series and what does he think about the way it was filmed?

“Of course, there is no question of 100% authenticity - this is a feature film, but I liked it. For the viewer, this series is good, because someone wants to watch documentaries, someone is looking for historical information, but this is a well-made feature film..

He noted that few films have been made on this topic:

“You know, now they have started making a lot of good films. Both documentary and fiction. In the arts, they appeal to emotions. Only I think that few films have been made about the period of the Afghan war.

The Americans filmed all sorts of “Rambo” about their atrocities in Southeast Asia, but we filmed almost nothing about Afghanistan, where the guys did miracles.”

Actor Vasily Mishchenko, who played the Minister of Defense in the series, is proud that he was able to contribute to the memory of these guys. He says that it was very exciting to touch history and become part of its reconstruction.

“I played a small role. My hero is Minister of Defense Sergeev. I know him a little in life - he is a dry, reserved person, very strong and strong-willed. I tried to reproduce his character traits, but whether I succeeded or failed is up to the viewer to judge. I tried very hard to get as close as possible to his image,” the artist shared.

He also believes that the number of films about Afghanistan is not enough:

"Undoubtedly! This is a large layer of history that needs to be talked about. Moreover, the “Afghans” themselves do not speak kindly about what has already been filmed. I believe there should be more truth. Prohibit any slander and distortions.

Take Lungin's film, for example. Looting was always fraught: one could easily die. And no one wanted to die. What I mean is that the editing needs to be meticulous and the censorship to be correct.

What happened must be shown. Yes, there were unpleasant things on the part of our contingent, but this was not the main thing, there is no need to highlight it. If everything had been like this, I don’t think that our people would have been remembered with a kind word, as was the case after the departure of our troops.”

What do you think? Should we make feature films about the war in Afghanistan or is it better to limit ourselves to dry documentaries, but without the slightest deviation from real events?

On February 12 in the evening on Channel One there will be a premiere of the widely announced multi-part film “Badaber Fortress”.

The film is based on real events, but is obviously still artistically reimagined. On the eve of the landmark premiere, we decided to briefly talk about how and thanks to what this episode of the Afghan War went down in history.

* Fact 1 is immutable.

The episode of the uprising happened on April 26, 1985. As a result of an unequal battle between the Mujahideen and parts of the Pakistani army and a group of Soviet and Afghan troops, the prisoners' attempt to free themselves from the Badaber fortress failed, and after a two-day assault on Badaber, most of the prisoners of war died.

* Fact 2 is historical.

The village of Badaber is located in Pakistan, 25 km from the Afghan border. A camp for Afghan refugees was set up there, at which the Khalid ibn Walid militant training center operated under instructions from specialists from the United States. The training center belonged to the Islamic Society of Afghanistan (ISA) party, which opposed the USSR. There were huge rooms with weapons, ammunition and three prisons. Prisoners who were previously kept in zindans - pits - were transferred here. According to some reports, in Badaber there were about four dozen Afghan and about one and a half dozen Soviet prisoners of war (they were called “shuravi”). Communication with them was prohibited. Exhausted and constantly beaten, the prisoners of war decided to seize weapons depots and demand a meeting with representatives of the Afghan or Soviet embassy. The risk was great, but some prisoners had been in Badaber for three years already, and they bet “on everything.”

* Fact 3 - strategic.

The seizure of weapons took place on April 26, 1985 at exactly 21:00, when the camp contingent gathered on the parade ground to perform evening prayers. It is assumed that the organizer of the uprising was Viktor Dukhovchenko, a native of Zaporozhye, but at the beginning of the 2000s, one of the former prisoners of the camp named Nikolai Shevchenko, a truck driver who served as a civilian in the 5th Guards Motorized Rifle Division and went missing on September 10, 1982, as the leader of the uprising. By the time of the uprising, Shevchenko had been in captivity for three years.

Two hours later, on the orders of IOA leader Rabbani, the camp was blocked: it was surrounded by a triple line of Mujahideen and Pakistani police, armed with both armored vehicles and artillery. Rabbani invited the prisoners to surrender and guaranteed that in this “situation” those who surrendered would be guaranteed life. The rebels rejected the proposal and, threatening to blow up the warehouse, put forward their demands to the IOA - to provide a meeting with representatives of the embassies and the Red Cross. Rabbani decided to go for the assault. The fortress was taken all night.

