Captain Korolev's last fight
when he died in an unequal battle with mercenaries and a detachment of Afghan Mujahideen
famous warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud in the Hazara gorge
during the seventh Panjshir operation.
30 April 2013 marks twenty nine years since his death,
as old as he was then - a talented commander,
to a loving husband and father, the “batyana-kombat” who created a powerful in a relatively short period of peacetime,
military, professional military unit,
1984 managed in April to adequately resist the cunning opponent.
Then, on April 30, 1984, in an unequal battle with the mercenaries, along with the battalion commander, were killed,
according to various estimates, up to 87 military personnel (among them 18 officers and warrant officers),
the rest were injured to varying degrees of severity.
According to battle veterans, this fight has so far been one of the most dramatic pages of the Afghan war.
About ten years ago, during the search work on collecting materials about graduates of the Alma-Ata Higher Combined-Arms Command School named after Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev, who became Heroes of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and other independent states, I received information about the graduate school 1976, Captain Alexandra Fedorovich Korolev, who died in April 1984, in Afghanistan. Heard excited me, hurt, as they say, for living. I shared the information with members of the Council of graduates and veterans of the Alma-Ata VOK, who were unanimous in their opinion, find out as much as possible about this person and convey the truth about him to our classmates. During the regular traditional collection of graduates and veterans of the school, held in Moscow, then it was decided to start work on collecting materials about Alexander Korolev. Time went by. The material collected was extremely controversial, especially in assessing those responsible for the tragic death of the first battalion. We were not alone in the search for truth. The surviving soldiers, sergeants and officers of the first battalion and command of the 682 motorized rifle regiment were actively working in the same direction. Thanks to their efforts, the tragic events of April 1984, the feat of the heroes and their names, and the honest name of the Kombin commander were rehabilitated in the eyes of the public, became full of drama.
Today, the legendary commander of the first battalion of the 682 of the Umansko-Warsaw Red Banner Order of Kutuzov motorized rifle regiment of the 108 Nevelsky Red Banner Motorized Rifle Division is a true hero of the Afghan war, Captain Alexander Fedorovich Korolev, is known to many in our country and beyond. He and his guardsmen are devoted to articles from newspapers and magazines, documentaries have been made of them, courage lessons are held in schools, and memories of the participants in those tragic events are being prepared for publication. But so, unfortunately, it was not always, there were long years of oblivion.
We, the older generation of officers and veterans of the Armed Forces, need to convey to young people the memory of heroes far from the past, in order for the younger generation to know the real heroes of their country, remember their names and check every step of their lives. Today, on the eve of the twenty-ninth anniversary of the tragic death of the battalion commander Korolev and his guards, we remember him, our graduate, a simple, honest officer and a man who left for immortality so early.
Alexander Fedorovich Korolev was born on January 10 1955 of the year. Kalininskoe Kalininsky district of the Kirghiz SSR.
Sasha grew up in a large working family, from childhood he was very respectful of his father, a working man, and with great love for his mother, who was engaged in raising young children. School teachers and classmates recalled that already at school he was a personality and a real class leader. For honesty and decency, restraint and justice, perseverance in achieving the goal, he rightly enjoyed the respect and love of his classmates. And how could it not respect a versatile young man - an excellent student and an athlete, a member of the volleyball and basketball team of the national team, a prize winner of a dance competition who won a trip to Artek ?! It should be noted that, starting from his youthful years, the main distinctive features of his character were his principles and moral cleanliness, Alexander never crossed his moral principles.
From childhood, he was in love with the sky, in his youthful years he dreamed of becoming a military pilot, but did not pass a medical commission for health reasons due to an injury that he had received at school. In high school I decided to become an officer, over the years this decision only strengthened. So the youthful dream led Alexander after graduating from high school to the walls of the Alma-Ata Higher All-Arms Command School.
Admission was given to Alexander is not easy. The conditions in which the applicants were at the site of the school, passing the entrance exams, were far from the greenhouse. Early rise and morning physical exercises, forced marches, crosses and outfits, coupled with the forty-degree Central Asian heat of the sands of Mui un-Kum and the demands of the commanders, were far from all, mother sons leaving in packs.
