On February 15, a solemn ceremony dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of Internationalist Soldiers was held in Minsk on the Island of Courage and Sorrow. People began to gather around the island early in the morning. The event was attended by representatives of the Minsk City Executive Committee, the Ministry of Defense, the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, public organizations and associations, veterans of the war in Afghanistan, their families, as well as family members of fallen internationalist soldiers. About two thousand people gathered for this anniversary.
It was on this day in 1989 that the last column of Soviet troops left Afghanistan. About 30 thousand Belarusians took part in this conflict. About 700 of them did not return from there alive.
Despite the frost and the long line at the bridge to the island, an atmosphere of warmth and understanding reigned around. Many of the veterans meet only on this day in the same place, and joyful cries of greetings were constantly heard from all sides.
The meeting was opened by the chairman of the public association “Belarusian Union of Afghanistan War Veterans” Valery Gaidukevich. Then, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus Igor Buzovsky read out an appeal to internationalist soldiers from Alexander Lukashenko, which emphasized that the feat of the participants in the Afghan war will never be forgotten. The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Ravkov also made a solemn speech. He noted that this war is often called the first anti-terrorist operation. Many Belarusians also fulfilled their international duty in other countries: Algeria, Angola, Laos, Bangladesh, Libya, Yemen... The memory of the victims was honored with a minute of silence.
It is worth remembering that on the eve of February 15, a capsule with soil from Afghanistan was laid in the Memorial Church in honor of All Saints, and part of the embankment of the Svisloch River from the Island of Courage and Sorrow to the Belarus Hotel was named in honor of internationalist soldiers.
To honor the memory of their comrades in arms and lay flowers at the memorial monument, veterans of the Afghan War - now workers of the Minsk Tractor Plant - also came to the Island of Courage and Sorrow. The union of former internationalist soldiers at our enterprise is a close-knit team, they all know each other well and will never give offense. Vasily Tymanovich, Deputy General Director of MTZ OJSC for ideological work, personnel and social development, speaks about the strong character of the “Afghans”:
We go to the Island of Courage and Sorrow every year. There are currently 131 internationalist soldiers at our plant. For them this day is always a day off. For their anniversary this year, the company gave them a cash bonus of half a million rubles. A couple of days ago, General Director Fedor Domotenko himself met with the veterans. On behalf of the entire plant and on his own behalf, he expressed gratitude to them for their duty performed, unwavering loyalty and impeccable work. It was the general director who was the author of the idea to add a valuable gift to the cash bonus - a food processor. Someone told me today that they had already made pancakes with it. In addition, the trade union committee also pays them a cash bonus, which is another 300 thousand rubles. “Afghans” are difficult people, but extremely honest and worthy. It is characteristic that of all the more than one hundred participants in this war, not a single one violated labor discipline in all these years. All of them are very qualified workers, and at the same time freedom-loving, they will never beg for anything from their superiors or “curry favor.” People who have gone through such inhuman trials, finding themselves on the threshold of death more than once, understand the essence of life much better.
Traktorzavod internationalist soldiers dedicated the second part of the day to their fallen friends. At the Northern Cemetery they honored the memory of Viktor Gladky, a comrade of many factory workers, a man who went through the war in Afghanistan, but tragically died at home, in Minsk, at the age of thirty in 1991. His mother, Nadezhda Tikhonovna, worked at the Minsk Tractor Plant for more than forty years and has been coming to his grave for twenty-three years now along with the rest of his “Afghans” comrades. “I am eternally grateful to these people. Who knows, perhaps our country would be completely different without them. For many years now, on this day we always get together and visit Victor. I don’t know, it seems that I live in the world only for this day,” admits Nadezhda Gladkaya. Ivan Botyanovsky, an employee of the cabin shop, talks about this unusually strong woman: “Nadezhda Tikhonovna unites us all. Most of us knew Victor, it is very unfortunate that fate can sometimes be so cruel. But life goes on, and we should be glad that we are still alive.”
At the cemetery in Mikhanovichi, tractor plant workers laid flowers on the grave of Gennady Shudeiko, one of the founders and organizers of the Afghan veterans movement at MTZ.
This day evokes difficult memories for those who were in that terrible war. It is impossible to forget this. But these people retained the concept of military courage and valor throughout their lives and are a living example of true patriotism and loyalty to their ideals.