* Fact 4 - emotional.

The assault continued until the morning of April 21. In the morning, heavy artillery fell on the camp, followed by an explosion of weapons and ammunition depots. The cause of these explosions is discussed differently. According to one version (Rabbani’s opinion), the cause of the explosion was a targeted hit by a shell. According to another version, the explosion of incredible power was provoked by the prisoners themselves, who thus, understanding how the unequal battle should end, put such an incredibly tough point in it. According to the testimony of camp survivor Nosirzhon Rustamov, a shocked Rabbani personally ordered the living prisoners to collect the remains of the dead. The bodies were torn into pieces, they were collected and buried as expected - with the consent of the same Rabbani.

* Factor 5 is final.

Most of the rebels died brave deaths in an unequal battle. In 2003, in Ukraine, by presidential decree, “for personal courage and heroism demonstrated in the performance of military, official, and civil duty,” junior sergeant Sergei Korshenko was awarded the Order of Courage, III degree (posthumously), and in Kazakhstan, by presidential decree, he was also posthumously awarded the order “Aibyn” (“Valor”), III degree, junior sergeant Nikolai Samin (“for courage and dedication shown in the performance of military and official duty, as well as for feats accomplished in protecting the interests of the state.” Also awarded (posthumously) was Viktor Dukhovchenko ( Order "For Courage" III degree, 2010), Sergey Levchishin ("Order of Courage", 2006), Alexander Zverkovich (Order "For Courage" III degree, posthumously, 2003).

The story of an unknown feat. "Badaber Fortress"

What really happened in the Badaber fortress

Channel One began showing a film about the uprising of our prisoners of war in the Badaber fortress. We are talking about a tragic event during the war in Afghanistan, which happened in April 1985. Most likely, the film was based on the book by Andrei Konstantinov and Boris Podoprigora “If anyone can hear me”...

Konstantinov is known to the general public as the author of works about the Russian underworld. His books have been filmed more than once; the most famous film adaptation is the series “Gangster Petersburg.” And a few years ago, together with the former military intelligence officer Podoprigora, they published a book about the uprising in Badaber. The authors suggested that this uprising was not at all a spontaneous act of desperate prisoners, but was organized by a person who, far from accidentally, found himself in the fortress.

I have no intention of reviewing the book or arguing with this version of the authors. But the very fact that different options for a not-so-long-ago tragedy are possible - even the most incredible - suggests that this uprising still remains an unknown page in our history...

“Don’t take Russians prisoner”

In May 1985, almost all world news agencies spread sensational news - in one of the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, Soviet soldiers captured by the Mujahideen rebelled. Even the Novosti press agency was forced to voice this information, although before that our authorities were very reluctant to admit the participation of the Soviet military in the Afghan events.

As follows from the reports, after a fierce battle the rebels were destroyed. But the Mujahideen, who were helped by regular units of the Pakistani army, also suffered heavy losses. Even the President of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq, visited the scene and had a difficult and unpleasant conversation with the leaders of the Afghan rebels. After this conversation, one of the prominent field commanders, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (it was under his jurisdiction that same refugee camp) gave his troops an order, which, among other things, included the following point: “Don’t take Russians prisoner. If captured, destroy on the spot”...

What happened then? The Committee on the Affairs of Internationalist Soldiers under the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS Countries has been involved in the uprising for many years. Committee employees collected their data literally bit by bit, using a variety of information from the Foreign Ministries of Russia and Pakistan, foreign intelligence archives and even CIA materials. The Committee provided these materials to the author of these lines back in 2005. As a result, approximately the following picture of the tragedy emerges...

The uprising took place near the Pakistani city of Peshawar, in the town of Badaber. Here, under the guise of a refugee camp, there was a military training center for training Afghan mujahideen of the Islamic Society of Afghanistan, headed by Hekmatyar. Several thousand people were trained in the camp under the guidance of foreign instructors, who after such courses went on combat missions against the troops of the communist government of Afghanistan and Soviet soldiers. The camp occupied a huge area of ​​almost 500 hectares - residential tents and adobe houses were adjacent to six large weapons depots and three prisons where captured Soviet prisoners were kept.