Alexander passed all tests with dignity and honor. In July, 1972, he successfully passes competitive entrance exams, according to the results of which he is enrolled as a first-year cadet of a young college who completed the third set of cadets that year. Study identified in 1 a platoon of the 10 company, commanded by senior lieutenant Alexander Borisov at that time.
Korolev's schoolmates recalled that from the first day of their studies, Alexander had managed to win their trust and respect. He valued friendship and opinion of his comrades. With his natural modesty, he was principled in matters of duty and honor, had good leadership qualities, tried to be ahead: in school, service and sports. In the course of theoretical and practical studies, he worked hard and a lot on himself, developing commanding qualities and tactical thinking, so vital to an all-arms officer.
He tried to figure everything out on his own to the last detail, only as a last resort could he turn to school commanders and teachers for clarification, who, by encouraging the independence of the cadet, helped Alexander in every possible way in his work on himself.
A large role in shaping the future of the officer played a platoon commander, Senior Lieutenant Borisov Alexander, the company commander senior lieutenant Jandosov Orynbekov Tasbulatovich, battalion commander Lt. Col. Ovasopyan Garnik Andronikovich, senior lecturer in tactics Major Lipartia Eugene Danilovich, who later became the head of the educational department of the school, a senior lecturer in fire training lieutenant colonel Alexei Valerievich Maximov and, of course, the head of the school, Major General Vlasov Vachakan Rachievich.
Quickly flew years of study. In July, 1976, with a diploma from a higher military educational institution and a great desire to serve, Lieutenant Alexander Korolev was sent to the command of one of the military units of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, where he served consistently as a commander of a motorized rifle platoon and company for five years.
During these years, there are two significant events in the life of Alexander: the marriage of his girlfriend Natalia, with whom he was friends from school, and the birth of his son Dmitry, whom Alexander loved to the point of insanity.
... And he gave himself to the service without a trace, as they say, spent and spent the night at work, although he never complained about difficulties at home - he always tried to be smiling and cheerful. He was very demanding of himself and his subordinates, principled in matters of military training and daily service, loved and respected the soldiers, highly appreciated friendship and knew how to be friends. So, Alexander Korolev was remembered by his classmates at school, commanders and teachers, comrades in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.
In the autumn of 1981, after replacing GSVG, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Korolev was sent to serve in the Turkestan Military District, where until March 1984 he served in the positions of Chief of Staff and Commander of the first motorized rifle battalion of the 365 th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 4 guards and the man’s rifle of the X-Men X-Menx Rifle Regiment of the XNUMX-X Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the XNUMX-176 stationed in Termez.
From the memoirs of the former deputy commander of the second motorized rifle company for the political part of the first battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment of the 108 th motorized rifle division Alexander Vyacheslavovich Ruzhin: “During one of my business trips to Termez in 1983, I was offered to stay in the unit that I That should have come in full force in Afghanistan. It was then that Captain Alexander Korolev, an 29-year-old infantry infantry commander, met me. The strongest spirit of a man was. Immediately conquered his charisma and surprisingly attentive attitude towards each subordinate. As an officer, his independence struck me. He never ran to the management for a hint, he often made the decision himself. Respected him and went to him for the advice of the commanders of other battalions, although they were older than him in age and rank. Korolev was with a solid moral core inside. He loved his battalion and we answered him the same. Out of respect for her commander, the rumor of the soldiers called the battalion "Royal." He embodied the best traditions of the Russian and Soviet officers. Being close to him is to be first! Serving under the command of Korolev was considered an honor! ”.
The Afghan war continued. Combinations and military units of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan conducted large-scale military operations.
Participants in the Afghan events recalled that: “By the beginning of 1984, the command of the 40 Army was aware of the urgent need for a permanent military presence of our troops in the Panjshir Gorge - the main transport artery of Ahmad Shahud Masoud.
The Panjsher operations, carried out by that time against his formations, showed that for a partial control of the Panjshir gorge, a large military unit should be relocated to it. Such a military unit was the 1984 th motorized rifle regiment of the 682 th motorized rifle division formed in March 108 in Termez, later redeployed by the command of the 40 all-arms army from the city of Bagram to the place of the abandoned village of Ruh located on a small mountain plate surrounded by all sides by mountains. The task of the regiment was to block the enemy forces and prevent him from entering the Kabul-Hairatan highway.