16 Feb, 2018
Nikolai Turchak: “At first I learned from demobilization”
Nikolai Turchak with his wife Anastasia
The 58-year-old reserve lieutenant colonel, now a military pensioner, previously worked in the Belarusian public organization of veterans of the war in Afghanistan. Nikolai Grigorievich is one of the organizers of the “Afghans” festival in Kholm, Novgorod region.
“I graduated from the military political school in Novosibirsk. They were sent to serve in Kirovabad in the 328th Airborne Regiment. In Afghanistan, he fought in the 350th regiment: from September 20, 1984 to July 29, 1986,” the interlocutor recalls.
The regiment was based in the capital of the country, Kabul. Most of the time Nikolai Grigorievich was in the mountains. He is surprised when he reads the memoirs of some officers who describe in detail how they carried out combat missions, while indicating which army or regiment provided support or vice versa.
“Personally, I, like my colleagues, could not know this. We simply arrived at a specific square and completed the assigned task. Sometimes without meeting the enemy. By the way, I once asked one of the staff what we were doing there. Perhaps the sheep ran away when they saw us? He replied that our presence undermined the economic power of the area,” said the lieutenant colonel.
The veteran admitted that at first during the war, he, a senior lieutenant, learned from demobilizers: how to lay out fortifications from stones, how to heat up food.
“In the mountains, these guys, puny at first glance, were resilient. At first I was ashamed that I, the champion of the unit in which I served, in overcoming the obstacle course, could not only keep up with them, but generally ran out of steam. Once it got to the point where I wanted to shoot myself out of shame,” admits Nikolai Grigorievich.
And from company sergeant Oleg Gontsov, senior lieutenant Turchak learned to navigate on a map. By the way, he is known as the organizer of the Blue Berets group, the author and performer of songs about the Afghan war.
“I’m used to being guided by maps that show a lot of greenery, but in Afghanistan there are mountains and deserts. Accordingly, everything on the map is brown. So I asked Oleg to teach me. By the way, he still serves in the Russian army, in special forces,” explains the lieutenant colonel.
The local population, according to him, sometimes treated them, so to speak, not hostilely.
“You just need to know what not to do when communicating with them. For example, there was a case when we came down from the mountains and wanted to wash ourselves and get ourselves in order. We asked the old man to show us where the well was. They promised that we would not go into the women's half of the house. This is taboo for other men! He didn’t refuse,” says the lieutenant colonel.
But after a certain amount of time, approaching the same house, instead of a greeting, the military heard shots. Having disarmed the same Afghan, they began to ask why this happened. He explained that after them, Soviet intelligence officers burst into the house. And they behaved boorishly and burst into the same “women’s room.” But often dushmans hid there.
Regarding hazing in Afghanistan, he said that it did not exist in the classical sense. After all, a “spirit” (a soldier who served for less than six months) in the mountains could shoot the offender in battle. But it happened about the seizure of checks (analogues of Soviet rubles), which the “grandfathers” appropriated for themselves.
“And I kept an eye on it. I remember collecting demobilization officers shortly before their return to their homeland. He asked to see the contents of the diplomats. And he calculated how much they received during their service. And, knowing the approximate price of things, he could easily figure out those who bought something not only with their own money.”
The private received 9 checks. They could be exchanged at a rate that varied: 23-28 Afghanis. Purchased while patrolling the city.
“Of course, we drove out in combat vehicles with weapons. And in fact, the one who abandoned the “fast” violated the charter. But the commanding officers understood that we wanted to bring something home and secretly were not against it,” the interlocutor explained.
For conscientious service and exploits in Afghanistan, Nikolai Grigorievich was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order for Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR, third degree, and the medal for military merit.
Nikolai Grigorievich was one of the organizers of the Afghan song festivals in Vitebsk. For the last few years, he has been organizing the festival “Involved in Heart” in the city of Kholm, Novgorod region. He plans that this project will be implemented in Belarus.
“In Orsha, we have already agreed to hold a festival on the basis of the House of Culture of the flax mill. The idea was supported by the current Minister of Defense. We've known each other for a long time. When he served in Vitebsk, he came to the “Afghan organization to cooperate. Perhaps the first and last case in my memory,” he recalls.
Nikolai Grigorievich always enjoys meeting with his colleagues. They remember the war and those who died from their wounds after it. This was the case today, February 15th. Tradition.
Alexey Terletsky: “A doctor must treat, a teacher must teach, a military man must serve the Fatherland. Then there will be order!”
Alexey Terletsky, Chairman of the Smolensk regional branch of the Russian Union of Veterans of the War in Afghanistan
— In the winter of 1979, the leadership of the USSR introduced a limited contingent of Soviet troops into the democratic republic of Afghanistan, where were you at that moment?