It must be said that the Afghan Mujahideen's policy towards prisoners was constantly changing. In the first two years of our invasion of Afghanistan - from 1980 to 1982 - it was like this: a captured Soviet soldier was offered to convert to Islam and join the ranks of the Mujahideen. If he refused, he was killed, and sometimes in the most savage way.

But around 1983, prisoners stopped being exterminated. They began to be used for hard work and for bargaining with the Soviet side. The prisoners were still diligently processed by Muslim preachers, persuading them to convert to the Islamic faith. American psychological warfare specialists, along with various emigrant organizations, such as the notorious Freedom House, often got involved in such processing, promising our military, if they renounced Soviet citizenship, a “heavenly life” in the West. Badaber became one of the gathering points for Soviet prisoners.

About 20 people from the Soviet Union and another 40 captured soldiers of the Afghan government army were held here. They were starved, given only salty food and a sip of water per day, and in prison they were kept shackled. Apparently, our people were forced to convert to Islam. And one day the soldiers hatched a plan for an uprising: to seize a weapons depot and demand a meeting with representatives of the Red Cross and the Soviet embassy.

Their names are known

The uprising began late in the evening of April 26, 1985, when the Mujahideen were performing evening prayers on the camp parade ground. Taking advantage of the fact that there were only two guards left in the prison, our soldiers disarmed them, at the same time freeing the Afghan prisoners. All together they got out, took down the sentries at the weapons warehouses and on the prison tower.

So the entire weapons-prison zone ended up in the hands of the rebels. But the Mujahideen quickly came to their senses. They alerted all the inhabitants of the camp and began blocking the warehouse area. Units of the 11th Army Corps of the Pakistani Army came to their aid. Already late at night, the leader of the Mujahideen Rabbani (in 1992, after the overthrow of the communist government, he would become the president of Afghanistan) personally addressed the prisoners with an offer to surrender. Our people categorically refused and demanded that representatives of the Red Cross be called.

Then two assaults on the warehouse zone followed in a row. But Soviet soldiers and their Afghan comrades resisted steadfastly, repelling all attacks. There are two versions of what happened next.

According to the first, the Pakistani authorities ordered artillery and air strikes on the warehouses, as a result of which the ammunition located there detonated and buried all the rebels. It was at that moment that radio intelligence of our 40th Army recorded radio interceptions of conversations between the crews of Pakistani planes bombing warehouses.

According to another version, the rebels, realizing the hopelessness of their situation, blew themselves up. The Mujahideen also suffered serious losses. It is unknown how many of those killed were private soldiers, but among those killed were nine representatives of the Pakistani authorities, 28 officers of the Pakistani army, and six instructors from the United States. In addition, the rebels destroyed three Grad multiple launch rocket launchers, about 2 thousand missiles of various types and shells, about 40 guns and machine guns.

The Pakistani authorities tried to hush up such an unpleasant incident in terms of information. Mujahideen leader Rabbani was asked to declare that there had been a “minor” armed clash between two warring factions of his organization; entry into the incident area was completely prohibited for any unauthorized persons; the police even confiscated an issue of the Peshawar magazine Safir, which contained information about the events in Badaber. However, the information leaked anyway, and in early May it was distributed to various news agencies...

Today, according to my friend, the military journalist Yevgeny Kirichenko, the names of the following soldiers who raised that truly immortal uprising have been established. This is a private Igor Vaskov Born in 1963, Kostroma region; corporal Nikolay Dudkin Born in 1961, Altai Territory; private Sergey Levchishin Born in 1964, Samara region; private Nikolay Samin Born in 1964, Kazakhstan; private Alexander Zverkovich Born in 1964, Belarus; Lance Sergeant Sergey Korshenko Born in 1964, Ukraine; private Ivan Belekci, born in 1962, Moldova; sergeant Vladimir Vasiliev, born in 1960, Cheboksary; long-term motor mechanic Victor Dukhovchenko, born in 1954, Ukraine; Ensign Gennady Kashlakov, born in 1958, Rostov region; corporal Alexander Matveev, born in 1963, Altai Territory; private Radik Rakhinkulov Born in 1961, Bashkiria; lieutenant Sergey Saburov, born in 1960, Khakassia; civilian driver Nikolay Shevchenko, born in 1956, Ukraine; private Vladimir Shipeev, born in 1963, Cheboksary...

Why don't people want to call heroes heroes?