The 682 Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 108 Motorized Rifle Division entered the history The Armed Forces of the USSR and the Afghan war, as a military unit, which from the very beginning of its redeployment in the settlement of Ruha, in a very difficult tactical position. The regiment actually lived in a stone bag and the conditions of its existence were extremely harsh. In essence, the perimeter of the military camp of the regiment was the front line of defense. The regiment defended its own point of deployment, being in a state of incessant fire contact with the enemy. The loss of the 682 motorized rifle regiment in this situation will be the most ambitious among the regiments and brigades of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. "
In accordance with the decision adopted by the command of the 40th combined arms army, in March 1984, the 285th stationed in Bagram was withdrawn from Afghanistan to Termez tank regiment of the 108th motorized rifle division, where its reformation began in the 682nd motorized rifle regiment. The commander of the regiment was appointed former commander of the tank regiment, Lt. Col. Pyotr Romanovich Suman, who proved himself well in the course of hostilities.
The main combat backbone of the newly created 682 th motorized rifle regiment consisted of three motorized rifle battalions of the 365 th guards motorized rifle regiment of the 4 th guards motorized rifle division deployed in the city of Termez. As noted above, the commander of the first battalion was Captain Alexander Korolev. The line battalions were equipped with military personnel, weapons and military equipment. The introduction of three motorized rifle battalions and the complete re-formation of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment ended on March 23 1984 in Bagram, in the former military town of the 285 th tank regiment. Thus, the 682 th Umansko-Warsaw Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Motor Rifle Regiment was formed.
The command of the 40 Army General, of course, understood that one month by military standards was not enough to achieve combat coordination in units and full adaptation of military personnel to the conditions of mountainous terrain, therefore, tried to speed up the training of personnel for the upcoming hostilities, which began to wait for day to day. He was preparing his battalion for one of the largest operations in the Panjshir Gorge for the entire Afghan war and the commander of the first battalion, Captain Alexander Korolev, preparing very seriously, without any simplifications or discounts.
From the memoirs of the former deputy commander of the second motorized rifle company for the political part of the first battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment of the 108 th motorized rifle division Alexander Vyacheslavovich Ruzhin: “From Bagram, where we temporarily stationed, the Panjsher Mountains looked very impressive. Combat Korolev on divorces in the mornings, pointing to the distant, indescribable beauty of the snowy peaks, entered his soldiers and officers like a man: “Guardsmen, Panjshir is waiting for us!”
Preparations for the seizure of the gorge was accelerated. Combat coordination, the first ambush, the first combing villages, the first fighting and the first casualties ...
On April 8, during the implementation of intelligence in Naudek, near Bagram airport, our battalion met face to face with the enemy. Fighting went with varying success. The Mujahideen skillfully used the terrain, but our guys have already learned how to “read and understand” the East. Long training sweaty everyday life began to give a positive result. ... By the evening the gang was destroyed, but we also suffered the first combat losses. The entire 40-i army was preparing for a large-scale operation for Panjshir, but the “princes” were to go ahead of the whole group of forces. The First Guards Battalion was the vanguard of the 108 Division and took on itself the worst for the entire Afghan campaign and the meanest blow. ”
The seventh Panjshir operation began on April 19 of the year 1984, the operation was headed by First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Leonidovich Sokolov. It was attended by about eleven thousand Soviet and more than two and a half thousand Afghan soldiers. In total, more than thirty battalions were involved in the operation. After the main forces of the Ahmad Shah Massoud formations were driven out of the Panjshir Gorge, the Soviet troops began to comb the adjacent areas.
... 28 April 1984, the first battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment under the command of captain Alexander Korolev returned to the base after participating in battles. The battalion was exhausted by transitions and previous battles, in order to restore its fighting efficiency, people needed rest. The first battalion company was ordered to intervene on the protection of the regimental headquarters, although the regimental headquarters were securely guarded. Suddenly, by the decision of the division commander, Major-General Viktor Logvinov, the first battalion (without one company) with attached units (about 220 people in total) was sent to comb the valley of the Khazara River. The battalion was assigned a combat mission - to make a foot march in a given area along a mountainous section along the Panjshir Gorge and to seize warehouses with weapons and ammunition of Ahmad Shah Massoud formations, information about which was given the day before by informants.
