A sapper who cleared the approaches to Berlin. Alexander Shipunov GRU special forces in Kandahar. Military chronicle An outcast among officers

21.02.2024

From the summer of 1985 to the autumn of 1986, he served in the “3rd separate motorized rifle battalion”, which was stationed in the Kandahar province of the DRA.

The 3rd OMSB is the conventional closed name of the 173rd separate special forces detachment, which joined the DRA in February 1984.

I served in the mining company of the detachment and this is exactly what I want to talk about.

About the mining company and its role

The mining company was formed in the summer of 1985. Before this, the detachment had a mining group. Due to the increased volume of tasks associated with demining transport routes, an engineer platoon was added to the staff of the special forces units that fought in Afghanistan, and then it was decided to combine both platoons into a company.

The main type of combat activity of the detachment was ambushes. The main task of miners when operating in an ambush is to increase the firepower of the group. Just as the effective work of miners in an ambush increased the capabilities of the group, so the competent work of the mining company increased the effectiveness of the entire detachment.

The area of responsibility of the 173rd detachment had geographical features that made it possible to carry out an ambush in its classic version, which gave the detachment’s miners the opportunity to fully demonstrate their professionalism. A competent miner could stop several cars at the same time by detonating groups of mines, set the direction of the enemy’s retreat and destroy him.

A special forces reconnaissance mine worker is a fighter who has additionally received in-depth training in mine demolition.

The winding path to the detachment

I learned the military specialty of a reconnaissance miner for six months in the 1071st special forces training regiment in the town of Pechory Pskovskie, on the border with Estonia.

This science was easy, I studied with interest. Therefore, the commander of the training platoon, Senior Lieutenant Pavlov, decided to leave me in the company as a sergeant. Many people dreamed of such an offer. But not me. I myself am from Khabarovsk. At the time of conscription, he had 1 sports category and more than two hundred parachute jumps. Therefore, my desire was to get into the Ussuri special forces brigade closest to home, where I expected to continue my career as a paratrooper. At the interview with the battalion commander, as they say, he “turned on the fool.” After this, the battalion commander, Senior Lieutenant Dikarev, expressed his sincere surprise to the commander of the training company, that he wanted to appoint a person who was either stupid or unwilling to perform the duties to the responsible position of sergeant of the training company. Both the first and second were surprising and unnecessary for the commander of the training battalion.
Debt good turn deserves another. And now I’m already at Pulkovo airport waiting for my flight to Tashkent.

The question of why not one of the ten Uzbeks of the training company went with us ceased to be a mystery upon arrival in Chirchik. Here the new 467th separate special forces training regiment was formed, and I became a sergeant in the mining training company.

The creation in the spring of 1985 of a training regiment in Chirchik for special forces who fought in Afghanistan was an important event. The big advantage was that from the first days the soldiers served in climatic conditions as close as possible to those in Afghanistan. The regiment was stationed in the barracks of the 15th brigade, which went to Jalalabad. The spirit of “real” war was felt from the first minutes of being there. The unit was commanded by a holder of the Order of Lenin, commander of the legendary Muslim battalion that stormed Amin’s palace, Colonel Kholbaev. The regiment worked like a well-oiled machine.
But, despite the fact that Senior Lieutenant Dikarev ensured that I became a sergeant of a training company, “if you endure it, you fall in love” - this is not about me. I was haunted by the thought that several guys from my conscription, with whom I had become friends, took turns going to the 154th Jalalabad detachment. Therefore, I began to “terrorize” the commander of the training company with reports asking him to send me to Afghanistan. Company captain Smazhny, a holder of two Red Star orders, who himself drank from the “Afghan cup” in full, tried to reason with me: “Where are you going?” But I didn’t get through. Vegetate in “training” while my comrades are creating?! The spirit of military romance drove me forward: “Again the alarm, again we enter into battle at night!..”
I “fell big” and was sent “across the river.”

When the content doesn't match the title

The company I ended up in unpleasantly surprised me. First of all, what I saw was not what I expected. And that's why. By the fall of 1985, there was not a single specialist in the company who had graduated from a special forces educational institution with a degree in reconnaissance-miner. The overwhelming majority are graduates of combined arms training regiments. They became “special forces” and “specialists” upon enlistment. A special forces soldier has arrived in the detachment! I got into a mining company - a miner! Their level of professional training was low. Most did not know basic things: the tactical and technical characteristics of the main mines, the rules for their installation and use. A little later, I learned that the mining group of the detachment at the time of entry into Afghanistan was staffed by reconnaissance miners of the 173rd detachment and 12th brigade, who had the appropriate training and special forces spirit. Group commanders repeatedly tried to use mines, but they had to work under the noses of the “spirits,” and therefore every time the miners came to the road, they were discovered. As a result, group commanders gradually abandoned the idea of using mines in an ambush.

Although the miners did not give concrete results, the group honestly did their job. But those who were recruited and trained, back in the 12th Special Forces Brigade, gradually retired to the reserves and were replaced by soldiers who arrived from ordinary engineering training regiments. This had a negative impact on the quality of the group’s personnel, and then the company’s. These “miners” were reluctantly taken on “outings,” and their role in the group was reduced to that of machine gunners who had mines.
The situation in the company could not be called healthy either. No one was eager to “go to war”, and if possible they even avoided it. There were individual “specimens” who went “to war” four times during a year and a half of service. At the same time, the details of each, in my opinion, ordinary “exit” were remembered with sacred awe.

The mining company was similar to the commandant's: it participated in the escort of detachment columns, carried out guard duty and was distinguished by maintaining exemplary internal order. I even remember attempts to achieve “beating the edges on the beds,” and this was in tents in Afghanistan.

