Four hundred against twenty three ...
Thirty years ago, the 23 fighter of the GRU special forces of the USSR Ministry of Defense, among whom were Ukrainian guys, fought a long battle with a numerically superior opponent in Afghanistan and won.
In the west of Ukraine, in the city of Lutsk, the Volyn branch of the Union of Writers of Russia successfully operates, led by the famous writer Sergey Bortnikov. His pen belongs to many adventure and historical novels, such as, for example, “The Right to Kill,” “Eastern Mission,” “Avenge and Die,” “Operation The Holy Fool,” “The Way of the Commander,” “Brusilov Treasury,” and many others. Books by Sergei Bortinkov from the series “Military Adventures” are very popular among Russian readers. Six years ago, Bortnikov was approached by the chairman of the Volyn regional organization of the Ukrainian Union of Afghanistan Veterans Grigory Pavlovich and suggested writing a book about fellow countrymen-Volynians who died in that war. Together they discussed the concept of the future publication, and came to the conclusion that the “Afghans” should not look in it as idols, pay-boys, but as they really were — simple Soviet guys who were torn off the machine or “from the plow” - sometimes timid, sometimes reckless ...
Alas, the official material was extremely small. For example, in the book of memory - “Zabut not given” (“Forget not given” - translation from Ukrainian) by Vladislav Nakonechny (eternal memory of him!) Written only a few lines about Alexander Matvienko: “9 was born in January 1965 in Lutsk. He studied at school №18, finished evening school. He worked in the association "Lutskkommunmash". 17 May 1983 was drafted into the army. He served in the Republic of Afghanistan. Junior Sergeant, Section Commander 44633. Killed in battle 6 July 1984 of the year. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Buried in his hometown. "
Sergey Bortnikov knew Alexander Matvienko personally - at one time they worked in the association “Lutskkommunmash”. Only Sergey came there after serving in the Soviet Army and several years of work at the instrument-making plant, and Alexander Matvienko - immediately after graduation. Sasha was accompanied to the army, as was then the case, by the entire work collective. And we waited back in a zinc coffin.
In the same 1984 (to be absolutely precise - 27 of September), the famous Russian writer Alexander Prokhanov published an article “On Afghan Heights” in “Red Star”, in which he left all the special forces heroes, including Matvienko, alive. Later he will write the story of the same name, which will also end on an optimistic note: “The guys looked up. Turntables circled above them ... "
“I didn’t know, I didn’t know the most talented and respected author, that this unsupported optimism,” says Sergey Bortnikov, “will turn out for relatives of dead warriors not only lost health, sleepless nights, but will result in a lump sum. Alexandra's mom - Tamara Fedotovna - believed that her son was still alive, and for a long time she was wound by psychics and old women-healers ...
Of course, you can not blame the famous writer and publicist. It can be seen, he was given not entirely accurate information. It happens…
Only ten years ago, the first more or less accurate reports appeared on the Internet about that legendary fight. Sergeant of a separate 459-oh company of the detachment "Cascade" of the GRU of the USSR Ministry of Defense Andrei Dmitrienko from Alma-Ata on the site afghanistan.ru published memories that I bring here with some abbreviations:
“Exploration reported that some gang crushed a convoy of fuel trucks in 40 kilometers from Kabul. We were ordered to find the cargo and the surviving soldiers. The number of ordinary special forces units - 10 people. But this time they decided to unite the two groups under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Kovalev and strengthen them with experienced fighters: Senior Lieutenant Kushkis, Ensign Chaika and Stroganov.
Performed in the afternoon, light. Helmets and body armor did not take - it was thought that the special forces could not wear such ammunition. Each of the fighters was armed with AKS-74 caliber 5,45 mm, and the officers - AKM caliber 7,62 mm. In addition, we had four PKM - modernized Kalashnikov machine guns. We walked parallel to the Kabul-Ghazni highway. At about 19 hours, the commander decided to "sit down at night." The fighters occupied the top of the Kazazhora hill and began laying out loopholes of basalt stone — round cells half a meter high. In each of these fortifications there were 5 – 6 people. I was lying with Alexei Afanasyev, Tolkyn Bektanov and two Andrei - Moses and Shkolyonov. Kovalev, Kushkis and the radio telegrapher Kalyagin located in 250 meters from the main group.
