26 years ago, the brainchild of famous terrorists Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden - an elite special forces Afghan Mujahideen“Black Stork” suffered a crushing defeat for the first time. The role of offenders of feathered spirits was played by 23 soldiers of the Main Special Forces intelligence agency USSR.

Special forces are special forces

Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC KTK Sergei Kleshchenkov recalls:
- Although I, as a serviceman, was deployed during the conflict in Afghanistan, I personally did not have to deal with “storks.” However, everyone had heard about them - both the rank and file and the command.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar organized the “Black Stork” unit from the most selected thugs who underwent intensive training under the guidance of American and Pakistani instructors. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms and were distinguished by bestial cruelty: they tortured Soviet prisoners of war no worse than the Gestapo.

Although the Black Storks proudly declared that they had never been defeated by Soviet troops, this was only partly true. And it concerned only the first years of the war. The fact is that our combat units were not prepared for guerrilla warfare, but for conducting large-scale combat operations. Therefore, at first they suffered significant losses.

I had to learn by doing. Moreover, both soldiers and officers... By the way, before Afghan war Only officers served in this unit. The decision to recruit soldiers and sergeants conscript service was accepted into the ranks of special forces by the Soviet command already during the conflict.

Task - free search

The only Kazakh sergeant of the separate 459th company of the “Cascade” detachment of the USSR GRU, Almaty resident Andrei Dmitrienko, took part in that terrible battle.

A group of Soviet special forces were ambushed, skillfully placed by “storks”, while performing the most ordinary task.

Andrey Dmitrienko recalls:

We received information that some gang had destroyed a caravan of fuel tankers 40 km from Kabul. According to army intelligence, this convoy was carrying a secret cargo - new Chinese rocket mortars and, possibly, chemical weapons. And gasoline was a simple cover.

Our group needed to find surviving soldiers and cargo and deliver them to Kabul. The size of a regular full-time special forces group is 10 people. Moreover, the smaller the group, the easier it is to work. But this time it was decided to unite 2 groups under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Kovalev and strengthen them with experienced fighters. Therefore, trainee senior lieutenant Jan Kuskis, as well as 2 warrant officers Sergei Chaika and Viktor Stroganov, went on a free search.

We set out in the afternoon, lightly, in the very heat. They didn’t take any helmets or body armor. It was believed that the special forces soldier was ashamed to put on all this ammunition. It's stupid, of course, but it's unwritten rule always strictly followed. We didn’t even take enough food with us, since we planned to return before dark.

Each of the fighters carried an AKS-74 assault rifle of 5.45 mm caliber, and the officers preferred AKM of 7.62 mm caliber. In addition, the group was armed with 4 PKMs - modernized Kalashnikov machine guns... In addition to machine guns and machine guns, each of us took with us about a dozen defensive grenades "efok" - F-1, with fragments scattering 200 meters...

The combined group walked along the hills parallel to the Kabul-Ghazni highway, which very much resembles the Chilik-Chundzha highway in the Almaty region.

The gentle and long climbs exhausted us much more than the steepest rocks. It seemed like there would never be an end to them. It was very difficult to walk. The rays of the high-mountain sun burned our backs, and the earth, hot as a frying pan, breathed into our faces an unbearable scorching heat.

Trap on Kazazhora

At about 19:00 in the evening, the commander of the joint group, Kovalev, decided to “sit down” for the night. The fighters occupied the top of the Kazazhora hill and began to build loopholes from basalt stone - round cells half a meter high.

Andrey Dmitrienko recalls:

Each such fortification housed 5-6 people. I was in the same cell with Alexey Afanasyev, Tolkyn Bektanov and two Andreys - Moiseev and Shkolenov. Group commander Kovalev, senior lieutenant Kushkis and radiotelegraph operator Kalyagin positioned themselves 250 meters from the main group.

When it got dark, we decided to have a cigarette, and then from the neighboring high-rises we were suddenly hit by five DShKs - Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine guns. This machine gun, eloquently nicknamed the “king of the mountains” in Afghanistan, was sold by the USSR to China in the 70s. During the Afghan conflict, the functionaries of the Celestial Empire were not at a loss and resold it powerful weapon dushmans. Now we had to experience the terrible power of five large-caliber “kings” on our own skin.