As is the pop, so is the arrival

“Like the priest, such is the parish,” says the Russian proverb. It fully reflected the state of affairs in the company. The company commander, Senior Lieutenant Kochkin, managed in Afghanistan, without leaving the “war” position, in one of the most combative special forces units of the fortieth army to receive the rank of “captain” ahead of schedule for exemplary internal order. Internal order, drill - this was his strong point. He was a typical peacetime officer. And if it were possible, he would not go “to war” before his replacement, but would do what is near and dear to him. It seems to me that Kochkin realized too late that this is not the Union and the officer’s activities are assessed according to the results of his unit. And the results of special forces in this war are jammed caravans and destroyed Mujahideen bases. The soldiers of the units of the 173rd detachment solved problems much more important than sweeping paths and leveling soldiers' beds. Kochkin understood that over time they would demand more from him than to shine at reviews and inspections.

Trying to start a war

He tried to raise the combat work in the company to the required level. He was well prepared professionally, but there was no one in his company to rely on. At the end of November, I learned that my former cadets from the Chirchik regiment were awaiting assignment to brigades in Kandahar. I suggested that Kochkin select the soldiers for the company himself, explaining that I was a sergeant in a training company and knew their personal qualities. Kochkin became interested in my proposal and asked me to make a list. Thus, already in the fall, well-trained reconnaissance miners of the first graduating class of 467 OUSPN arrived in the company.

We received the first result on January 13, 1986. Near Kandahar, a caravan of three cars was stopped by mines, two of them caught fire. The rockets lying in the bodies launched and covered a nearby village. The third car, loaded with trophies, under the cover of armor, was driven into the battalion under its own power. There were no losses on the part of the special forces.

Kochkin was overjoyed: “We were the first in the special forces to stop the cars with mines.” I don’t know how true this statement was, but one thing was true. Now he could claim a place on the same level as the combat officers of the detachment, who, frankly speaking, noticeably shunned him.

Turning his “face to war”, he began to introduce new means. The introduction of PD-430 radio links into the company's arsenal made it possible to control the detonation from long distances without unmasking the group with wires. But the time for training and coordinating the combat team was wasted forever. Despite the “new blood,” the pacifist spirit prevailed in the company.

As soon as Kochkin began to encroach on the “privileges” of those on whom he relied and who were afraid of war like hell, a group of old-timers wrote a denunciation to a special department. They relied on facts that, in my opinion, did not deserve severe sanctions. But, despite the pettiness of the accusations, the case was allowed to proceed.
Events developed rapidly. In the morning - expelled from the party. At lunchtime he was removed from his position...

Sidorenko

My warmest memories are associated with the personality of the company’s political officer Nikolai Sidorenko. He was a kind-hearted, devoted and loving person. Having served for ten years as an ensign in the Far East, he liked to say: “I became a lieutenant at the age of 34, and therefore I do not serve for rank.” He joined the company shortly before the fall of Kochkin. Despite the domineering nature of the company commander, he did not “lay down under him”, but led his own line. Quite soon we realized that the company and the political officer were lucky. He took care of the personnel like a good father. The soldiers paid him the same. When Kochkin was removed, he took command of the company and “ruled” it until a new commander was appointed. Wise from experience, he understood that any normal person pays for good with good. Now we knew that there was an older comrade to whom in difficult times we could turn for help: he would objectively judge the dispute and give reasonable advice. For most “engineers of human souls” he is an example of how to work. The company officers also respected him.
Based on his extensive life experience, Sidorenko was able to solve one of the most important tasks - to create a healthy team in the company and unite it.

"Raman Mikhalych"

The polar opposite of Captain Kochkin was the commander of the mining group, Lieutenant Mikhailov. The son of a colonel, who went through conscript school, he was very strong and, most importantly, was a special forces soldier in spirit. Thanks to the bodybuilder's square shoulders, the nickname Rama immediately stuck to him. And since his father Mikhail also named him Mikhail, later, as a sign of respect, they began to call him “Raman Mikhalych”, from Rama and Misha, respectively.
Having graduated from the Tyumen Military Engineering School, Mikhailov had in-depth knowledge in mine demolition and applied it to the fullest. He loved to fight. He approached the task at hand creatively: he constantly came up with and made new charges, surprise mines, developed and implemented new mine installation schemes. He was a fan of his business. Not a coward, a man capable of action, a strong-willed officer, a romantic at heart, he became the undisputed leader in the company. The company gradually began to “cleanse itself of slag.” In the spring, when the last “pacifists” retired, morale in the company increased noticeably.

In June, Mikhailov was appointed company commander, having served as an officer for only a year. Having become a company commander, he continued to strictly ask for order and discipline while in the police department. But at the same time, he constantly looked for and found new solutions related to the combat use of the company. We began to act when laying mines, not only being in groups, but also acting as part of the mining group of our company. There were cases when we went out in full force to mine certain areas where caravan routes passed. The company has changed dramatically.

There is no place for draft dodgers

The guys who came from “training” in the fall, watching how the senior conscription was fighting, followed us. Excitement appeared, an unspoken competition arose: who would come back from the “war” with a result, and even better, would give the result themselves. Our two conscriptions became the backbone of the company. The soldiers newly arriving in the company had nowhere to go. They found themselves in an environment where there was no place for “draft dodgers.” You can do pull-ups a hundred times, tell great jokes, wear any stripes on your shoulder straps, but if you haven’t fought, then your voice in the company is the last. Moreover, we did not look at what types of troops the reinforcements were coming from. The main thing is that they have a desire to honestly do their job - to fight.

The company regularly produced results. Here are just a few examples.

In May, Lieutenant Shishakin’s group hammered a car and a tractor rushing to the rescue. The car and the fleeing enemy were destroyed by detonating mines.

In August, Mikhailov hit a car with mines.

In September, in Argastan, Lieutenant Gugin’s group stopped a car with mines, destroying a group of fourteen dushmans.

So the mining company finally stood on a par with the special forces companies of our detachment. Group commanders who previously preferred an extra machine gun to miners began to change their attitude. And the command of the detachment, seeing the results of the “mine war,” insisted on the wider use of mine-explosive weapons in ambushes. As a result, by the fall of 1986, they did not go “to war” without miners.