The perpetuation of the memory of those whose participation in the uprising has already been proven is curious. In Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, their soldiers were posthumously awarded the highest military awards of these countries. The names of these people are actually included in the lists of national heroes.

The Russians received a cooler reaction from the authorities. Back in 2004, the award department of the ministry informed the Committee on the Affairs of Internationalist Soldiers that supposedly the main military department of the country did not know reliable information about the events in Badaber, they say, “The available fragmentary data is contradictory. At present, after 20 years, it is difficult to objectively evaluate those events and the specific personal merits of their participants.”

As Evgeniy Kirichenko writes, from the entire “Badaber” list of heroes presented for awards by the Committee for Internationalist Soldiers, “Officials from the Ministry of Defense chose only one – Sergei Levchishin. Apparently there weren’t enough orders for the rest.”

From a bureaucratic point of view, everything seems to be correct: no one was left alive, which means that no one can testify to the feat of a particular person, and the details of the uprising are not completely clear.

The circumstances of these people being captured are also unclear.

Indeed, in that war, which was waged by the Afghans using guerrilla methods, the capture of our soldiers in a combat situation was extremely rare: the Mujahideen did not take prisoners during the battle. As a rule, ours were captured “in a peaceful situation” - someone decided to go AWOL from their military unit and fell into the hands of the Mujahideen, someone was kidnapped from a combat post, and someone decided to simply desert.

Usually, search cases, or even real criminal cases, were opened against all these people. The participants in the uprising were no exception here. For example, as local historians of the Altai Territory managed to find out, their fellow countryman Corporal Dudkin disappeared from his military unit on the night of June 9, 1982. According to army documents, he “he left his post without permission.” However, military prosecutors did not rule out the possibility that he was kidnapped from this post.

Nevertheless, no matter what really happened to these people, the fact remains that the rebels completely atoned for their captivity with their blood! Moreover, their possible desertion raises strong doubts - cowards do not commit acts similar to what was committed by the prisoners of Badaber, who did not break under the hardships of captivity and found the strength to pose a formidable challenge to the enemy.

Isn't it time for our authorities to remember the traditions of the Russian army, when people were awarded the highest awards for courageous behavior in captivity? After all, if you follow the logic of military bureaucrats, then today you can call into question some of the exploits of our soldiers during the Great Patriotic War, such as the uprising of Soviet prisoners of war of the 20th block of the Mauthausen death camp in January 1945. How these people fell into German captivity, how they rebelled, remains unknown to this day (almost none of them survived). But nevertheless, after the war, the Motherland found the courage and will to award them posthumously with military awards.

Why is an exception made for the heroes of the Afghan war?!

You know? Today's film adaptation about the uprising in Badaber is not the first. In 1991, the film studio named after Alexander Dovzhenko (Ukraine) made the film “Afghan” on this topic. And in 1994, the then young director Timur Bekmambetov shot the film “Peshawar Waltz” (in another version - “Escape from Afghanistan”). This was Bekmambetov's first film. According to many veterans of the Afghan war, “Peshawar Waltz” became one of the most poignant and truthful films about the events in Badaber...

Vadim ANDRYUKHIN.

What the film “Fortress of Badaber” is about and how veterans reacted to it

The uprising in the Badaber camp during the war in Afghanistan formed the basis of the series, which was shown on Channel One on the anniversary of the withdrawal of the contingent from this country and before Defender of the Fatherland Day. “Fortress of Badaber” by Kirill Belevich is a free retelling of a story in which, even after decades, many gaps remain.

At dawn on April 27, 1985, American satellites recorded a powerful flash where they were not expecting it - on the Afghan-Pakistan border. An explosion of such magnitude could only speak of a Soviet presence. In this place there was an American training base for the mujahideen party " Islamic Society of Afghanistan", they captured several Soviet soldiers.

The film "The Fortress of Badaber" was shot in the tradition of daytime television in order to be interesting and understandable even for a housewife. The accents are placed simply and clearly, which does not deprive the plot of a certain elegance. We see the main character - typical(for the American tradition) a “bad guy” character who plays only by its own rules, violates generally accepted norms, but in the end always wins. Charming, honest, in love with his wife, he belongs among the children - informal in communication and open to adventure. Of course, such a character should not fit into the strictly disciplined Soviet army - and he is constantly removed from work, not given orders, and pushed back in line for an apartment. This is how we get to know GRU officer Yuri Nikitin.