Heavy 12.7 mm bullets crushed brittle basalt into dust. Looking out into the loophole, I saw a crowd of dushmans rolling towards our position from below. There were about two hundred of them. Everyone fired Kalashnikovs and shouted. In addition to the dagger fire of the DShK, the attackers were covered by the machine guns of their co-religionists hiding in shelters.

We immediately noticed that the spirits did not behave at all as they always did, but rather too professionally. While some were doing rush forward, others hit us with machine guns so that they did not allow us to raise our heads. In the darkness, we could only make out the silhouettes of the rapidly advancing Mujahideen, who looked very much like disembodied ghosts. And this sight became creepy. But even the vague outlines of running enemies were lost every now and then.

Having made the next throw, the dushmans instantly fell to the ground and pulled the dark hoods of black American Alaskans or dark green camouflage jackets over their heads. Because of this, they completely merged with the rocky soil and hid for some time. After which the attackers and coverers changed roles. At the same time, the fire did not subside for a second.

This was very strange, considering that most mujahideen were usually armed with Chinese and Egyptian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles. The fact is that Egyptian and Chinese fakes of AKM and AK-47 could not withstand prolonged shooting, as they were made of low-quality steel. Their barrels, heating up, expanded, and the bullets flew very weakly. Having fired two or three horns, such machines simply began to “spit.”

Having let the “spirits” get within a hundred meters, we struck back. After our bursts mowed down several dozen attackers, the dushmans crawled back. However, it was too early to rejoice: there were still too many enemies left, and we clearly did not have enough ammunition...

We had very little ammunition left, the group was forced to switch the fire switches to single shots. All our fighters shot perfectly, so many of the Mujahideen were hit by single fire. Realizing that they couldn’t take us head-on, the “spirits” resorted to a trick. They started shouting that we had mistakenly attacked our allies, the Tsarandoi fighters - the Afghan militia.

Knowing that the dushmans fight very poorly in daylight, warrant officer Sergei Chaika began to play for time in the hope of surviving until the morning and waiting for reinforcements. To this end, he proposed negotiations to the enemy. The Dushmans agreed.

Chaika himself went as envoys with Matvienko, Baryshkin and Rakhimov. Having brought them within 50 meters, the “spirits” suddenly opened fire. Alexander Matvienko was killed by the first burst, and Misha Baryshkin was seriously injured. I still remember how he, lying on the ground, twitches convulsively and shouts: “Guys, help! We're bleeding!"

All the fighters, as if on command, opened barrage fire. Thanks to this, Chaika and Rakhimov somehow miraculously managed to return. Unfortunately, we were unable to save Baryshkin. He lay about 150 meters from our positions, in the open. Soon he became quiet.

Unexpected breakthrough

It is interesting that the “spirits” almost did not shoot at the cell of group commander Kovalev, where he was located together with senior lieutenant Kushkis and radiotelegraph operator Kalyagin. The enemy concentrated all his forces on us. Maybe the Mujahideen decided that the three fighters weren’t going anywhere anyway? Such neglect played a cruel joke on our enemies. At that moment, when our fire was catastrophically weakened due to lack of ammunition and we could no longer hold back the onslaught of the advancing “spirits,” Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin unexpectedly struck them in the rear.

Hearing the explosions of grenades and the crackle of machine gun fire, at first we even decided that reinforcements had approached us.

But then the group commander rolled into our cell along with a trainee and a radio operator. During the breakthrough, they destroyed about one and a half dozen “spirits”.

In response, the angry Mujahideen, not limited to the murderous fire of five DShKs, began to hit the cells with hand grenade launchers. From direct hits, the layered stone shattered into pieces. Many soldiers were wounded by grenade and stone fragments. Since we did not take any dressing bags with us, we had to bandage the wounds with torn vests.