Epilogue

At the very beginning of my service in Afghanistan, an incident occurred that greatly changed my attitude towards war. On October 27, 1985, I lost a friend in battle. His death greatly shocked me and determined the goals of MY war, dispelling in my mind the myth of “providing international assistance.” Now I understood that I was fighting in order to avenge my fallen comrade. The officers used my “obsession with war” to manipulate me: “You won’t go to war if...” They knew very well that excommunication from the war was a severe punishment for me.

Since the miners were not assigned to a specific company, I had the opportunity to see almost all the group commanders of the detachment in action. I went into “ambush” thirty-three times, of which seven exits were effective. In three ambushes I personally used mines. The final exit was made at the end of October 1986. Then the guys of my conscription in blue berets and dress uniforms, on which military awards glittered, climbed aboard the demobilized Ilyushin, and I and the next group rode in the Blue Mule (a captured blue ZIL-130, on which the groups rode to the airfield) along the taxiway of the Kandahar airfield to the helicopters. Tears welled up in my eyes when I thought that in a few minutes my comrades would be heading home, and I would be heading into another ambush. But this weakness lasted for seconds.

Having returned from the “war” to the battalion, I flew home on the third day, as it seems to me, having settled accounts with the “spirits” for the death of a friend.

On November 2, 1986, having walked down the plane to our native land, having gone through customs inspection at Tuzel airport, we went to the training regiment to visit our comrades. At dusk we reached Chirchik. The city lived its measured, peaceful life. Seeing a smoothly rolling trolleybus, we watched it in silence for a long time. Through its huge luminous windows, a light-filled salon was visible through, in which people sat carefree, looking without anxiety into the darkness of the night. Later, I remember, we stopped near a machine selling sparkling water. After the Kandahar thirst and constant water shortage, the device produced an almost magical impression: you throw in a penny, press a button, and water flows. Clean, cold and without bleach. And only you can decide how much to drink - a glass, two or three...

In the regiment, the training company was still commanded by Captain Smazhny. When we met, we greeted each other and were silent for a long time.
- So how is it? - He was the first to break the silence.
- Nothing to regret.

DEFECTOR

A resident of the Smolensk region, Golovin took the oath of “Allegiance to the Motherland and the working people” in 1981. The son of a World War II participant ended up serving in tank forces. After training in the Union for replacement, he was sent to the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan, where he joined the ranks of the repair company of the 70th separate motorized rifle brigade. The unit was located in the high-security protected zone of the Kandahar garrison, and the personnel did not go directly into combat. The omissions made by the command in organizing the service and Golovin’s low personal moral and volitional qualities pushed him to commit a blatant act.

From the details of the events preceding the tragedy, I know that the soldier, driven into a corner by his colleagues, unable to fight back, but unwilling to endure insults, was hiding from the problem. First on the territory of the company, then as the crisis developed, he began to seek refuge outside its borders. All participants in the conflict got away with this violation. Having finally lost faith in help from the command, he went to a village adjacent to the Kandahar “greenery” and surrendered.

Cases of Soviet military personnel going over to the enemy’s side are rare in the Afghan war. There is a possibility of being captured, being wounded, having lost the ability to resist, or, having become completely demoralized, during a difficult battle, stop fighting and, clinging to life, console yourself with the illusion that you can buy it with treason. And here, without a direct threat to life, by your own will, from the location of the unit?!

I don’t know what further played a role in the fate of the captive - the desire of the leaders of the rebellious movement to use him for propaganda purposes or the “cheerful and friendly” disposition of a particular field commander, but he was accepted into the tribe, swearing allegiance a second time. The conditions for this are simple - to become a fellow believer with new comrades. So, having changed command, the newly appointed man fought for several years. Now he had nowhere to go, and he humbly endured all the hardships of his new service!

In May 1986, during another operation in the green zone of Kandahar, several dozen militants were captured by the forces of the 70th separate motorized rifle brigade. Among them was the brother of one of the province’s field commanders. Wanting to buy him back, the “authority” made an offer, which the Shuravi command agreed to without haggling: “Give me your brother, I have yours!”

The Kandahar Special Forces Battalion is tasked with planning and executing the exchange operation without delay. The head of reconnaissance of the 173rd detachment, Senior Lieutenant Krivenko, having assessed the order, fearing to lose momentum, hastily forms a capture group and leads it. The fighters he selected - the most prepared for this kind of specific action - are capable of suppressing the object's resistance with physical force, knocking it out with a blow and quickly moving it several tens of meters. In this case, they will have to act on one side, without the support of other scouts. These are the terms of the deal: one car on each side; the place of exchange is a bridge on a concrete road near the entrance to the Kandahar “greenery”.

Captured bandits

Golovin served as a driver in the gang. On a May evening, following the commander’s instructions, he once again drives his pickup along a familiar route, making his way from village to village through the green zone. Along narrow paths, between vegetable gardens, along country roads crossing small fields, bypassing mandekhs and shallow canals, the car follows to the village adjacent to the Kandahar-Chaman highway. The farmers left it long ago, unable to withstand the constant fighting on their territory. The regular use of the walls of houses by the Mujahideen to ambush enemy equipment and retaliatory shelling of buildings by Soviet soldiers displaced peaceful life from roadside villages. After fifty meters the dirt road meets a concrete road, ahead along the road is a bridge over a ravine. The pickup truck finds shelter in the ruins of a household behind a surviving piece of a high clay duct. It gets dark, the command follows: “Forward!”

Leaving its shelter, the all-wheel drive Simurg jumps out from under the low-hanging treetops, climbs an embankment and, after driving several tens of meters, stops on the side of the road near the bridge. There are more than a dozen militants inside - the commander's personal guard. Their profession has been to fight for many years. Suddenly, on the opposite side, raising a cloud of dust, a heavy machine climbs onto the embankment. What is this? The silhouette of an armored personnel carrier emerges from the sand cloud. Golovin casts a confused glance at his comrades, but in their faces there is not a shadow of horror from an unexpected meeting with the enemy.