When it got dark, we decided to smoke. And here from the neighboring skyscrapers we were struck out of five DShK - Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber machine guns, - the Soviet weaponsnicknamed "King of the Mountains" in Afghanistan. Heavy bullets caliber 12,7 mm crumbled basalt. I looked out into the loophole and saw how a wave of dushmans rolled over to our positions. They were a 200 man. Everybody scribbled from Kalash and screamed wildly. We immediately noted: the attackers are too professional. While some make a rapid throw, others beat at us so that they don’t give them a chance to raise their heads ... After each next throw they fall to the ground, simultaneously pulling dark green camouflage jackets on their heads, and thus completely merging with the terrain.
Letting the spirits go a hundred meters, we hit back. When several dozen attackers mowed down, the enemy temporarily moved back. But it didn’t deliver much joy to us - there was very little ammunition left: at that time there was a completely idiotic order, according to which no more than 650 cartridges were assigned to each warrior for one exit. Therefore, Afanasyev began to call for help from Kabul. I was near and heard with my own ears the answer of the guard on duty at the garrison: “Get out yourself!” Only then I understood why special forces soldiers are called disposable ...
Despite this, Afanasyev turned off the radio and loudly shouted: "Guys, hold on, help is already coming ..." The message inspired everyone except me - the only one who knew the terrible truth.
Knowing that spooks reluctantly fight in the daytime, Sergei Chaika decided to pull the time until the morning and offered the spirits negotiations. He took Baryshkin, Rakhimov and Matvienko with him. Having let them in 50 meters, the enemy suddenly opened fire. Alexander Matvienko was killed by the first line, and Misha Baryshkin was seriously injured. As I see him lying on the ground now and frantically screaming: “Guys, help, we are bleeding ...”
The rest immediately opened barrage, thanks to which the Seagull and Rakhimov were able to return. But Baryshkin could not be saved. He lay meters in 150 from our positions and soon calmed down ...
Interestingly, the enemies of the group’s commander Kovalev’s group almost never beat him. Maybe they decided that they would not go anywhere? Such neglect has played a cruel joke with the enemy. At that moment, when our fire was catastrophically weak, Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin unexpectedly struck the rear of the enemy, destroying at least a dozen and a half mojaheds.
Hearing the grenade explosions and the crash of the gunfire, we initially even thought that there was reinforcement. The illusions disappeared when Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin slipped into our cell ...
In response to such arrogance, the spirits began to hit us with hand grenade launchers. From direct hits, the stone shattered into pieces, increasing the already considerable number of wounded. We did not take the dressing bags - we broke our calves into strips and bandaged the wounds ... ”
“The night fight culminated in 4 at one o'clock in the morning, when the enemy rose to the next decisive attack. Without sparing patrons, the spirits loudly yelled: “Shuravi, taslim” - an analogue of the fascist “Rus, surrender!”
We used up almost all the ammunition. The last cartridge for yourself is no one shore. His role in the special forces plays the last grenade. More reliably, you can grab a few enemies with you ...
I had seven rounds, a pair of grenades and a knife; we were about to cast lots — who would finish off the wounded, when suddenly we heard the sound of screws. It turned out that the helicopter pilots of the Alexandria regiment based near Kandahar rushed to the rescue.
"Crocodiles", Mi-24, opened fire with machine guns and drove the enemy away from our positions. Quickly plunging the two killed and 17 wounded comrades, we jumped into the Mi-8 and left the enemy to bite his elbows ... "
But the most interesting Andrei Dmitrienko saved for last:
“Subsequently, the reconnaissance center of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan received information that in that battle we destroyed the 372 militant of the elite special forces Black Stork, commanded by the“ young and promising ”Bin Laden! The agents testified that, furious with numerous losses, Osama, in a rage, crushed his own turban!
In all Afghan villages controlled by spirits, a week-long mourning was declared, and the heads of the Mujahideen vowed to destroy our entire 459 company. And partially fulfilled their promise. September 19 The 1984 of the year before my eyes was shot down by a helicopter in which Boris Kovalev, Alexey Afanasyev and other comrades were ... "
According to the documents, the Black Stork unit, along with Bin Laden, created another infamous terrorist, Gulbuddin Khakmatyar, who personally selected the inveterate thugs, who had received extensive training under the guidance of American and Pakistani instructors, for sabotage activities. Each of the "storks" could perform the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc., owned all types of weapons, hand-to-hand combat techniques and was distinguished by bestial cruelty to Soviet prisoners of war.