When the 28 of April 1984 of the battalion approached the entrance to the valley, the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Suman ordered the units to occupy the dominant heights, the order of the regiment commander was executed. The main forces of the battalion advanced along the valley, the third company of Captain Alexander Vasilyevich Kirsanov was walking through the mountains, taking dominant heights and covering the battalion. Due to the fact that this company had to overcome serious obstacles, the pace of advance was low. By the end of April 28, Captain Alexander Korolev’s detachment approached the Khazar gorge and in the morning of April 29 entered it. During the day, the battalion advanced deep into the gorge, and in the evening, covering the battalion, the third company of Captain Kirsanov, descended from a height of 1000 meters to 400 meters for the night, as at night it was rather cold in the mountains and the soldiers' jackets were blown through the wind. At about eight o'clock in the morning of April 30, the commander of the covering company, Captain Kirsanov, received an order from the battalion commander, Captain Korolev, to arrive at the location of the main forces of the battalion to receive a new combat mission.
When officers of the company of captain Kirsanov descended into the valley, they learned that the battalion did not have time to accomplish the combat mission by the deadline indicated by the command, therefore an order was received to go further along the Khazar gorge without side cover, which, by order of the command, would have to be provided by combat helicopters Mi-24 . The commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Suman tried to challenge the order of the commander of the division, for which he was removed from the leadership of the battalion, which took over Major-General Viktor Logvinov, who promised to provide cover for the battalion by helicopters. He threatened the battalion commander with a tribunal in the event of non-compliance with his order, the absurdity of which was clear to all, even to non-gunned down lieutenants. But the battalion commander Alexander Korolev brought the order of the division commander to his subordinates. After receiving a new combat mission in the battalion, some tension immediately arose.
At about ten o'clock in the morning 30 on April, the battalion (without one company) on foot began advancing into the Khazar gorge without taking dominant heights and not having air cover, as at the time the battalion began to advance, the Mi-24 promised for some reason and did not appear. Scouts and sappers acted ahead, followed by the battalion commander with the control group and a platoon of grenade launchers, followed by the third company of Captain Kirsanov, followed by the mortar battery and other forces of the battalion, including the second company of Lieutenant Sergey Nikolaevich Kurdyuk. The Afghan battalion of Tsarandoy, numbering up to forty men, closed the column.
Before noon, the servicemen of the battalion, advancing along the gorge and not encountering the enemy for quite a long time, were unexpectedly ambushed by the Mujahideen. When the battalion, passing the village of Meliva, was drawn into the narrow mouth of the gorge, which was a stone bag, the Mujahideen suddenly opened a dagger crossfire. Being surrounded, the battalion entered into a fierce battle with the superior forces of the enemy, who occupied advantageous positions on the heights, and, during the battle, began to suffer terrible losses.
The situation immediately became critical when, in the first minutes of the battle, the battalion commander captain Alexander Korolev was wounded and some officers (snipers of the Mujahideen beat out signalers and officers in the first place). Captain Alexander Korolev, being wounded, continued to lead the battle, he was contacted by the means of communication with the regimental commander and reported to him that the battalion was ambushed, leading the battle and the battalion needed help. Having received the second wound, captain Alexander Korolev died. According to the participant of this battle, the former deputy commander of the first battalion in the political unit, Sergei Gryadnova, a big omission in the construction of the battle formation was that the mortar battery, during the advancement of the battalion, was behind. The mortar men did not even have time to advance behind the ledge from which this plateau began. The battery commander, Captain Malygin, was unable to provide fire support for the battalion. Under fire from the Mujahideen, the soldiers of the battery lay down, and some of them used the base plates as shields, covering them from bullets.
Having learned about the difficult situation the battalion was in, the regiment commander Lt. Col. Peter Suman began to take urgent measures to provide the necessary assistance and sent additional regiment units to help the first battalion. However, in the mountains it was not easy. At the request of the division commander, Major General Viktor Logvinov, attacks were carried out by combat helicopters and aviation Su-25, but they did not cause much damage to the Mujahideen, since they, during air raids, took refuge in the caves, and then continued to fire with high efficiency at the soldiers of the battalion, who were on an open plateau. When the helicopters fired, some people in black tracksuits were seen running across the rocks.