— I was a 24-year-old senior lieutenant, served in the Far East in Chernigovka in the helicopter regiment named after V.I. Lenin, flew the Mi-24. I remember well that December day when we were lined up and told that the Soviet government had decided to help the people of Afghanistan. Literally immediately from our regiment, the first link (4 helicopters) of Nikolai Kharin left for Afghanistan. Already in 1980 there was the first loss in the link, my close friend Sasha Kozinov died.
— When did you become a participant in hostilities?
— After the start of the war, I changed squadrons almost every year. He grew up to major, already served in Syzran. From there in 1987 he was sent to the Republic of Afghanistan, to Shindand. At this time, my wife was in the last month of pregnancy, we were expecting our second child. But I was able to see my daughter Katya only two years later, when our troops left Afghanistan.
— How was your baptism of fire?
— The province of Herat, where the city of Shindand is located, is called the “Valley of Death.” Once upon a time, the British sent an expeditionary force here. The Afghans put everyone there and released only one doctor to tell him that there was no need to come here anymore. Many years later, I ended up here and became deputy commander of a separate helicopter unit at the Shindand airfield.
The baptism of fire was funny: I arrived and was given a UAZ with a soldier who had served in Afghanistan for several days. They said that I would travel with him to the unit’s facilities. The journey was very interesting: a foreign country, a different landscape, terrible dust, birds with unusual crests. They chirped so strangely. I ask the soldier: “What kind of birds are these?” And he says: “Comrade Major, these are not birds, they are shooting at us.” It turns out that I mistook the whistling of bullets for the singing of birds.
— Which combat operation was the most difficult for you?
— There are no easy fights at all. One of the most terrible was “Magistral” - a large-scale air-ground combined arms operation. Have you watched the movie "9th Company"? This is just about the unblockade of the city of Khost, which took place as part of the operation.
But the most difficult thing in the war was waiting for the mail plane. Each had its own tradition associated with letters. The commander, for example, having read the letter, immediately burned it, so that in the event of his death no one would read them. I sat down to read only after I had placed photographs of my family nearby. He sorted the letters by date and collected pieces of paper on which the feet of his newborn daughter were circled. I kept everything, I really didn’t want to think that I wouldn’t return.
— Was it morally difficult to carry out the order and get used to active combat operations?
“Whoever says that the departure to Afghanistan was an order is lying!” As for the difficulties, combat is a given for a professional military man. The charter states that a soldier is obliged to endure all the hardships and deprivations of military service with steadfastness and courage.
For me personally, the hardest thing was to come to terms with the fact that the whole country lived completely differently: they sang songs, the fountains worked, they ate ice cream. And there, far away, some limited contingent was fighting, and it didn’t concern anyone. This was very noticeable when I managed to go on rare business trips.
Another terrible element of war is the inventory of the deceased’s belongings. Horror! It seemed that only today you were sitting at the same table with this man, and now you are writing a letter to his wife and parents, each line is given with such difficulty.
After some time, I received a response from his wife. Officers and warrant officers had deposit books in the Union, something like savings accounts, and the salary was paid into this book. The wife of my deceased colleague wrote that there is money, but it can only be withdrawn six months after the death of the breadwinner, and they have two children and have nothing to live on. I found out that it was possible to make a translation, built the entire part, read out the letter, took off my cap and everyone standing in the ranks threw money into it. Not the country, but us! It was scary!
— How were Soviet troops received by the local population?
— In general, it was necessary to understand what Afghanistan is. They are a freedom-loving, hardworking, multi-tribal people. For many centuries no one could enslave them. Our children run to kindergarten at the age of three, and there, at that age, they tend the herd with a twig. They are all wonderful hunters, good warriors. Of course, they quarrel among themselves and clans, but as soon as a foreigner sets foot on their land, they forget the civil strife and unite in order to fight back. In Afghanistan, we were amazed by the meeting of ancient times with modernity. It used to be that you were driving a car and saw a man plowing the ground with a wooden hoe. You come up, and hanging around his neck is a small Sanyo tape recorder, which we had no idea about at the time.
If you were careful and knew the lines that you shouldn’t cross, it was easy to establish contact. For example, in front of Afghans, one cannot discuss personal life or relationships between men and women. By doing this you are already causing an insult; you can easily be killed. You cannot directly ask how his wife is, but must say: “How is the mother of your children feeling?”