Unfortunately, we did not have night sights at that time, and only Sergei Chaika had infrared binoculars. Having spotted the grenade launcher, he shouted to me: “Seven o’clock bastard! Kill him!” And I sent a short line there. I don’t know exactly how many people I killed then. But probably about 30.

This fight was not my first, and I already had to kill people. But in war, killing is not considered murder - it is simply a way to survive. Here you need to react quickly to everything and shoot very accurately.

When I left for Afghanistan, my grandfather, a machine gunner, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, told me: “Never look at the enemy, but immediately shoot at him. You’ll look at it later.”

Before dispatch, political workers told us that the Mujahideen cut off the ears, noses and other organs of our killed soldiers, and gouged out their eyes.

After my arrival in Kabul, I discovered that ours also cut off the ears of the killed “spirits”. A bad example is contagious, and soon I did the same. But my passion for collecting was interrupted by a special officer who caught me on the 57th ear. All dried exhibits, of course, had to be thrown away.

Didn't end up in the circus - ended up in the special forces

I confess that during that entire battle I regretted ten times that I had not remained a sergeant in Pechory.

Pechery-Pskovskie is a city near St. Petersburg, where the USSR GRU special forces training base is located.

Squad commanders, radiotelegraph operators, intelligence officers and miners were trained there.

I skillfully imitated complete absence hearing and, having successfully “deviated” from the radio, broke through to the scouts.

They prepared us very thoroughly. We constantly ran 10-kilometer cross-country races, endlessly did push-ups on parallel bars and pull-ups on the horizontal bar, shot from all types of small arms and practiced actions with a knife on stuffed animals made of corrugated cardboard. This cardboard best imitates the human body.

In addition, they studied subversive work and trained willpower in underground labyrinths, where we were attacked by virtual tanks.

I studied so well that they even wanted to keep me there as an instructor-sergeant. To prevent this from happening, I committed several disciplinary violations and completely disappointed the course director. He waved his hand at me and said that all the slobs who are not accepted into the circus or prison end up in the special forces...

Denouement

The night battle reached its climax at 4 a.m., when the “spirits” decisively launched another attack. They did not spare cartridges and shouted loudly: “Shuravi, taslim!” - an analogue of the fascist “Rus, surrender!”

I was shaking from the cold and nervous tension, but what was most depressing was the complete uncertainty. And I was very afraid. He was afraid of imminent death and possible torture, afraid of the unknown. Anyone who says that war is not scary either hasn’t been there or is lying.

We've used up almost all our ammunition. Nobody saved the last cartridge for themselves. Its role among the special forces is played by the last grenade. This is much more reliable and you can drag a few more enemies with you.

I still had seven rounds of ammunition, a couple of grenades and a knife left when we began to negotiate among ourselves about who would finish off the wounded. They decided that those whom the lot would point to would be stabbed to death with knives. The remaining cartridges are only for the enemy. It sounds terrible, but it was impossible to leave our comrades alive. The Mujahideen would brutally torture them before they died.

While casting lots, we heard the noise of helicopter rotors. To celebrate, I threw the last grenades at the dushmans. And then, like a chill, a terrible thought hit me: what if the helicopters pass by?

But they didn’t pass by. It turned out that helicopter pilots from the “stray” Alexandria regiment, based near Kandahar, came to our rescue. Penalty officers who had numerous problems in their service served in this regiment. When our company stood next to these helicopter pilots, we drank vodka with them more than once. But although discipline limped on both legs, they were not afraid of anything. Several transport Mi-8s and combat Mi-24s, better known as “crocodiles,” hit the dushmans with machine guns and drove them away from our positions. Having quickly loaded two killed and 17 wounded comrades into helicopters, we jumped in ourselves and left the enemy biting their elbows.

Osama trampled his turban out of anger

Subsequently, the intelligence center limited contingent Soviet troops in Afghanistan received information that in that battle our group destroyed 372 trained militants. It also turned out that they were commanded by the young and then little-known Osama bin Laden. The agents testified that after this battle, the future famous terrorist was beside himself with rage and trampled on his own turban and last words wings of his assistants. This defeat left the “storks” with an indelible stain of shame.