In Kandahar, women of the East

He immediately understood everything! He grabbed the steering wheel. Desperately he screamed in Pashto, a tongue twister, asking for mercy. Having received a strong blow to the head with the butt of a machine gun, he lost the ability to defend himself and whined from powerlessness. Shell-shocked, wailing and begging his men not to give him up, he was dragged by the arms by his “brothers in faith” to the middle of the bridge. Here the special forces pushed a relative of a high-ranking “spirit” towards them and caught the traitor. Having come to his senses, a meter from an army armored personnel carrier, he howled hysterically and, gathering the rest of his strength, decided to give battle. But holding him on both sides and dragging him into the open side hatch, two pairs of powerful hands pulled him out with a jerk and smeared him against the side with all their might. From the impact on the “armor” Golovin lost consciousness. I woke up lying on my stomach in the aisle of the troop compartment with my hands tightly tied behind my back, my legs also tied with a rope and pulled up to my arms. There is a blindfold on his eyes, a gag made from his own skullcap in his mouth, and the soles of the scouts' sneakers are pressing his body into the metal bottom.

On the territory of the Kandahar garrison, he will be handed over to employees of the special department and will begin to give detailed testimony. Talking about his participation in hostilities, giving information about the gang and the morals that reign in it, he will persistently prove that he did not shoot at us, citing the fact that he was a simple driver. His story did not add any news to the operational situation, but he revealed interesting details about the internal structure of his gang.

The militants live separately, roaming between villages controlled by their party. They regularly keep watch at posts in the mountains north of the city. Teaming up with other groups, they constantly go to the center of Kandahar to carry out ambushes. The commander has unlimited power, sets laws and is free to judge any subordinate. Also, he uses whoever he wants for his carnal pleasures, no one dares to refuse him. Further, the rest of the pack are free to do the same with the weaker ones. In fights for possession of a body, it is prohibited to use weapons on pain of death. When asked directly what his social status was, Golovin said that his physical strength allowed him to serve only the commander.

The head of the special department of the 173rd separate detachment, Major Kovtun, the commander of a separate detachment, Captain Bokhan, during the raid

A couple of months after passing, they began to require him to know several prayers by heart. They beat me mercilessly for mistakes. This forced me to intensively cram the text in Arabic.

All these details of the enemy’s life were told to us by the head of the special department of the battalion, Major Kovtun. The special officer purposefully walked around all units of the detachment with a report. At the same time, he “brainwashed us” clearly, without concealing or hiding anything, calling everything by its proper name, influencing our consciousness with vivid details. During my entire service, I don’t remember such prevention from him. From the book Counterintelligence. Mole hunt author

From the book Spy Stories author Tereshchenko Anatoly Stepanovich

Defector Rezun, who became “Suvorov” He sold not only his friends, military colleagues, relatives, but also his father, a front-line soldier, who cursed him for betrayal. It is difficult to remember such people among military intelligence officers. He betrayed his Oath and betrayed his Motherland. His last name is captain

GRU special forces in Kandahar. Military chronicle
Alexander Shipunov

Afghanistan: The Last War of the USSR
“Kandaki Maksuz” - this is how the GRU special forces were called in Afghanistan, with whom the “spirits” had special scores to settle and whom they feared like fire. At the height of the Afghan war, the author of this book served as a scout-miner in the 173rd separate special forces detachment in Kandahar, the main stronghold of the “irreconcilables.” In his memoirs, he talks in detail, down to the smallest detail, about the combat work of special forces: about landings, raids and ambushes on caravan routes. About how caravans were “slaughtered” and fleeing spooks were “chopped” with machine guns, machine guns and automatic self-propelled guns. About the intricacies of subversion and the merciless mine war in the “pink mountains of Kandahar.” About how to stop an enemy transport with a powerful directed mine and, having calculated in advance the escape routes of the militants, cover them with the next explosion. About those who have fully paid off with the “spirits” for the death of their friends and can now rightfully say: “I don’t regret anything!”

From the summer of 1985 to the autumn of 1986, he served in the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion, which was stationed in the Kandahar province of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

The 3rd OMSB is the conventional closed name of the 173rd separate special forces detachment, which entered the DRA in February 1984 and from the first months of its stay in Afghanistan constantly inflicted very noticeable blows on the Mujahideen, smashing their caravans and Islamic committees, while suffering minimal losses .

I served in a mining company of a detachment and I want to talk about my company, its formation, and the different roles of officers in this process.
Kandahar Ariana Airport
Bird's eye view of the permanent deployment point of the 173rd separate special forces detachment
About the mining company and its role
The mining company was formed in the summer of 1985. Before this, the detachment had a mining group. Shortly before the creation of the company, due to the increased volume of tasks associated with demining transport routes, an engineer platoon was introduced into the staff of the special forces detachments that fought in Afghanistan, and after that it was decided to combine both platoons into one company.

The main type of combat activity of our detachment was ambushes. The main task of demolitions is to increase the firepower of the reconnaissance group. Just as the effective work of demolition men during a combat mission increased the capabilities of the group, so the competent work of the mining company increased the effectiveness of the entire detachment.
“The clogged caravan is smoking…”
The area of responsibility of the 173rd detachment had geographical features that made it possible to carry out an ambush on enemy vehicles in its classic version, which gave the detachment’s miners the opportunity to fully demonstrate their professionalism. A competent specialist, by detonating groups of mines, could stop several vehicles at the same time, set the direction of the enemy’s retreat and destroy him.