When Bortinkov, preparing the material about the dead countryman, got acquainted with these memories, he was alarmed by the incredibly high number of mojaheds destroyed. Most likely, the sergeant (or the one who recorded his confession) was mistaken and confused the number of victims with the total number of enemy fighters. Sergey and the letter of Ensign Seagull mentioned in the text prompted such an idea ...
Nataliya Nataliya, the sister of the deceased stronghold Aleksandra Matvienko, for a long time tried to find at least one of those who stood shoulder to shoulder with her brother in that last battle. And such a person was found! It turned out to be Sergey Chaika. By that time, he received officer shoulder straps and was expecting to be sent to another hot spot, located far beyond the borders of his beloved Motherland. But I nevertheless found time for a response letter, prudently taking the word from the woman to never publish his memories. Unfortunately, that message was the first and the last ... And then there is also a great country, which Sergei swore to keep forever secrets, sunk into oblivion, and all the promises made earlier simply lost their meaning, so Natalia, once again coming from Moscow to Lutsk to her aged mother, after much persuasion, agreed to give the writer the only yellowed letter. Here it is, almost unchanged - only with a touch of proofreading:
“Hello, Natasha!
With Sasha, I served from 4 on April 1984 of the year, that is, from the first day of my stay in the DRA. I was the deputy commander of the first reconnaissance group, he served in the second. For some tasks, our groups were united into one. So it was at that time ...
About 20 hours 5 July 1984, we landed at the Afghan post Chauti 30 kilometers from Kabul with the task: to advance to the area of Mount Kuri-Shara, block the caravan trail, and in the case of the passage of enemy transport - to destroy it.
Sasha was a machine gunner and walked with PKM. He was constantly in the head platoon, where the most experienced scouts were selected.
At a given turn came on time. Equipped loopholes, settled ... Sasha was in the same shelter with Ensign Viktor Stroganov. They covered our rear. The first night was calm. Around the 5 hours of the morning noticed a caravan. The commander of the group Kovalev ordered to watch him. Leus, Matvienko and several other scouts went with me. The caravan turned out to be peaceful. But the group lit up, and decided to report it to Kabul. In such a situation, it was most reasonable to change the area of operations, but, as they say, the authorities know better ...
About twelve o'clock in the afternoon an Afghan boy appeared on the trail - spirits often use children as scouts. To a repeated request for permission to change the deployment - the command was again refused ...
With me was the core of the group, communications and the bulk of the scouts. The shelling began after 18 hours. First, the spirits hit the right of small arms, then went to the assault. The main enemy forces flooded just in the direction of the Stroganov cell, but Sasha stopped them with a machine gun. At that time, Kovalev transmitted by radio station that he had been cut off from the main group, and put the command on me. Sasha just jammed a machine gun, and I ordered to retreat. The guys threw perfumes with grenades and successfully transferred to my cell. However, the enemy suddenly received reinforcements in the form of grenade launchers and mortars. Soon we were surrounded from all sides. The help center did not give - the second half of the company went on alert to the cordon of the downed Mi-8. The helicopter commemorated the dead comrades and refused to take off ...
The fight lasted about 6 hours. The onslaught was such that we did not have time to recharge stores - this was helped by the wounded. And I decided to make a diversion to disperse the enemy's fire ... "
Dmitrienko interpreted this episode as negotiations with the Mujahideen, which is too doubtful. Or maybe it was so? Just a seagull for some reason did not want to tell the whole truth? - Sergey Bortnikov considers. However, back to the letter Chaika:
“I took Matvienko, Rakhimov and Baryshkin with me. During one of the excesses, when it was close to the shelter, both of us were flashed by machine-gun fire. My legs were smashed, Sasha was wounded in the stomach and chest. We, under fire, dragged him into a shelter, injected promedol, dragged it over, tied up wounds with calves - the dressing bags had ended by that time.
At that time, the turntables came up - the army chief of staff raised the link by personal order - and suppressed several enemy firing points from a height. Boris Kovalev bypassed the spirits and knocked them out of the last positions. The station contacted the helicopter pilots. Jan Kuskis begged them to take the wounded. One agreed, asked to designate the landing site, we burned all the flares, but he never sat down ...