The viewer immediately understands that he is a brilliant strategist and an extraordinary personality. There are comrades in the service who criticize him for his overly freedom-loving style of work. They criticize, of course, the “staff rats” who are incapable of anything in a real battle: so the first antagonist is designated - "System".

According to the plot, the management discovered fortress on the border with Pakistan, where Americans train Mujahideen. The "system" prevents the army from striking a secret base until real evidence of American presence. Infiltrate the territory adjacent to the fortress and find evidence of foreign interference, and then record the “evidence” and return home, according to a very nice General Kolesov, maybe only one “his” person. And this is Yuri Nikitin. From his wife, garden, apples and neighbor's children - he is called back from vacation and sent to Afghanistan.

Badaber is a truly huge military base, the camp occupied 500 hectares, it was located on the territory of Pakistan, which officially declared a neutral position. About three hundred Mujahideen were trained here at the same time, who then returned to fight in Afghanistan with the “shuravi”, Soviet soldiers. Training at the militant training center, indeed, took place under the guidance of military instructors from the United States. Soviet prisoners were also brought here. They did hard work, in their free time they were forced to read the Koran, since everyone who ended up in the camp accepted Islam, although not of their own free will, but according to all the rules - the prisoners were circumcised and made sure that they performed namaz. In April 1985, 20 Soviet soldiers and 40 Afghan prisoners were held here illegally (Pakistan could not officially hold prisoners of war).. Both were kept separately and punished for the slightest offense. Some had been in captivity for more than one year. According to the meager evidence that has survived, one prisoner even went crazy from unbearable conditions.

According to the plot of the film Nikitin must cross the border with an Afghan escort - allegedly he is a Russian slave put up for sale.
We must give credit to the filmmakers for attempting to make an action-packed war film. The problem is that too many veterans did not accept it - after all, it was their life, their war, not a western .

Why do both heroes go almost to their death, make their way through mountains, villages, and various dangers to a secret base? The Afghan is for the sake of his daughter (the Mujahideen will come and some “big man” will settle scores with his family if the Russians do not win). Nikitin, in a romantic haze of love for his wife, sees the goal of his journey as saving the world in which She lives. It is clear that there is no talk about socialist ideals, about the freedom of peoples. Although there is no obvious defection from the Motherland. As in Bondarchuk’s “Stalingrad” - they fought for Katya, but here too - Cherche la femme.

“I didn’t finish watching the series, I didn’t like it,” he shares his opinion with a correspondent from Nakanune.RU veteran of the war in Afghanistan Evgeniy Zelenkov, - just like I don’t accept “9th Company” - then I went to the presentation with my daughter, then I apologized to her and never watched this film again. It's the same here. It’s just an ordinary feature film - it’s the author’s imagination, it’s not entirely true. The truth is that there was an uprising. And the fiction is that there was one such person - a superhero, a special agent who alone was able to raise it. It seems to me that this is not the case. The uprising could have happened simply - we also have normal boys. They themselves figured out what to do, and there are no hopeless situations, but It’s not scary to die for your comrades. This is how we were raised».

Nikitin, after two series of adventures, professionally obtains the necessary photographs. For the sake of the film, the Afghan and his guide also die, but all in vain. The "system" does not accept evidence. Behind the backs of people in uniform on the walls of high offices portrait of Gorbachev- “The Secretary General decides everything.” They are delaying the decision. Meanwhile, Nikitin decides to stay in the prisoner camp and commit a mutiny. He is sure that now the special forces will come to the rescue and his job is only to help his own - from the inside. The message is clear: Mikhail Sergeevich, whose admirers are not left among the audience, does not want to go into conflict with the Americans even after documentary confirmation - he refuses to provide armed assistance to the prisoners. All hope lies in Nikitin alone and in General Kolesov, who also decides to go against the system. He has his own interests. Among the captives of Badaber, he sees an exhausted son - thinner, but alive. Having removed the mourning ribbon from Yura’s portrait, he goes back to Afghanistan to save the prisoners at any cost - even without special forces. This is the conflict of the drama.

In reality, the Soviet military did not know about the location of the base, and there was no information about the prisoners. Not a single Nikitin was sent to obtain evidence of the American presence. Well, they mocked the prisoners. Well looked after, poorly fed. The last straw was the violence against one of them. The guys were going to rebel - this was the only chance to survive or die with weapons in their hands without surrendering.