Based on the above, a reconnaissance mine worker in special forces is, first of all, a fighter who has additionally received in-depth training in mine demolition.
The winding path to the detachment
I learned the military specialty of a reconnaissance miner for six months in the 1071st separate special-purpose training regiment in the town of Pechory Pskovskie, on the border with Estonia.
This science was easy for me, I studied with interest. Therefore, the commander of the training platoon, Lieutenant Pavlov, decided to leave me in the company as a sergeant. Many people dreamed of such an offer. But not me. I myself come from Khabarovsk. At the time of conscription into the army, he had the first sports category in parachuting and more than two hundred jumps. Therefore, my desire was to get into the Ussuri special forces brigade closest to home, where I expected to continue my career as a paratrooper. However, the company command insisted on its own, and I remained my own. Therefore, during the interview with the battalion commander, as they say, he “turned on the fool.” After this, the battalion commander, Senior Lieutenant Dikarev, expressed his sincere surprise to the commander of the training company, that he wanted to appoint a person who was either stupid or unwilling to fulfill this position to the responsible position of sergeant of the training company. The commander of the training battalion did not need both the first and second.

Debt good turn deserves another. And now at Pulkovo airport I am waiting for my flight to Tashkent.

The question of why out of ten Uzbeks - graduates of the training company - not one went with us to the city of Chirchik ceased to be a mystery immediately upon arrival in it. Here the new 467th separate special forces training regiment was formed, and I became a sergeant in the mining training company.

The creation in the spring of 1985 in the city of Chirchik of a training regiment for special forces battalions that fought in Afghanistan was an important event that seriously improved the quality of the contingent arriving at the war. A big advantage for the Chirchik cadets was that from the first days, future fighters of individual “Afghan” detachments served in climatic conditions as close as possible to Afghan ones, in a unit specially created for the needs of these detachments. The regiment was stationed in the former barracks of the 15th separate special forces brigade, which had recently left for Jalalabad. The spirit of the “real” war going on nearby was felt from the first minutes of being there.
Commander of the mine training company squad, 467th separate special forces training regiment, Chirchik, May 1985.
The unit was commanded by a holder of the Order of Lenin, commander of the legendary Muslim battalion that stormed Amin’s palace, Colonel Kholbaev. The regiment worked like a well-oiled machine.

Despite the fact that Senior Lieutenant Dikarev, contrary to my wishes, ensured that I became a sergeant in a training company, the saying “if you endure it, you fall in love” is not about me. I was burdened by my position. Knowing that all the cadets, after training, would join the ranks of individual detachments fighting in Afghanistan, with youthful maximalism I believed that I had no moral right to make harsh demands of my charges. I was also haunted by the thought of the guys from my conscription, with whom I managed to become friends and who, in turn, went to the “warring” 154th Jalalabad detachment. Therefore, I began to “terrorize” the commander of the training company with reports asking him to send me to Afghanistan. The company commander, Captain Smazhny, a holder of two Orders of the Red Star, who himself drank from the “Afghan cup” in full, tried to reason with me: “Where are you going?” But I didn’t get through. Vegetate in “training” while my comrades are making history?! The spirit of military romance drove me forward: “Again there is alarm, again we enter into battle at night...”
Not valuing my position, I “failed big” and was sent “across the river.” So I ended up serving in the 173rd detachment, in the mining company.

Truly inscrutable are the ways of the Lord!
When the content doesn't match the title
The company I ended up in unpleasantly surprised me. What I saw did not meet my expectations. And that's why. By the fall of 1985, there was not a single specialist in the company who had graduated from a special forces educational institution with a degree in reconnaissance-miner. The overwhelming majority are graduates of combined arms training regiments. They became “special forces” and “specialists” upon enlistment. A special forces soldier has arrived in the detachment! I got into a mining company - a miner! Their level of professional training was extremely low. Most did not know basic things: the tactical and technical characteristics of the main mines, the rules for their installation and use.

As I learned a little later, the mining group of the detachment at the time of entry into Afghanistan was staffed by reconnaissance miners of the 173rd detachment and the 12th brigade, who had the appropriate training and special forces spirit. At the initial stage, group commanders repeatedly tried to use mines, but they had to work under the very noses of the “spirits,” and therefore every time the miners came to the road with charges, they, and therefore the group, were discovered. As a result, group commanders gradually abandoned the idea of using mines in an ambush.

Although the demolitions did not produce concrete results, the group honestly did its job. But those who were recruited and trained back in the 12th Special Forces Brigade gradually retired to the reserves and were replaced by soldiers who arrived from ordinary engineering training regiments, which negatively affected the quality of the group, and then the company. Therefore, group commanders were reluctant to take these “miners” on “outs,” and their role was reduced to that of machine gunners who had mines. There were no cases of competent, effective work of miners.

The internal situation in the company also cannot be called healthy. Low morale led to the fact that people were not eager to go to war, and, if possible, even avoided. There were individual “instances” that went into “combat” four times during a year and a half of service. At the same time, they remembered the details of each, in my opinion, ordinary “exit” with sacred awe.

The mining company was more like a commandant's company: it participated in escorting detachment columns, diligently performed guard duty and was distinguished by maintaining exemplary internal order. I even remember attempts to get the edges off the blankets on the beds, and this was in tents in Afghanistan.

Therefore, as a person who has gone through two training regiments and has an idea of what the level of knowledge and training of a reconnaissance miner in special forces should be, I assessed the level of combat training of the company as a weak C.
As is the pop, so is the arrival
“Like the priest, such is the parish,” says an old Russian proverb. It fully reflected the state of affairs in the company. No, outwardly everything was very good and even moreover, wonderful. It’s just so wonderful that our company commander, Senior Lieutenant Kochkin, managed in Afghanistan in one of the most combative special forces units of the 40th Army, without leaving the location for war, to receive the rank of “captain” ahead of schedule precisely for exemplary internal order. On the day he was awarded the rank, he formed a company and announced: “I became a captain at 25, and at 27 I will be a major.” In response, a groan ran through the ranks of soldiers...