— How was your life after the Afghan war?
— I continued my service. The Afghan trace remained for a long time: many years later I found myself at an exhibition in Moscow, there stood a mannequin in full Mujahid uniform, but even through the glass I could smell it.
After I finished my service, the guys elected me as the head of the Smolensk regional branch of the Russian Union of Veterans of the War in Afghanistan. Now there are 5,000 veterans of that war in Smolensk. We preserve the memory and, as far as possible, help everyone who contacts us.
But, of course, I would like to see more help from the state. For example, we built a monument to Afghan soldiers near Gubernsky entirely with our own money. Now we are trying to help one widow. My husband was in line to expand his living space, but he died, so he was simply removed from the list.
— Do you think the leadership of the USSR acted correctly by sending a limited contingent of troops to Afghanistan?
“I really don’t like it when today’s diplomats, journalists, and military personnel begin to “conduct operations during the Great Patriotic War,” thinking that they understand this. At that time, Afghanistan was extremely necessary. Thanks to the deployment of troops, we did not allow the Americans to deploy missiles near the southern borders of Russia, Afghanistan suspended drug trafficking for a decade. I’m about to say a terrible thing, but in 10 years of active hostilities we have lost about 16,000 people, and in one year in Russia 300,000 die in road accidents, but no one has banned cars yet.
I am proud of my life and service. If there was an opportunity to return to the 80s, I would go to Afghanistan again, because there was a breath of air there, not in bullets, but in communication, in life, where a Person is immediately visible.
“Many people believe that the current situation in Syria is similar to what happened in Afghanistan. What do you think about it?
— The situations are really similar. But in order to judge and discuss something, you need to have all the information. Neither I nor you have it. There is a commander in chief, our President, and he makes decisions.
We must remember that those people who carried out the terrorist attacks in Beslan, in Moscow, in St. Petersburg, went to Syria in order to gain military experience and infiltrate back. Nobody wants war and unnecessary casualties, and Prokhorenko and Filippov did not want to die in Syria. But they are warriors!
And I would look at these judgmental wise guys if they ended up, for example, in a bombed subway car. There have always been plenty of talkers, but a doctor must treat, a teacher must teach, a military man must serve the Fatherland. Then there will be order!
P.S.: It is symbolic that on the eve of the Day of Internationalist Warriors, which received the name of Hero of Russia Roman Filipov, a pilot who died in an unequal battle with terrorists in Syria. Russian troops continue to fight outside their country, protecting allies and fighting international terrorism.
Text: Alexander Pukshansky (Vitebsk), Lina Yakutskaya (Smolensk)
1979 - 86 people
1980 - 1484 people
1981 - 1298 people
1982 - 1948 people
1983 - 1446 people
1984 - 2346 people
1985 - 1868 people
1986 - 1333 people
1987 - 1215 people
1988 - 759 people
1989 - 53 people
DATA OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE USSR Ministry of Defense (newspaper "Pravda" dated August 17, 1989)
War statistics...
Duration of stay military personnel in the limited contingent of Soviet troops (OKSV) in Afghanistan was established for no more than 2 years - for officers and 1.5 years for sergeants and soldiers.
Total for the period from December 25, 1979 to February 15, 1989 in the troops located on the territory of the DRA, 620,000 people completed military service.of them:
- in units of the Soviet Army there are 525,000 people.
- workers and employees of the SA 21,000 people.
- in the border and other units of the KGB of the USSR there are 90,000 people.
- in the formations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR 5000 people
The annual payroll number of SA troops was 80 - 104 thousand military personnel and 5-7 thousand workers and employees.
Total irretrievable human losses (killed, died from wounds and diseases, died in disasters, as a result of incidents and accidents) 14,453 people.
Including:
Soviet Army 13833 people..
KGB 572 people.
Ministry of Internal Affairs 28 people
Goskino, Gosteleradio, Ministry of Construction, etc. 20 peopleAmong the dead and deceased:
military advisers (all ranks) 190 people
generals 4 people
officers 2129 people.
warrant officers 632 people.
soldiers and sergeants 11549 people.
workers and employees of the SA 139 people.Missing and captured: 417 people.
Were released: 119 people.
Of them:
97 people were returned to their homeland.
22 people are in other countries.
Sanitary losses amounted to 469,685 people.
Including:
53,753 people were wounded, shell-shocked, or injured.
415,932 people fell ill
Among them: .
officers and warrant officers 10287 people.
sergeants and soldiers 447,498 people.
workers and employees 11905 people.