A week-long mourning was declared in all Afghan villages controlled by the “spirits,” and the Mujahideen leaders vowed to destroy our entire 459th company...

Currently a cavalier of combat Russian orders"For Valor" and " Combat brotherhood", medals "For Courage", "For Military Valor" Andrei Dmitrienko educates young people in the military sports patriotic club "Asker", created at the Union of Afghanistan Veterans in Almaty"

Russian soldiers have been considered among the best in the world for centuries. At the same time, reconnaissance fighters are completely at an unattainable height for the armies of other countries on the planet. Much evidence for these words was provided by Soviet soldiers during the fighting in Afghanistan. The most incredible battle was in which 23 GRU special forces killed several hundred Afghan Mujahideen in just one night.

"Black Stork"

According to the recollections of soldiers and officers who went through the war in Afghanistan, the most difficult thing was to fight the Mujahideen special forces “Black Stork”.

According to Soviet intelligence these special forces consisted of the best Afghan fighters who were trained by instructors from the United States and Pakistan. Moreover, each of the fighters Afghan special forces He was not only a well-trained warrior, but could also serve as a radio operator, sniper and demolition bomber. During the partisan war, the Black Stork fighters turned out to be a major headache for the Soviet command.

The beginning of that fateful battle was standard: the unit Soviet intelligence officers was ambushed by the Black Stork Mujahideen. According to information received by the command of a group of forces, a caravan of fuel tankers was ambushed and shot at several tens of kilometers from Kabul. However, gasoline was only a cover. In addition to this, the trucks contained new Chinese rocket launchers. Of course, the GRU special forces were immediately given the order to seize this weapon.

Fight

Soldiers are armed Soviet special forces were mainly machine guns, submachine guns and grenades. It was assumed that the task would be simple, and its completion would take no more than one daylight hours. However, since they had to move along the highway through the hills, the road greatly exhausted the Soviet military personnel.

We had to spend the night on one of the hills. However, as soon as it got dark, five heavy machine guns hit the GRU soldiers from the neighboring hills. Ironically, the Mujahideen fired from Chinese-made weapons.

Under machine gun fire, crowds of “Black Stork” spooks launched an attack on improvised stone fortifications of Soviet soldiers. The first attack allegedly involved about 200 fighters. At the same time, the offensive, as the intelligence officers noted, was carried out according to all the rules of military science.

While some dushmans climbed the hill, others covered them with machine gun fire, then the Mujahideen switched roles. The GRU special forces allowed the enemy to come closer and returned fire. Several dozen attackers remained lying on the ground.

The enemy retreated, but then it turned out that the Soviet soldiers had little ammunition left, so they had to fight off the next attacks with single shots. There was only one way out - to hold out until the morning, when reinforcements were supposed to arrive.

Fortunately, the Mujahideen hardly fired at the fortification, where the detachment commander and radio operator were located. The radio operator managed to transmit the coordinates where the battle was taking place, and his comrades opened fire on the enemy at the most decisive moment, when the main group of defenders had practically no ammunition left. In response, the Mujahideen, suffering significant losses, fired grenade launchers.

Victory

By four o'clock in the morning the last and most furious attack of the militants began. Shouting “Rus, surrender,” they went on the offensive. GRU special forces struck back using their last ammunition.

It was impossible to survive the next attack; all that remained was to blow yourself up with grenades so as not to be captured by the Afghans. At that moment, the special forces heard the sound of approaching rescue helicopters with reinforcements.

The Mujahideen were completely defeated. The surviving GRU soldiers loaded their wounded and dead comrades into helicopters and sent them to the base.

As it turned out later, during a night battle, 23 Soviet GRU special forces killed 372 Mujahideen, commanded at that time by the still young Osama bin Laden. The enemy was shocked by the heroism and professionalism of the Soviet military personnel and swore revenge, but, of course, could not keep his word.

Every army in the world has special forces units. Let's take a look at best special forces peace.

Every army in the world has special forces units, or special forces for short. This is the elite of the army. Special forces soldiers have the best combat skills and are able to carry out the most dangerous tasks in any conditions. Let's take a look at the best special forces in the world.