Prior to the approach of the additional forces of the regiment to the gorge Hazara, the battalion soldiers occupied the perimeter defense and fired until help came. The battle lasted about seven hours, and by two in the afternoon it broke up into separate episodes. Some mojaheds descended from the mountains and fired at soldiers of the first battalion from close range, sometimes it came to hand-to-hand combat. There are cases when our soldiers undermined themselves and the mojaheds surrounding them with grenades. By the evening, when it was getting dark, the reconnaissance company of the regiment Valery Grinchak arrived. The intensity of shooting by that time had already noticeably decreased, and then the shooting practically ceased. By the time the enemy interrupted the fire contact and withdrew, the battalion had completely lost its combat capability ... Over the next few days, the evacuation of the dead and wounded with the participation of other units of the 682 motorized rifle regiment took place.
From the memoirs of 30 April 1984’s participant in the event, Yury Vasyukov, former communications chief of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment, providing talks between the commanders of the division, the regiment and the battalion: “On the eve of the Afghan informants gave information (as it turned out to be false) that one of the mountain peaks there are enemy warehouses with weapons. In this regard, it was necessary, in military terms, "to realize the intelligence," that is, to verify the information. They sent the 2 th battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment. A little later another urgent message arrived, also, as it turned out later, a false one - that we should check the Hazara gorge. There and sent 1-th battalion of Captain Alexander Korolev ... ".
From the memoirs of a participant in the 30 events of April 1984 of the year, the former private battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment of the 108 th motorized rifle division Alexander Popletany: “On the morning of April 30, the battalion commander Korolyov set us a combat mission. He explained that there would be no cover from the mountains. We had to follow the gorge. They knew that the battalion commander did not want to go without cover, but the command ordered to go, promising that we would be supported by helicopters from the air. The battalion was divided into two groups. Korolev with the first group went on the left side, and the second company - on the right ... ".
From the memoirs of a participant in the 30 events of April 1984 of the year Yury Vasyukov, the former communications chief of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment providing talks between the commanders of the division, the regiment and the battalion: “... As soon as the battalion entered the gorge, the regiment commander Lieutenant Colonel Peter Suman ordered Alexander Korolev to stop, provide all the food and then occupy the heights. But the division commander, Major-General Viktor Logvinov, demanded that the battalion, without taking up heights, move further along the gorge. Combat Alexander Korolev refused, the regimental commander Peter Suman fully supported him. Then the division commander "climbed into the net" and told the battalion commander that he was discharging the regiment commander Pyotr Suman from the battalion leadership, and ordered to go on without taking heights. Combat Alexander Korolev refused to do this, then the division commander, Major-General Viktor Logvinov threatened him with a tribunal, promising that he would send a couple of helicopter links to cover ... ”
From the memoirs of a participant in the 30 events on April 1984 of the year, the former first battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment of the 108 th motorized rifle division of Alexander Popletany: “We got under heavy crossfire of small arms by lunchtime: it turned out to be an ambush. Two hours later, helicopters arrived. They fired at the scenes, but they were so close that carved fragments of stones flew at us. The mercenaries hit the helicopters from large-caliber machine guns and, therefore, they immediately flew away. After lunch, it was reported that the battalion commander Alexander Korolev was wounded. Nevertheless, he still continued to lead the battle. Our guys were skillfully shot by snipers. And by nightfall, spooks and other people of European nationality, dressed in sports suits, came down to us and began to throw grenades at us. They collected weapons, finished off the wounded. I was wounded in the left leg, but they did not notice me and went to the mountains ... ”.