In the morning came the armor. But Sasha, without regaining consciousness, died ... Only 6 from 23 of our fighters were able to descend from the mountains on their own, two died ...
For this fight, as reported by intelligence, we destroyed the 67 spirits from almost 400 ... "
There is not a word about the Black Stork in Chaika’s letter. The only mention of the fact that Kushkis heard on the radio station how someone led the rebels in English. Who knows, maybe this will once again confirm the version of Bin Laden’s close ties with the CIA?
Work on the book continues. And in Lutsk they will be grateful to everyone who can still tell about the fight.
In the west of Ukraine, in the city of Lutsk, the Volyn branch of the Union of Writers of Russia successfully operates, led by the famous writer Sergey Bortnikov. His pen belongs to many adventure and historical novels, such as, for example, “The Right to Kill,” “Eastern Mission,” “Avenge and Die,” “Operation The Holy Fool,” “The Way of the Commander,” “Brusilov Treasury,” and many others. Books by Sergei Bortinkov from the series “Military Adventures” are very popular among Russian readers. Six years ago, Bortnikov was approached by the chairman of the Volyn regional organization of the Ukrainian Union of Afghanistan Veterans Grigory Pavlovich and suggested writing a book about fellow countrymen-Volynians who died in that war. Together they discussed the concept of the future publication, and came to the conclusion that the “Afghans” should not look in it as idols, pay-boys, but as they really were — simple Soviet guys who were torn off the machine or “from the plow” - sometimes timid, sometimes reckless ...
Alas, the official material was extremely small. For example, in the book of memory - “Zabut not given” (“Forget not given” - translation from Ukrainian) by Vladislav Nakonechny (eternal memory of him!) Written only a few lines about Alexander Matvienko: “9 was born in January 1965 in Lutsk. He studied at school №18, finished evening school. He worked in the association "Lutskkommunmash". 17 May 1983 was drafted into the army. He served in the Republic of Afghanistan. Junior Sergeant, Section Commander 44633. Killed in battle 6 July 1984 of the year. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Buried in his hometown. "
Alexander Matvienko
Sergey Bortnikov knew Alexander Matvienko personally - at one time they worked in the association “Lutskkommunmash”. Only Sergey came there after serving in the Soviet Army and several years of work at the instrument-making plant, and Alexander Matvienko - immediately after graduation. Sasha was accompanied to the army, as was then the case, by the entire work collective. And we waited back in a zinc coffin.
In the same 1984 (to be absolutely precise - 27 of September), the famous Russian writer Alexander Prokhanov published an article “On Afghan Heights” in “Red Star”, in which he left all the special forces heroes, including Matvienko, alive. Later he will write the story of the same name, which will also end on an optimistic note: “The guys looked up. Turntables circled above them ... "
“I didn’t know, I didn’t know the most talented and respected author, that this unsupported optimism,” says Sergey Bortnikov, “will turn out for relatives of dead warriors not only lost health, sleepless nights, but will result in a lump sum. Alexandra's mom - Tamara Fedotovna - believed that her son was still alive, and for a long time she was wound by psychics and old women-healers ...
Of course, you can not blame the famous writer and publicist. It can be seen, he was given not entirely accurate information. It happens…
Only ten years ago, the first more or less accurate reports appeared on the Internet about that legendary fight. Sergeant of a separate 459-oh company of the detachment "Cascade" of the GRU of the USSR Ministry of Defense Andrei Dmitrienko from Alma-Ata on the site afghanistan.ru published memories that I bring here with some abbreviations:
“Exploration reported that some gang crushed a convoy of fuel trucks in 40 kilometers from Kabul. We were ordered to find the cargo and the surviving soldiers. The number of ordinary special forces units - 10 people. But this time they decided to unite the two groups under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Kovalev and strengthen them with experienced fighters: Senior Lieutenant Kushkis, Ensign Chaika and Stroganov.