Black storks (Pakistan)

dnpmag.com

The sabotage and reconnaissance unit of the Pakistani army “Black Storks” was once commanded by Osama Bin Laden himself. Until now, no one knows exactly what operations the soldiers of this unit participated in. Some credit them with committing many terrorist acts, while others claim that the Black Storks are exclusively engaged in protecting the security of their country.

Special purpose association (Spain)

dnpmag.com

Spanish special forces are a formidable force and are among the ten deadliest fighters in the world. This unit is formed exclusively on a voluntary basis, but thanks to constant training and exercises, Spanish special forces are always ready to complete a task of any complexity.

Alpha Squad (USSR-Russia)

dnpmag.com

The world-famous Alpha Detachment was created back in 1974 under the KGB of the USSR. After the breakup Soviet Union and the transformation of the KGB into the FSB of the Russian Federation, Alpha retained its best fighters and officers and continues to faithfully serve the interests of Russia. Alpha fighters participated in all special operations against terrorists.

Sayret Matkal (Israel)

dnpmag.com

About the Israeli MOSSAD and some of it high-profile operations and the failures are well known even to those who are not interested in the activities of the intelligence services. Much less known is the small special forces unit “Sayret Matkal”, consisting of only 262 people, whose personal data is reliably classified. The fighters of this detachment participate in anti-terrorist operations and also carry out missions outside the country.

Special Boat Service (UK)

dnpmag.com

The British equivalent of the American " Navy SEALs“Only the strongest guys are hired. Candidates must pass a Belizean jungle survival test ( Central America) and forced interrogation. A few reach the end of the distance, but what awaits them is a training detachment with intensive training and further service in elite unit.

Delta Force (USA)

dnpmag.com

The American Delta Force has two functions: fighting terrorists and suppressing popular uprisings. In addition, Delta performs secret missions outside the country. According to some reports, fighters from this unit have been spotted in Syria.

Intervention SquadGIGN(France)

dnpmag.com

French special forces are part of the national gendarmerie. Like similar units in other countries, GIGN consists of only the best fighters. In addition to combat skills, they are also required to have negotiator skills. Very often, GIGN teams go on operations to free hostages.

