"I took my first fight on my birthday."
In May 1979, shortly before the war in Afghanistan, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR issued a directive on the creation of a separate special forces unit consisting of 538 men. It went down in history as a "Muslim battalion": it was composed of natives of Central Asia and took part in many operations during the Afghan campaign. This year the unit celebrates its 45th anniversary. "Izvestia" managed to talk to those who stood at the origins of the unit, as well as with ordinary soldiers who told about their combat path and remembered brothers in arms who did not live to see this anniversary.
Baptism of fire
On Saturday, September 21, several dozen sturdy gray-haired men gathered at the Nakhimov complex near Ramenskoye near Moscow. Most of them were dressed in civilian clothes, but even ordinary jackets were decorated with dozens of medals and orders. This day marked the anniversary of the creation of the 154th separate detachment of special purpose. It was known among the people as "Muslim battalion" because it was formed mainly of servicemen - natives of Central Asia.
-Uzbeks, Tajiks and Turkmens were recruited to perform specific tasks, " said Eduard Ibragimov, then deputy commander ofthe detachment's technical part. - A special airborne structure was also selected that was not specific to special operations troops.
The detachment was transferred to Afghanistan in early December 1979. And he received his baptism of fire on December 27 of the same year during the operation to storm the Taj-Bek palace in Kabul, also known as "Amin's palace".
Assault on Amin's palace, or Operation Storm333" - is a special operation during which the Taj-Bek palace was captured and the chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Afghanistan, Hafizullah Amin, was killed. It was part of the Baikal-79 special operation to overthrow Amin in order to replace him with the pro-Soviet Babrak Karmal. The assault preceded the entry of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into the 1979-1989 Afghan war.
- Many people sometimes forget that the palace was not the only target of the operation; it was necessary to take control of the area around it," Rustamkhodzha Tursunkulov, vice-president of the Vympel Group Association and a veteran of the Muslim Battalion, recalled. - If it hadn't been for the units that blocked this territory, nothing would have happened. Now some people try to belittle the role of the "Muslim battalion" by any means necessary. But the training of its fighters was at the highest level. We achieved amazing results. Subsequently, during the Afghan war, people made rushes of 30-40 kilometers in the mountains, but it was hot and there were no ditches.
An important role in the storming of the palace was played by the well-coordinated interaction of all units of the squad. Lieutenant General Gafur Tishayev told Izvestia about it.
- Fire support for the advance and deployment of the attack was perfectly organized," he said. - The unit performed one of the main tasks, but it was not the only one. In addition to us, there were units from other ministries and agencies. The level of their co-operation shows that the operation was brilliantly planned.
Rustamkhodzha Tursunkulov emphasized that the decision for the operation "Storm 333" to storm the palace was prepared by Major General Vasily Kolesnik, but the leadership did not sign it. However, General Kolesnik still made the decision to storm the palace, and thanks to his actions the operation was successful. Rustamkhodzha Tursunkulov noted that at that time none of the officers of the detachment knew about it.
Ambushes on caravans
-I was only two years older than the guys, " Yury Sudarkin, who served as a petty officer in the detachment in 1985-1986, told Izvestia. - I asked to go on my first combat mission on my birthday, when I had just turned 24. They didn't want to let me on the mission, but my birthday became the main trump card. I asked the lieutenant then - what do the Dushmans look like? Then we were supposed to take a gang leader in a kishlak. He was supposed to come for some kind of negotiations. When the first shots rang out, I was called on the radio. I went behind the duval (an earthen fence in Central Asia and Afghanistan. - "Izvestia") and saw the company commander Alexei Turkov, he was wounded in the stomach, next to lieutenant Zhenya Ovsyannikov. In the first battle I carried the company commander on myself, did not flee, and then I was respected by my comrades.
Major General Gennady Udovichenko recallsthat the squad's combat tasks were often to organize ambushes on militant caravans .
- We went out on the enemy's likely routes and blocked them," he told Izvestia. - We destroyed at least three caravans with raw opium, which was going to laboratories to make heroin. Later, during my work in the State Drug Control Service, it became a certain help for me, as I personally destroyed drug traffickers.
Gennady Udovichenko also noted that the units included interpreters who went out on combat missions together with everyone else. Their tasks included communicating with the local population and interrogating prisoners.
- No one told us that we would fly to Afghanistan, but of course we had a hunch. - Alexei Karpenko, a veteran of the unit who served in the mines company, told Izvestia. - We were handed over to other units, and many said that without us, without our experience, they would not go anywhere. But we survived, and this is the most important thing.
The detachment distributed excellent combat and political training from different military units all over the country, told "Izvestia" the communicator of the detachment Vasily Volodin.
- No one asked us whether we wanted to or not. They said you were going to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan," he said. - As a Soviet man, of course, I was struck by the beauty of this country. There were sad moments when we lost friends, but there were also good ones. Especially when the store came to visit. I remember at such moments we would gather in a circle and dip cookies in condensed milk.
Experiencing the heat
One of the problems Soviet soldiers faced in Afghanistan was the terrible heat, said squad member Pavel Telesh.
- I'm from Uzbekistan, but it's not so hot here," he said. - Many who were from Ukraine or Belarus couldn't stand it, but I was in my element. I was a machine gunner, and in my first operation I put all 100 rounds of ammunition into the enemy until the second gunner hit me on the head with the butt of his gun to get me to wake up.
Pavel admitted that he feels younger at the meetings of his fellow soldiers and is happy to see their faces again. The official part of the anniversary celebration began with a solemn formation. The veterans were traditionally divided into units, and after the commander commanded, "Attention!" and the ringing of dozens of combat awards was heard, the veterans stretched out in a stance, and even the gray hair was not so conspicuous.
After the formation in the hall of the restaurant, soldiers and officers paid tribute to their fallen comrades, many of whom participated in more than one military campaign after Afghanistan. And the next day, September 22, they laid flowers at the memorial military complex "Valor and Glory of Special Forces Units of Russia" in Khimki.
During the existence of the 154th detachment, 177 servicemen died in combat or died of wounds, and nine men went missing.