Of the 11,654 people discharged from the army due to wounds, injuries and serious illnesses, 10,751 became disabled.
Including:
first group 672 people.
second group 4216 people.
third group 5863 people.Losses of equipment and weapons amounted to:
aircraft 118
helicopters 333
tanks 147
BMP, BMD, BTR 1314
guns and mortars 433
radio stations and command and staff vehicles 1138
engineering machines 510
flatbed vehicles and fuel tankers 11369Brief information about the recipients and the national composition of the dead
“Everyone knows you and is asking for Cherginets!”
Nikolai Cherginets, chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus, came to Afghanistan in June 1984. He worked in Kabul as a senior adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was responsible for the security of the city. “Afghanistan made us look at people’s lives and actions differently, more fundamentally. Therefore, we often had to enter into conflicts even with officials. Especially those who went through Afghanistan, but exaggerate their ego too much,” he says.
In Kabul I was offered a five-room apartment in an old neighborhood. Refused. Basically all Soviet and party leaders lived there. Since I ensured security and wanted to set an example, I moved to a new microdistrict where there was not a single Soviet. There I asked for a two-room apartment. The apartments there are like that - painted concrete floors, iron furniture... When there is a power outage, the water is turned off. Therefore, the bathtub, some tanks, bottles were always filled with water in reserve.
The streets there have no drains. Imagine, a man is selling tomatoes, it’s hot, he gets a bucket of water from the drain, where even dead rats are floating, and “whoosh!” for tomatoes... So they have acquired a marketable appearance.
The meat at the market was covered in flies. Our women fainted from fear. But I had to buy it, soak it in potassium permanganate, and then cook it. Fruits were also washed with laundry soap.
In 1985, my wife and daughter came to visit me in Kabul. My daughter traveled across Kabul to school at the embassy in a minibus, which was covered with bulletproof vests. There were guards on the bus - one or two machine gunners. If everything is fine, then it took 40 minutes to get to school. If shelling started, the route was changed and more time was spent on the road.
In Kabul, the streets were a mess, no one followed any rules: people were running under the hood, cars were honking. To somehow streamline this, 11 traffic lights were installed in the city center and vigilantes were introduced. They let people pass at intersections.
I remember an incident when there was a battle at night on the outskirts of Kabul. I gave the order to go there along seven streets so that there would be no crowds. But the commander led everyone in one column. The tank got stuck and a firefight began. By the time they came to help, 30 people had already been captured and about 80 people had died. I got this commander removed, and in the end he tried to poison me. Afghans are unique specialists in poisons. They can make a poison that will kill you in an hour, or in a month, or in a year. He put poison in my kebab. And no one would have saved if not for chance. At this time, a team from the Leningrad hospital arrived in Kabul to work in the search for an antidote. I was the first one they saved.
After returning home from Afghanistan, many are eager to return. I remember how three of our soldiers were sitting in my office. Suddenly the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR calls me and asks if I would go to Afghanistan again. Like, everyone knows you and is asking for Cherginets. I hung up. And the soldiers say: “Nikolai Ivanovich, take us with you!” Does something magical with the people of Afghanistan.
“They thought it was a helicopter with water, but they dropped leaflets on May 1st.”
Sergei Rozhkov, director of the ArtPanno company, came to Afghanistan in 1988. He says he ended up at war like everyone else. “There was a call, three months of training, and they sent me,” says Sergei. It should be noted that he himself, like many others, wrote a statement that he wanted to go to Afghanistan. “Everyone for the most part reasoned: for the Motherland!” - he notes.
I served in a motorized maneuver group as a soldier. There is such a concept - “on point”. This is a place equipped in the mountains that we built for ourselves. They lived in dugouts and dugouts. I don’t know what a barracks is.
When we arrived there, we had dinner, and the guys who served there asked what we were shooting with.
From a machine gun, a grenade launcher, we say.
That evening they let us shoot with all the types of weapons they had.
I remember when at night we guarded ourselves, took a box of cartridges and grenades, stood at the post and shot, so that, God forbid, someone would not approach you.
Somehow we heard rumors that they wanted to attack us. There were few people, so we pretended to be busy. We made several improvised cannons out of cardboard and moved around actively: someone would enter the tent and immediately come out...
I remember on May 1 we were dropped off between the bandits and the local authorities. Our task was to restrain the attacks of one on the other. We were left with virtually no provisions and no water at all. A helicopter arrived and we thought it was bringing water. And he dropped off a box of leaflets with congratulations on May 1 and wishes for success in the service. But in the end we dug ourselves a well and found water.