Internal order, drill, company management - all this was his strong point. He was a typical good peacetime officer. And if it were possible, he would not go to war before his replacement, but would do what is near and dear to him. Unfortunately, knowledge of everything that was going on in the company was near and dear to his careerist heart. Therefore, he built a system of informing and informing in the company, which Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria himself could appreciate. Through Kochkin’s efforts, a circle of select people was created in the company - “persons especially close.” As is usually the case, the human qualities of these individuals left much to be desired.
Captain Kochkin, commander of the mining company 173 ooSpN, autumn 1985.
Nevertheless, life, like people, consists of halftones, and it would be unfair to paint Kochkin only with black paint. Be that as it may, he was a capable officer, not without certain talents. But, it seems to me, Kochkin realized too late that this is not the Union and the officer’s activities are assessed based on the results of his unit. And the results of the special forces in this war are jammed caravans and destroyed “Mujahideen” bases. The soldiers of the units of the 173rd detachment solved problems much more important than sweeping paths and leveling soldiers' beds. Being an intelligent man, Kochkin understood that over time they would demand more from him than to shine at reviews and inspections.
Battle trophies of the Kandahar detachment
Trying to start a war
He tried to bring the combat work in the company to the required level. He himself was well prepared professionally, but there was no one in his company to rely on for this. Therefore, his bet was on me, who had recently arrived. This suited me on the whole. At that time, my interests in creating a combat team coincided with the interests of the company commander. At the end of November, I learned that my former cadets from the Chirchik training regiment were awaiting assignment to brigades at the Kandahar transfer. I suggested that Kochkin select the soldiers for the company himself, explaining that I was a sergeant in a training company and knew their personal qualities. Kochkin became interested in the proposal and ordered me to compile a list of names. Thus, already in the fall, well-trained reconnaissance miners of the first graduating class of the 467th special forces unit arrived in the company.
The result of a special forces ambush on an enemy caravan, the destroyed Simurg pickup truck
We gave the first result on January 13, 1986.

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* * *

"Nothing to regret"

From the summer of 1985 to the autumn of 1986, he served in the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion, which was stationed in the Kandahar province of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

I served in a mining company of a detachment and I want to talk about my company, its formation, and the different roles of officers in this process.

Kandahar Ariana Airport

Bird's eye view of the permanent deployment point of the 173rd separate special forces detachment

About the mining company and its role

The mining company was formed in the summer of 1985. Before this, the detachment had a mining group. Shortly before the creation of the company, due to the increased volume of tasks associated with demining transport routes, an engineer platoon was introduced into the staff of the special forces detachments that fought in Afghanistan, and after that it was decided to combine both platoons into one company.

“The clogged caravan is smoking…”

The area of responsibility of the 173rd detachment had geographical features that made it possible to carry out an ambush on enemy vehicles in its classic version, which gave the detachment’s miners the opportunity to fully demonstrate their professionalism. A competent specialist, by detonating groups of mines, could stop several vehicles at the same time, set the direction of the enemy’s retreat and destroy him.

Based on the above, a reconnaissance mine worker in special forces is, first of all, a fighter who has additionally received in-depth training in mine demolition.

The winding path to the detachment

I learned the military specialty of a reconnaissance miner for six months in the 1071st separate special-purpose training regiment in the town of Pechory Pskovskie, on the border with Estonia.

This science was easy for me, I studied with interest. Therefore, the commander of the training platoon, Lieutenant Pavlov, decided to leave me in the company as a sergeant. Many people dreamed of such an offer. But not me. I myself come from Khabarovsk. At the time of conscription into the army, he had the first sports category in parachuting and more than two hundred jumps. Therefore, my desire was to get into the Ussuri special forces brigade closest to home, where I expected to continue my career as a paratrooper. However, the company command insisted on its own, and I remained my own. Therefore, during the interview with the battalion commander, as they say, he “turned on the fool.” After this, the battalion commander, Senior Lieutenant Dikarev, expressed his sincere surprise to the commander of the training company, that he wanted to appoint a person who was either stupid or unwilling to fulfill this position to the responsible position of sergeant of the training company. The commander of the training battalion did not need both the first and second.

Debt good turn deserves another. And now at Pulkovo airport I am waiting for my flight to Tashkent.

Commander of the mine training company squad, 467th separate special forces training regiment, Chirchik, May 1985.

The unit was commanded by a holder of the Order of Lenin, commander of the legendary Muslim battalion that stormed Amin’s palace, Colonel Kholbaev. The regiment worked like a well-oiled machine.

Not valuing my position, I “failed big” and was sent “across the river.” So I ended up serving in the 173rd detachment, in the mining company.

Truly inscrutable are the ways of the Lord!

The company I ended up in unpleasantly surprised me. What I saw did not meet my expectations. And that's why. By the fall of 1985, there was not a single specialist in the company who had graduated from a special forces educational institution with a degree in reconnaissance-miner. The overwhelming majority are graduates of combined arms training regiments. They became “special forces” and “specialists” upon enlistment. A special forces soldier has arrived in the detachment! I got into a mining company - a miner! Their level of professional training was extremely low. Most did not know basic things: the tactical and technical characteristics of the main mines, the rules for their installation and use.

As is the pop, so is the arrival

“Like the priest, so is the parish,” says an old Russian proverb. It fully reflected the state of affairs in the company. No, outwardly everything was very good and even moreover, wonderful. It’s just so wonderful that our company commander, Senior Lieutenant Kochkin, managed in Afghanistan in one of the most combative special forces units of the 40th Army, without leaving the location for war, to receive the rank of “captain” ahead of schedule precisely for exemplary internal order. On the day he was awarded the rank, he formed a company and announced: “I became a captain at 25, and at 27 I will be a major.” In response, a groan ran through the ranks of soldiers...

Captain Kochkin, commander of the mining company 173 ooSpN, autumn 1985.

Nevertheless, life, like people, consists of halftones, and it would be unfair to paint Kochkin only with black paint. Be that as it may, he was a capable officer, not without certain talents. But, it seems to me, Kochkin realized too late that this is not the Union and the officer’s activities are assessed based on the results of his unit. And the results of the special forces in this war are jammed caravans and destroyed “Mujahideen” bases. The soldiers of the units of the 173rd detachment solved problems much more important than sweeping paths and leveling soldiers' beds. Being an intelligent man, Kochkin understood that over time they would demand more from him than to shine at reviews and inspections.