Evgeniy Sizov

How 23 special forces soldiers of the USSR GRU “offended” the elite special forces of the Afghan Mujahideen “Black Stork”. 30 years ago, the brainchild of famous terrorists Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden - the elite special forces of the Afghan Mujahideen "Black Stork" - suffered a crushing defeat for the first time. The role of offenders of the feathered spirits was played by 23 special forces soldiers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the USSR. Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC KTK Sergei Kleshchenkov recalls: - Although I, as a serviceman, was seconded during the conflict in Afghanistan, I personally did not have to deal with “storks.” However, everyone had heard about them - both the rank and file and the command. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar organized the “Black Stork” unit from the most selected thugs who underwent intensive training under the guidance of American and Pakistani instructors. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms and were distinguished by bestial cruelty: they tortured Soviet prisoners of war no worse than the Gestapo. Although the Black Storks proudly claimed that they had never been defeated by Soviet troops, this was only partly true. And it concerned only the first years of the war. The fact is that our combat units were trained not for guerrilla warfare, but for large-scale combat operations. Therefore, at first they suffered significant losses. I had to learn by doing. And both soldiers and officers. But it was not without tragic incidents. For example, a major who bore the strange nickname Zero Eight took combat helicopters into the sky and completely destroyed a column of our allies, Babrak Karmal’s fighters, on the march. I later learned that “zero-eight” is the density of oak. At the same time, the special forces soldiers were much better trained and, compared to such “oak” majors, they looked simply brilliant. By the way, before the Afghan war, only officers served in this unit. The decision to recruit conscript soldiers and sergeants into the ranks of special forces was made Soviet command already during the conflict. Assignment - free search In that terrible battle, the only Kazakh sergeant of the separate 459th company of the “Cascade” detachment of the USSR GRU, Almaty resident Andrei Dmitrienko, took part. A group of Soviet special forces were ambushed, skillfully placed by “storks,” while performing the most ordinary task. Andrey Dmitrienko recalls: “We received information that some gang had destroyed a caravan of fuel tankers 40 kilometers from Kabul. According to army intelligence, this convoy was carrying a secret cargo - new Chinese rocket mortars and, possibly, chemical weapons. And gasoline was a simple cover. Our group needed to find surviving soldiers and cargo and deliver them to Kabul. The size of a regular full-time special forces group is ten people. Moreover, the smaller the group, the easier it is to work. But this time it was decided to unite two groups under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Kovalev and strengthen them with experienced fighters. Therefore, trainee senior lieutenant Jan Kuskis, as well as two warrant officers Sergei Chaika and Viktor Stroganov, went on a free search. We set out in the afternoon, lightly, in the very heat. They didn’t take any helmets or body armor. It was believed that the special forces soldier was ashamed to put on all this ammunition. It’s stupid, of course, but this unwritten rule was always strictly followed. We didn’t even take enough food with us, since we planned to return before dark. Each of the fighters carried an AKS-74 assault rifle of 5.45 mm caliber, and the officers preferred AKM of 7.62 mm caliber. In addition, the group was armed with 4 PKMs - modernized Kalashnikov machine guns. This very powerful weapon fired the same cartridges as sniper rifle Dragunov - 7.62 mm by 54 mm. Although the caliber is the same as the AKM, the cartridge case is longer, and therefore the powder charge is more powerful. In addition to machine guns and machine guns, each of us took with us about a dozen defensive grenades “efok” - F-1, with fragments scattering 200 meters. We despised the offensive RGD-5s for their low power and used them to kill fish. The combined group walked along the hills parallel to the Kabul-Ghazni highway, which very much resembles the Chilik-Chundzha highway in the Almaty region. The gentle and long climbs exhausted us much more than the steepest rocks. It seemed like there would never be an end to them. It was very difficult to walk. The rays of the high-mountain sun burned our backs, and the earth, hot as a frying pan, breathed into our faces an unbearable scorching heat. Trap on Kazazhora Around 19:00 in the evening, the commander of the joint group, Kovalev, decided to “sit down” for the night. The fighters occupied the top of the Kazazhora hill and began to build loopholes from basalt stone - round cells half a meter high. Andrey Dmitrienko recalls: “In each such fortification there were 5-6 people. I was in the same cell with Alexey Afanasyev, Tolkyn Bektanov and two Andreys - Moiseev and Shkolenov. Group commander Kovalev, senior lieutenant Kushkis and radiotelegraph operator Kalyagin positioned themselves two hundred and fifty meters from the main group. When it got dark, we decided to have a cigarette, and then from the neighboring high-rises we were suddenly hit by five DShKs - Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine guns. This machine gun, eloquently nicknamed the “king of the mountains” in Afghanistan, was sold by the USSR to China in the seventies. During