“We talked, thought, guessed about the American presence. Yes, indeed, there were Americans,” says Evgeniy Zelenkov. - They had instructors, and they are now in Syria. They actually served as instructors (for the Mujahideen), and there were training bases. But it was not a “shock” for everyone, it was understandable in itself, no sensation.”

Nikitin according to the plot negotiates with a CIA agent, pretends that he is ready to be recruited - in order to negotiate a call to his wife and transmit an encrypted code to his people about the time of the uprising. After the meeting with the American side, he brings soft drinks to our prisoners. The episode where Soviet soldiers greedily dig into Coke cans, of course, is questionable from an artistic point of view - for patriotic propaganda, as some critics see the film, it is a failure.

Now the character, who is used to acting alone, is faced with the task of uniting a team of lost people who have lost faith in everything. In American films, this moment is conventionally called “assembling the team.” Here is the GRU guy and reminds the guys that they are all Soviet citizens, that Russians do not give up. To “wake up” them from their hard life, to give them a sense of community, Nikitin starts a game of football. The Mujahideen agree to the match and win. But ours gain unity, strength and accidentally spy on where the weapons warehouses are located in the base.

In reality, of course, there was a leader of the rebels - but who exactly is still unknown. After all, there are many gaps in this story. There were no survivors, and witnesses to the massacre were kept separately from the Russians. The witnesses are Afghan prisoners who were not privy to the details of the plan. Oddly enough, the cinematic football match is not the imagination of the screenwriters. This is how the leader of the rebels began preparing for the operation.

But there were several matches. The Mujahideen were accustomed to sports spectacles, they were very passionate, and the guards lost their vigilance “in the stands.” The owners of the base liked to win on the field - they played dirty and rejoiced like children. Therefore, no one was surprised when one day Nikolai Shevchenko asked to be a “replacement” - he allegedly had an injured leg. During previous matches, Soviet soldiers had already studied the base, knew about the weapons and the number of sentries. After leaving for five minutes, the rebel leader occupied a weapons warehouse, gave a signal to his troops and fired into the air. What happened shocked the Mujahideen, they surrounded the building, but there was nothing they could do - for obvious reasons, the Russians had enough reserves of weapons, and they were not going to surrender.

In the film Nikitin and his comrades Having occupied the fortress, they are waiting for special forces, but he does not come. They wait and go on the radio. The rescuers are silent. They were betrayed. And who? Own leadership, own country. They did something that no one was capable of, and now, surrounded by enemies, they will die unknown. All you had to do was lend a helping hand to your own people.

“If we had known that such a camp existed, we would not only have pulled out special forces there, we could have sent an entire army there,” says the veteran Evgeniy Zelenkov. - Yes, impressive, beautiful, colorful, but it was not true. Maybe it will be interesting for today's boys. But I don’t - I see the director’s mistakes. The series was filmed more for today, and not about that time. Lord, there weren’t even telephones to call from there. What was the connection? No. You notice such nuances - you smile and just switch. A the fact that they were betrayed by the leadership is completely out of the question. No, it was just much better then than recently, then I really knew that they would always come for me and always pull me out".

The Pakistanis covered their tracks quickly and thoroughly, the village was demolished, the militants disappeared along with the base. The Russians did not survive. Their names were not known until 1992; the prisoners immediately changed them to Islamic ones - so even the Afghan prisoners simply did not know the real names of our heroes. The only thing our embassy managed to find out seven years later was that there were 12 of them.

A year later, in 1993, Timur Bekmambetov made a film about these events, it was the director’s debut - “Peshawar Waltz". Until now, Pakistani intelligence services have sparingly shared information about the feat of the rebels from Badaber. All that is known is that 12 Soviet soldiers killed 120 Mujahideen, about 90 soldiers of the regular army of Pakistan and six American instructors in one night. As a result of the battle, the camp was completely destroyed together with a huge arsenal of weapons and three Grad installations.

“By the time some clear information began to appear, I had already served,” says Evgeniy Zelenkov. - I was very worried when I found out about it. There was such a powerful impulse to return, to take revenge. For the boys to get into this mess. Moreover, this is precisely the impulse that many had. The rebels in Badaber were heroes, boys of their country, real defenders of the Motherland. I wasn't much older than them then."