Battle trophies of the Kandahar detachment

Trying to start a war

He tried to bring the combat work in the company to the required level. He himself was well prepared professionally, but there was no one in his company to rely on for this. Therefore, his bet was on me, who had recently arrived. This suited me on the whole. At that time, my interests in creating a combat team coincided with the interests of the company commander. At the end of November, I learned that my former cadets from the Chirchik training regiment were awaiting assignment to brigades at the Kandahar transfer. I suggested that Kochkin select the soldiers for the company himself, explaining that I was a sergeant in a training company and knew their personal qualities. Kochkin became interested in the proposal and ordered me to compile a list of names. Thus, already in the fall, well-trained reconnaissance miners of the first graduating class of the 467th Special Operations Special Forces arrived in the company.

Demomen of the first graduating class of the 467th special forces unit, in the Kandahar special forces battalion, autumn 1987.

The result of a special forces ambush on an enemy caravan, the destroyed Simurg pickup truck

We gave the first result on January 13, 1986. Near Kandahar, a caravan of three cars was stopped by mines, two of them caught fire during the battle. The rockets lying in the bodies launched and covered the nearby village where the Mujahideen were located. The third car, loaded with trophies, was driven under its own power to the battalion under the cover of “armor.” There were no losses on the part of the special forces.

Kochkin was overjoyed: “We were the first in the special forces to stop the cars with mines.” I don’t know how true this statement was, but one thing was true: now he could claim a place on the same level as the combat officers of the detachment, who, frankly speaking, noticeably shunned him. His careerism was too obvious.

Turning his “face to war”, he began to persistently introduce new means of explosion. The advent of PD-430 wireless radio links in the company's arsenal made it possible to control the detonation from long distances without unmasking the group with wires. It’s just that the time for training and coordinating the fighting team was irrevocably spent on throwing dust in the eyes, developing “snitches.” In a word, Kochkin failed to create a fighting team. Despite the “new blood,” the pacifist spirit prevailed in the company.

An outcast among officers

It was not for nothing that the officers of the detachment avoided this upstart. For them, as for me and my comrades, the squad is a family. With a clear hierarchy, its own problems, even “excesses”, but a healthy, strong family. And therefore, to this day, both officers and soldiers’ hearts tremble at the word “Kandahar,” and this is with me to the end.

The detachment did not become family for Kochkin. He used his service in the detachment as a step, as a springboard in his career growth, capable of taking him to the desired career heights. And he could feel it. There was no main thing in this person - the ability to resist, to “bite”, to stand to the end, there was no sacrifice, and these qualities are the basis of the spirit of the GRU special forces, the spirit of a warrior. The desire to get as many dividends as possible from two years of service in Afghanistan, without regard for anything or anyone, played a cruel joke on him. While building a company to suit his narrow interests, engaging in fraud and maintaining external decency, he forgot about his main task - organizing the combat work of the company and integrating it into the combat work of the detachment. Replacing general interest with narrowly focused personal interest, he raised the appropriate soldiers. Therefore, everything that happened to him in the future was the work of his own hands.

As soon as Kochkin began to encroach on the “privileges” of those on whom he relied and who were afraid of war like hell, a group of old-timers wrote a denunciation to the “special department”. They relied on facts that, in my opinion, did not deserve severe sanctions. But, despite the pettiness of the accusations, the case was allowed to proceed. The battalion officers openly did not like him as a foreign body in a close-knit team, interfering with normal life, like a pebble that got into a shoe during a march, and therefore they simply “shaken him out of this shoe.”

Events developed rapidly. In the morning - expelled from the party. At lunchtime he was removed from his position. In the evening, Kochkin had a nervous breakdown, which was reported by a political officer who ran into our tent after lights out. He also warned that after a male conversation with the company officers, not finding sympathy and understanding from them, Kochkin grabbed a loaded Stechkin pistol, a grenade and headed towards the location of the company personnel’s tents, shaking with rage and shouting threats to deal with those responsible for his fall. The informers were numb. I think they remembered these minutes for the rest of their lives.

Kochkin, apparently, cooled down and calmed down. It is unlikely that he would have been able to commit such a reckless act, he was too calculating.

He had no one to blame for what happened. He didn't work with people correctly. After all, in fighters it is necessary to persistently develop the best qualities of a strong person: loyalty, love for the Motherland, troops, detachment; cultivate a desire to distinguish oneself by military labor on the battlefield, and not by the ability to please the interests of superiors. Having surrounded himself with people of the mouse breed, he did not take into account that at the right moment they would let him down.

In a word, you have to pay for everything: if you encourage the development of base qualities in a person, be prepared, this will affect you too. "What goes around comes around".

Sidorenko

My warmest memories are associated with the personality of the company’s political officer Nikolai Sidorenko. He was a kind-hearted, devoted and loving person. Having served for ten years as an ensign in the Far East, he liked to say: “I became a lieutenant at the age of 34 and therefore I do not serve for rank.” He joined the company shortly before the fall of Kochkin. Despite the domineering nature of the company commander, he did not “lay down under him”, but led an independent line. Quite soon we realized that the company was finally lucky with its political commander. He took care of the personnel like a good father. The soldiers paid him the same. When Kochkin was removed, he took temporary command of the company and “ruled” it until a new commander was appointed. Wise from experience, he influenced us with words, understanding that any normal person pays for good with good. Now we knew that there was an older comrade to whom in difficult times we could turn for help: he would objectively judge the dispute and give reasonable advice. For most “engineers of human souls” this is a clear example of how to work. The company officers also respected him and listened to his opinion. A highly developed sense of justice never gave Sidorenko peace. Often the political officer calmed down the hot-headed and quick-to-kill commander of the mining group, Lieutenant Mikhailov, finding the necessary arguments. And he, being a smart man, cooled down and did not make hasty decisions.