It seems to me that at that stage of my life this experience was useful for me. Then I really, as in the old films about the Patriotic War, reasoned: “Well, they will kill me, well, well, I’ll die for my Motherland. I only feel sorry for my parents.” I don't have this feeling now.
“I built two bathhouses and forced the officers to steam twice a week!”
Stanislav Knyazev, Doctor of Law, Professor, Rector of the International University "MITSO", fought from 1984 to 1986 as part of the 201st motorized rifle division, which was based in Kunduz. He was a lieutenant colonel and headed military counterintelligence. The picture that greeted Afghanistan was shelling at the airport. “Fortunately, I was not wounded,” he says after a pause. “Although I fell from a helicopter.”
I remember how I arrived at Kunduz airport just a few minutes ago. The general called me and asked me to report on the situation.
So I just arrived! - I say.
And who will give you time to think during a war?
This is how I met the war in Afghanistan. We were all young and dashing then. They lived in tents, plywood barracks, dugouts...
I remember an incident where a father and son served in different divisions. The father returned to his homeland, but the son remained. They decided to meet and say goodbye. They were driving an armored personnel carrier, and some Afghan shot them. After all, in Afghanistan, as a rule, they rode on the armor itself. This way there was a greater chance of survival. If a person was inside the conveyor, then after the explosion he was left with a mess.
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Typhoid and hepatitis are common in Afghanistan, and hygiene is difficult. To avoid getting sick, you need to change your underwear more often and take a steam bath. Therefore, the first thing I did was build two bathhouses together with the soldiers. Bricks were made from clay, straw and grass, the walls of the bathhouse were made from them, they were covered with oilcloth on top and covered with clay. It took about a month to build one bathhouse. Sometimes they steamed with sheets. You climb onto the shelves, grip one edge of the sheet, and bring on the heat with the other. Then the pilots we knew brought us eucalyptus brooms. This is absolutely a dream! After all, eucalyptus is the only tree that does not harbor insects. He forced his officers to steam twice a week. But then five times fewer people got sick.
Rich locals had swimming pools - they washed there. The poor are in the rivers. Therefore, when an Afghan approached, a change in the microclimate was immediately felt... Such smells...
The first time I returned home, I walked around all the bushes - I had the feeling that a man with a knife or a machine gun was sitting behind them. A lot changed in me after the war. There was a serious overestimation of the very importance of life. You realize how good it is to just live. You begin to notice each leaf and how a ray of sunlight pierces it.
As a participant in the war, I had some benefits, but I never used them. For example, I could go to a sanatorium for free once a year, but there was no time. I was on vacation for ten days in total. If you are responsible for your business, then you are all in it. He cannot be left. It’s like you can’t leave the woman you love for a long time - they’ll seduce you.
“Life in the country is improving, but the number of Afghans and social guarantees is decreasing”
Alexander Metla, director of the Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Internationalist Soldiers "Memory of Afghanistan", came to Afghanistan in 1987. He served as an officer in the city of Gardez. He is convinced that war does not make anyone worse or better. The biggest reward for him is that he survived.
When you remember Afghanistan, you don’t understand the young officers for whom the transition from Brest to Baranovichi is already a tragedy. We didn’t ask questions then, we went wherever they told us.
They ate simple food. In the morning - white fish, in the evening - red fish. But in fact it was sprat in tomato sauce or canned food in oil. Sometimes potatoes were brought from the USSR in jars, peeled in water. It was good potatoes, not a concentrate that was like glue.
There were problems with water. The water there was all contagious for our man. Afghans, when they drank it, everything was fine. And ours have hepatitis or typhus. Imagine a stream flowing - someone is doing laundry there, someone is taking water for tea, someone is washing their feet. Therefore, the water was heavily chlorinated. I ate so much bleach during that time!
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There was a situation where we came under fire. We’re lying on the ground, shells are exploding, falling nearby, and you can’t do anything, you can’t bury yourself in the ground. We lie there and joke: mine arrived, mine didn’t, the captain says: “But mine did.” Look, his hand is broken...
Afghans come to our foundation with problems: from everyday problems to those that we are sometimes unable to solve. Periodically they call and complain, including about benefits for Afghans. It seems that life in the country is improving, but the number of Afghans and social guarantees is decreasing. But, unfortunately, we cannot answer some questions, because they are within the competence of the government and parliament.