From the memoirs of a participant in the 30 events of April 1984 of the year, former deputy commander of the first battalion for the political part of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment of the 108 th motorized rifle division Sergey Gryadnova: “Why did you have to leave the first company of our battalion to guard the headquarters? After all, the headquarters were already well guarded. But so ordered the division commander, Major-General V.Logvinov. On April 29, we entered with two companies from the side of the valley, to which the Hazara gorge adjoined. I led a third company in the mountains, and Korolev with a second company went below. With us were sappers, a mortar platoon, as well as a battalion of Afghans - "green." It was hard for me and my guys to walk, because we moved in the mountains, and they are too steep. Therefore, we were a little behind the Queen, but at night we reached the indicated line. Why did they go to the gorge Hazara? It was said that there is a powerful warehouse of weapons and ammunition. Nobody warned that there could be an ambush. But the fighters of the Greens already knew about this from somewhere. At night, Korolev contacted me on the radio and said that the commander of the “greens” was worried - there was a panic among his fighters, and they didn’t want to go further, as they knew that there would be an ambush ahead. In the morning Korolev contacted me and gave the order to descend the mountains to him. So I learned that the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel P.Suman was removed from the management of our battalion, and General A.Logvinov, threatening the tribunal and violating all the rules of engagement, forced me and my company to go down, he took over the command of this operation. General A.Logvinov wanted us to reach the border with Pakistan as soon as possible and close it. Apparently, he didn’t even want to think about losses and ambush. ”
From the memoirs of a participant in the 30 events on April 1984 of the year, the former private battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment of the 108 th motorized rifle division of Nikolai Knyazev: “30 on April 1984 of the first platoon of the 2 th company of the 1 th battalion of the 682 human race of the 2 battalion of the 3 battalion of the XNUMX battalion of the XNUMX motorized rifle division served, was on the protection of the KP regiment in Barak, in the valley Panjsher. Our battalion consisting of an incomplete XNUMX of the company, the XNUMX of the company and platoons - mortar, grenade launcher and others, was further along Panjshir, in the Hazara gorge along the bank. In the daytime, an incomprehensible vigor began on the command post, officers ran, and the regiment commander passing by us, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Suman, said that the battalion was squeezed by the spirits and there are wounded.
Soon, our platoon lieutenant Garnik Arutyunov ordered that a stretcher be loaded onto the armor. We moved up the gorge, crossed the Panjshir and came out to Hazar. They waited until dusk and walked on. We were about ten soldiers and platoon. After some time, the scouts sent to that area in front of us came out to meet us, carrying several bodies. It seems there was the body of the battalion commander Captain Alexander Korolev. All somehow immediately drooped.
... Imagine an open area of about one hundred by one hundred meters. In the middle of the river flows. On the right is a flat ground, small terraces and skyscrapers, 200-300 meters, it seems. To the left of the river the trail is also in the open, on one side is a sheer cliff wall, on the other - a cliff to the river. When the battalion split - one group was on the right, the other along the path on the left bank, dagger fire was opened from the right bank high-rise. Covered all at once, both groups. For the spirits who sat down on a high-rise, the guys were in full view. It was April 30 in the morning. We came there on the night of 1 on May 2.
I clearly remembered the terrible picture - five or six guys lay side by side in a natural shelter on terraces. They came under a queue of DShK, or when the spirits began throwing grenades at the children, one fell for their parapet. So they lay where their death overtook, all together.
Suddenly we heard faint moans a little away from the playground, at the rock-bed. Carefully went to the sound and stumbled upon Alexander, a soldier of the first battalion. His leg was shot, hung on the rags of muscles. Brought him out. He survived. He was sick of blood loss from consciousness. All night we crawled along this platform, on the other side the guys gathered those who were covered on the open path.
On the morning of May 2, we returned to the regiment's armored group. The bodies of those killed lay on a stony little beach in several rows ... about fifty people ... and a few were taken out before that. So, according to my estimates, at least sixty people died. ... I saw all this with my own eyes ... ”
Then there will be other circumstances. Snipers and mercenaries fired only at Soviet soldiers, not touching the "green". Many of our soldiers were killed in the back, so, on the sly, "green" fired at them. Later, the deputy commander of the first battalion for political affairs, Captain Sergey Gryadinov, will be told that a special detachment of French mercenaries, numbering up to four hundred people, who had been waiting for our soldiers for several days and thoroughly prepared the ambush site, gouged caves to hide from the mountains, fought against them in that battle. from helicopters.
Later there will be bitter discoveries. As it turned out, at the time when the first battalion was ambushed, the second battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment was nearby, to earn the first battalion, the second needed only to cross the mountain. However, there is information that the battalion commander of the second battalion for some reason handed over to the regimental headquarters the inaccurate coordinates of the location of his battalion and did not go to the aid of the leading unequal battle commander of the first battalion.