Based on his extensive life experience, Sidorenko was able to solve one of the most important tasks - to create a healthy microclimate in the company and unite it.

"Raman Mikhalych"

The polar opposite of Captain Kochkin was the commander of the mining group, Lieutenant Mikhailov. The son of a colonel, who went through conscript school, he was very well prepared physically and, most importantly, was a real special forces soldier “in spirit.” Thanks to the bodybuilder’s square shoulders, the nickname “Rama” immediately stuck to him among the fighters. And since dad Nikolai named him Mikhail, later, as a sign of respect, they began to call him “Raman Mikhalych” from Rama and Misha, respectively.

Having graduated from the Tyumen Military Engineering School, Mikhailov had in-depth knowledge in mine demolition and applied it to the fullest. He loved to fight, he constantly went out with groups. He approached the task with creativity: he constantly came up with and made new charges, surprise mines, developed and implemented previously unused mine installation schemes. In a word, he was a fan of his work. Not a coward, a man capable of action, a strong-willed officer, a romantic at heart, he became the undisputed leader in the company. Having received such an officer as a platoon commander, the company gradually began to “cleanse itself of slag.” In the spring, when the last “pacifists” retired, morale in the company increased noticeably.

Mining platoon commander Lieutenant Mikhailov in combat gear, spring 1986.

In June, Mikhailov was appointed company commander, having served as an officer for only a year. But he perceived this career growth not as a springboard for building a career, but rather as gaining new opportunities to realize his plans for combat use. Having become a company commander, he continued to sternly question the disorder and lack of discipline. Without this, while in the PPD, a military unit ceases to be such. At the same time, he looked for and found new solutions related to the use of the company.

The commander of the mining company, Lieutenant Mikhailov, before performing a special event, dressed in “spiritual” clothes, summer 1986.

Miners on the "armor"

To lay mines, we began to act not only while in reconnaissance groups, but also as part of our company’s mining group. There were cases when a company went out in full force to mine certain areas where caravan routes passed. The activities of the unit under the new commander have changed dramatically.

There is no place for draft dodgers

The guys who came from “training” in the fall, watching how the senior conscription was actively fighting, followed us. Excitement appeared, an unspoken competition arose to see who would most often come back from the “war” with results, and even better, who would give the result themselves. Our two calls became the backbone of the company. The soldiers newly arriving in the company had nowhere to go. They found themselves in an environment where there was no place for “draft dodgers.” You could be able to do pull-ups on the horizontal bar a hundred times, tell good jokes, wear any number of stripes on your shoulder straps, but if you didn’t fight, then your voice in the company is the last. Moreover, we did not look at what types of troops the reinforcements were coming from. The main thing is that they have the desire to honestly do their job - to fight. "Gruzdev called himself get in the body".

Demolitionists mining a caravan route, July 1986.

The combination of various factors and the fact that specific people were in the right place at the right time had a favorable effect on the results of combat activities. Thanks to this, the company regularly produced results. Here are just a few examples.

In May, Lieutenant Shishakin’s group hammered a car and a tractor rushing to the rescue. The car and the fleeing enemy were destroyed by detonating mines.

In August, Mikhailov hit a car with mines.

In September, in Argestan, Lieutenant Gugin’s group stopped a car with mines, destroying a group of fourteen “dushmans”.

Kandahar airfield, parking lot of a helicopter detachment, 205th separate helicopter squadron, scouts of the third company returned from a raid with captured militants

In war as in war, bandits destroyed by special forces in a night battle

Military personnel of the mining company being transferred to the reserve, May 1987.

Another car from the caravan of “dushmans” destroyed by special forces

I could be wrong, but as far as I know from my comrades from other units, no one hit more vehicles with mines in Afghanistan than we did.

Alexander Shipunov

GRU SPECIAL FORCES IN KANDAHAR.

Military chronicle

"NOTHING TO REGRET"

From the summer of 1985 to the autumn of 1986, he served in the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion, which was stationed in the Kandahar province of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

I served in a mining company of a detachment and I want to talk about my company, its formation, and the different roles of officers in this process.

Kandahar Ariana Airport Bird's eye view of the permanent deployment point of the 173rd separate special forces detachment

About the mining company and its role

“The clogged caravan is smoking…”

Based on the above, a mine intelligence officer in special forces is, first of all, a fighter who has additionally received in-depth training in mine demolition.

The winding path to the detachment

I learned the military specialty of a reconnaissance miner for six months in the 1071st separate special-purpose training regiment in the town of Pechory Pskovskie, on the border with Estonia.

Debt good turn deserves another. And now at Pulkovo airport I am waiting for my flight to Tashkent.

Commander of the mine training company squad, 467th separate special forces training regiment, Chirchik, May 1985.

The unit was commanded by a holder of the Order of Lenin, commander of the legendary Muslim battalion that stormed Amin’s palace, Colonel Kholbaev. The regiment worked like a well-oiled machine.

Despite the fact that Senior Lieutenant Dikarev, contrary to my wishes, ensured that I became a sergeant in a training company, the saying “if you endure it, you fall in love” is not about me. I was burdened by my position. Knowing that all the cadets, after training, would join the ranks of individual detachments fighting in Afghanistan, with youthful maximalism I believed that I had no moral right to make harsh demands of my charges. Also, I was haunted by the thought of the guys from my conscription, with whom I managed to become friends and who, in turn, went to the “warring” 154th Jalalabad camp. Therefore, I began to “terrorize” the commander of the training company with reports asking him to send me to Afghanistan. The company commander, Captain Smazhny, a holder of two Orders of the Red Star, who himself drank from the “Afghan cup” in full, tried to reason with me: “Where are you going?” But I didn’t get through. Vegetate in “training” while my comrades are making history?! The spirit of military romance drove me forward: “Again there is alarm, again we enter into battle at night...”

Not valuing my position, I “failed big” and was sent “across the river.” So I ended up serving in the 173rd Otrad, in the mining company.

Truly inscrutable are the ways of the Lord!