the Afghan conflict, the functionaries of the Celestial Empire were not at a loss and resold these powerful weapons to dushmans. Now we had to experience the terrible power of five large-caliber “kings” on our own skin. Heavy 12.7 mm bullets crushed brittle basalt into dust. Looking out into the loophole, I saw a crowd of dushmans rolling towards our position from below. There were about two hundred of them. Everyone fired Kalashnikovs and shouted. In addition to the dagger fire of the DShK, the attackers were covered by the machine guns of their co-religionists hiding in shelters. We immediately noticed that the spirits did not behave at all as they always did, but rather too professionally. While some made a rapid dash forward, others hit us with machine guns so hard that they did not allow us to raise our heads. In the darkness, we could only make out the silhouettes of the rapidly advancing Mujahideen, who looked very much like disembodied ghosts. And this sight became creepy. But even the vague outlines of running enemies were lost every now and then. Having made the next throw, the dushmans instantly fell to the ground and pulled the dark hoods of black American Alaska trucks or dark green camouflage jackets over their heads. Because of this, they completely merged with the rocky soil and hid for some time. After which the attackers and coverers changed roles. At the same time, the fire did not subside for a second. This was very strange, considering that most mujahideen were usually armed with Chinese and Egyptian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles. The fact is that Egyptian and Chinese fakes of AKM and AK-47 could not withstand prolonged shooting, as they were made of low-quality steel. Their barrels, heating up, expanded, and the bullets flew very weakly. Having fired two or three horns, such machines simply began to “spit.” Having let the “spirits” get within a hundred meters, we struck back. After our bursts mowed down several dozen attackers, the dushmans crawled back. However, it was too early to rejoice: there were still too many enemies, and we clearly did not have enough ammunition. I would like to especially note the completely idiotic order of the USSR Ministry of Defense, according to which a fighter was given no more than 650 rounds of ammunition for one combat appearance. Looking ahead, I will say that after returning, we severely beat the foreman who gave us ammunition. So that he no longer carries out such stupid orders. And it helped! Betrayal of the command Realizing that our group did not have enough strength or ammunition, radiotelegraph operator Afanasyev began calling Kabul. I lay next to him and heard with my own ears the response of the operational duty officer at the garrison. This officer, when asked to send reinforcements, replied indifferently: “Get out yourself.” Only now I understood why special forces soldiers were called disposable. Here the heroism of Afanasyev was fully demonstrated, he turned off the walkie-talkie and shouted loudly: “Guys, hold on, help is on the way!” This news inspired everyone except me, since I alone knew the terrible truth. We had very little ammunition left, the group was forced to switch the fire switches to single shots. All our fighters shot perfectly, so many of the Mujahideen were hit by single fire. Realizing that they couldn’t take us head-on, the “spirits” resorted to a trick. They started shouting that we had mistakenly attacked our allies, the Tsarandoi fighters - the Afghan militia. Knowing that the dushmans fight very poorly in daylight, warrant officer Sergei Chaika began to play for time in the hope of surviving until the morning and waiting for reinforcements. To this end, he proposed negotiations to the enemy. The Dushmans agreed. Chaika himself went as envoys with Matvienko, Baryshkin and Rakhimov. Having brought them within 50 meters, the “spirits” suddenly opened fire. Alexander Matvienko was killed by the first burst, and Misha Baryshkin was seriously injured. I still remember how he, lying on the ground, twitches convulsively and shouts: “Guys, help! We're bleeding!" All the fighters, as if on command, opened barrage fire. Thanks to this, Chaika and Rakhimov somehow miraculously managed to return. Unfortunately, we were unable to save Baryshkin. He lay about one hundred and fifty meters from our positions, in the open. Soon he became quiet. An unexpected breakthrough It is interesting that the “spirits” almost did not shoot at the cell of group commander Kovalev, where he was located together with senior lieutenant Kushkis and radiotelegraph operator Kalyagin. The enemy concentrated all his forces on us. Maybe the Mujahideen decided that the three fighters weren’t going anywhere anyway? Such neglect played a cruel joke on our enemies. At that moment, when our fire was catastrophically weakened due to lack of ammunition and we could no longer hold back the onslaught of the advancing “spirits,” Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin unexpectedly struck them in the rear. Hearing the explosions of grenades and the crackle of machine gun fire, at first we even decided that reinforcements had approached us. But then the group commander rolled into our cell along with a trainee and a radio operator. During the breakthrough, they destroyed about one and a half dozen “spirits”. In response, the angry Mujahideen, not limited to the murderous fire of five DShKs, began to hit the cells with hand grenade launchers. From direct hits, the layered stone shattered into pieces. Many soldiers were wounded by grenade and stone fragments. Since we did not take any dressing bags with us, we had to bandage the wounds with torn