According to the recollections of the participants of those events, the next morning, after the Korolev battalion was ambushed and the guys, following the order, were killed, representatives of the military counterintelligence seized battle maps and regimental hardware magazines. An investigation into the causes of the death of the battalion and the search for the perpetrators began. There were officials accusing the death of the battalion, before the decision of the court, the deceased battalion commander and the regiment commander. Korolev was accused of arrogance, that the reconnaissance and guard of the battalion were poorly organized.
There is also some information about the trial of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Suman and Major General Viktor Logvinov, which was held in Tashkent in the hall of the military court of the Turkestan Military District. Thanks to the objective testimony of the chief of communications of the 682 motorized rifle regiment, Yuri Vasyukov, who confirmed the transfer of the oral order of the division commander, who assumed command of the first battalion during the operation in the Khazar gorge 30 on April 1984, the dismissal of the prevailing heights, charges from the former commander of the army, the Nazi colonel of the army, Sumana were shot. However, following the results of the battle in the gorge of Khazar, he was demoted in a military position and transferred for further service in the Belarusian Military District. Major-General Viktor Logvinov, the division commander, was also removed from his post.
The exact losses of the first battalion of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment in the Khazar gorge are unknown. According to various estimates, the Soviet military personnel, including the battalion commander Captain Korolev, were killed in battle before 87. Perhaps it was the biggest casualties of the Soviet Army units in one battle for the entire Afghan war. Colonel-General Vladimir A. Merimsky, the then deputy head of the Operational Group of the USSR Ministry of Defense in Afghanistan, noted in his memoirs: “During my stay in Afghanistan, I never met a battalion that would have suffered such losses as a result of battlefield. "
Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, captain Alexander Korolev, soldiers, sergeants and officers of the battalion who heroically died in battle on April 30 of 1984, were awarded the Order of the Red Star (posthumously).
Life goes on. Five years ago, 30 on April 2008, in the town of Balabanovo, Kaluga Region, at the initiative of the Odessa Regional and Crimean Republican Unions of Afghanistan War Veterans, under the auspices of the veteran organization “Combat Brotherhood” of the Kaluga Region, the monument-memorial “Combat Korolev” was opened at the tomb of the legendary battalion commander ", Created by the famous Moscow sculptor Andrei Klykov with funds raised by veterans of the first motorized rifle battalion of the 682 of the Umansko-Warsaw Red Banner Order of the Kutuzov Motostra kovogo regiment 108-th Motorized Rifle Division of the Red Nevel.
At the opening of the monument, along with veterans of the Afghan war, attended by Korolev Natalia Valentinovna - the wife of the deceased battalion commander Captain Alexander Korolev and his son - Korolev Dmitry Alexandrovich.
30 April 2013 marks twenty nine years since the death of the first battalion. The memory of the legendary combat and his fighters alive. She is alive, thanks to the veterans of the 682 th motorized rifle regiment, such as Pyotr Romanovich Suman, Yury Mikhailovich Vasyukov, Sergey Vyacheslavovich Gryudinov, Alexander Vyacheslavovich Ruzhin, Sergey Vladimirovich Kunitsyn, Rustem Tokhtarovich Ametov, Nikolai Nikolaevich Knyazev, Vladimir Vladimirovich Alexandrov Alexandrov. , not indifferent to the memory of the dead and the fate of the veterans of the Afghan war.
In recent years, the name of Captain Alexander Korolev, the names of many other dead officers and soldiers of the first battalion are called schools and streets of the cities of our country and the near abroad. The initiative group of veterans continues to be actively engaged in the restoration of the memory of each fighter of the first battalion, all the collected materials will be included in the book about the “Royal Battalion”, which Alexander Vyacheslavovich Ruzhin is writing.
The veterans of the first battalion consider their main task to resurrect the true memory of the death of their colleagues and to achieve the decision of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on conferring the title Hero of the Russian Federation to Alexander Korolev (posthumously).
Alumni and veterans of the Alma-Ata Higher Combined-Arms Command School named after Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev remember and cherish memories of Alexander Korolev. A book devoted to the 45 anniversary of the founding of the school is being prepared for publication. The name of Alexander Korolev will take a worthy place there.
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