vests. Unfortunately, we did not have night sights at that time, and only Sergei Chaika had infrared binoculars. Having spotted the grenade launcher, he shouted to me: “Bastard for seven o’clock! Kill him!” And I sent a short line there. I don’t know exactly how many people I killed then. But probably about 30. This fight was not my first, and I already had to kill people. But in war, killing is not considered murder - it is simply a way to survive. Here you need to react quickly to everything and shoot very accurately. When I left for Afghanistan, my grandfather, a machine gunner, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, told me: “Never look at the enemy, but immediately shoot at him. You’ll look at it later.” Before dispatch, political workers told us that the Mujahideen cut off the ears, noses and other organs of our killed soldiers, and gouged out their eyes. After my arrival in Kabul, I discovered that ours also cut off the ears of the killed “spirits”. A bad example is contagious, and soon I did the same. But my passion for collecting was interrupted by a special officer who caught me on the 57th ear. All dried exhibits, of course, had to be thrown away. I didn’t end up in the circus - I ended up in the special forces. I confess that during that entire battle I regretted ten times that I had not remained a sergeant in Pechory. Pechery-Pskovskie is a city near St. Petersburg, where the USSR GRU special forces training base is located. Squad commanders, radiotelegraphists, intelligence officers and miners were trained there. I skillfully simulated a complete lack of hearing and, having successfully turned away from the radio, broke through to the scouts. They prepared us very thoroughly. We constantly ran 10-kilometer cross-country races, endlessly did push-ups on parallel bars and pull-ups on the horizontal bar, shot from all types of small arms and practiced actions with a knife on stuffed animals made of corrugated cardboard. This cardboard best imitates the human body. In addition, we studied subversion and trained willpower in underground labyrinths, where we were attacked by virtual tanks. I studied so well that they even wanted to keep me there as an instructor-sergeant. To prevent this from happening, I committed several disciplinary violations and completely disappointed the course director. He waved his hand at me and said that all the slobs who are not accepted into the circus or prison end up in the special forces. Besides the fact that I was eager to go to Afghanistan, I had absolutely no relationship with a certain Sergeant Peretyatkevich. He, being a candidate for master of sports in freestyle wrestling, lost a wrestling match to me. After that, he began to find fault with me and “snitch” on me to the commanders. Therefore, when on April 27, 1984, we, two intelligence officers and five radio telegraph operators, found ourselves in Kabul, I was simply happy. Denouement The night battle reached its climax at 4 o’clock in the morning, when the “spirits” decisively launched another attack. They did not spare cartridges and shouted loudly: “Shuravi, taslim!” - an analogue of the fascist “Rus, surrender!” I was shaking from the cold and nervous tension, but most of all I was depressed by complete uncertainty. And I was very afraid. He was afraid of imminent death and possible torture, afraid of the unknown. Anyone who says that war is not scary either hasn’t been there or is lying. We've used up almost all our ammunition. Nobody saved the last cartridge for themselves. Its role among the special forces is played by the last grenade. This is much more reliable and you can drag a few more enemies with you. I still had seven rounds of ammunition, a couple of grenades and a knife left when we began to negotiate among ourselves about who would finish off the wounded. They decided that those whom the lot would point to would stab them with knives. The remaining cartridges are only for the enemy. It sounds terrible, but it was impossible to leave our comrades alive. The Mujahideen would brutally torture them before they died. While casting lots, we heard the noise of helicopter rotors. To celebrate, I threw the last grenades at the dushmans. And then, like a chill, a terrible thought hit me: what if the helicopters pass by? But they didn’t pass by. It turned out that helicopter pilots from the “stray” Alexandria regiment, based near Kandahar, came to our rescue. Penalty officers who had numerous problems in their service served in this regiment. When our company stood next to these helicopter pilots, we drank vodka with them more than once. But although discipline limped on both legs, they were not afraid of anything. Several transport Mi-8s and combat Mi-24s, better known as “crocodiles,” hit the dushmans with machine guns and drove them away from our positions. Having quickly loaded two killed and 17 wounded comrades into helicopters, we jumped in ourselves and left the enemy biting their elbows. Osama trampled his turban out of anger. Subsequently, the intelligence center of the limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan received information that in that battle our group destroyed 372 trained militants. It also turned out that they were commanded by the young and then little-known Osama bin Laden. The agents testified that after this battle, the future famous terrorist was beside himself with rage, trampling on his own turban and using his last words to kill his assistants. This defeat left the “storks” with an indelible stain of shame. A week-long mourning was declared in all Afghan villages controlled by the “spirits,” and the Mujahideen leaders vowed to destroy our entire 459th company.