Performed in the afternoon, light. Helmets and body armor did not take - it was thought that the special forces could not wear such ammunition. Each of the fighters was armed with AKS-74 caliber 5,45 mm, and the officers - AKM caliber 7,62 mm. In addition, we had four PKM - modernized Kalashnikov machine guns. We walked parallel to the Kabul-Ghazni highway. At about 19 hours, the commander decided to "sit down at night." The fighters occupied the top of the Kazazhora hill and began laying out loopholes of basalt stone — round cells half a meter high. In each of these fortifications there were 5 – 6 people. I was lying with Alexei Afanasyev, Tolkyn Bektanov and two Andrei - Moses and Shkolyonov. Kovalev, Kushkis and the radio telegrapher Kalyagin located in 250 meters from the main group.
When it got dark, we decided to smoke. And here from the neighboring skyscrapers we were struck out of five DShK - Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber machine guns, - the Soviet weaponsnicknamed "King of the Mountains" in Afghanistan. Heavy bullets caliber 12,7 mm crumbled basalt. I looked out into the loophole and saw how a wave of dushmans rolled over to our positions. They were a 200 man. Everybody scribbled from Kalash and screamed wildly. We immediately noted: the attackers are too professional. While some make a rapid throw, others beat at us so that they don’t give them a chance to raise their heads ... After each next throw they fall to the ground, simultaneously pulling dark green camouflage jackets on their heads, and thus completely merging with the terrain.
Letting the spirits go a hundred meters, we hit back. When several dozen attackers mowed down, the enemy temporarily moved back. But it didn’t deliver much joy to us - there was very little ammunition left: at that time there was a completely idiotic order, according to which no more than 650 cartridges were assigned to each warrior for one exit. Therefore, Afanasyev began to call for help from Kabul. I was near and heard with my own ears the answer of the guard on duty at the garrison: “Get out yourself!” Only then I understood why special forces soldiers are called disposable ...
Despite this, Afanasyev turned off the radio and loudly shouted: "Guys, hold on, help is already coming ..." The message inspired everyone except me - the only one who knew the terrible truth.
Knowing that spooks reluctantly fight in the daytime, Sergei Chaika decided to pull the time until the morning and offered the spirits negotiations. He took Baryshkin, Rakhimov and Matvienko with him. Having let them in 50 meters, the enemy suddenly opened fire. Alexander Matvienko was killed by the first line, and Misha Baryshkin was seriously injured. As I see him lying on the ground now and frantically screaming: “Guys, help, we are bleeding ...”
The rest immediately opened barrage, thanks to which the Seagull and Rakhimov were able to return. But Baryshkin could not be saved. He lay meters in 150 from our positions and soon calmed down ...
Interestingly, the enemies of the group’s commander Kovalev’s group almost never beat him. Maybe they decided that they would not go anywhere? Such neglect has played a cruel joke with the enemy. At that moment, when our fire was catastrophically weak, Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin unexpectedly struck the rear of the enemy, destroying at least a dozen and a half mojaheds.
Hearing the grenade explosions and the crash of the gunfire, we initially even thought that there was reinforcement. The illusions disappeared when Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin slipped into our cell ...
In response to such arrogance, the spirits began to hit us with hand grenade launchers. From direct hits, the stone shattered into pieces, increasing the already considerable number of wounded. We did not take the dressing bags - we broke our calves into strips and bandaged the wounds ... ”
“The night fight culminated in 4 at one o'clock in the morning, when the enemy rose to the next decisive attack. Without sparing patrons, the spirits loudly yelled: “Shuravi, taslim” - an analogue of the fascist “Rus, surrender!”
We used up almost all the ammunition. The last cartridge for yourself is no one shore. His role in the special forces plays the last grenade. More reliably, you can grab a few enemies with you ...
I had seven rounds, a pair of grenades and a knife; we were about to cast lots — who would finish off the wounded, when suddenly we heard the sound of screws. It turned out that the helicopter pilots of the Alexandria regiment based near Kandahar rushed to the rescue.
"Crocodiles", Mi-24, opened fire with machine guns and drove the enemy away from our positions. Quickly plunging the two killed and 17 wounded comrades, we jumped into the Mi-8 and left the enemy to bite his elbows ... "
But the most interesting Andrei Dmitrienko saved for last:
“Subsequently, the reconnaissance center of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan received information that in that battle we destroyed the 372 militant of the elite special forces Black Stork, commanded by the“ young and promising ”Bin Laden! The agents testified that, furious with numerous losses, Osama, in a rage, crushed his own turban!
In all Afghan villages controlled by spirits, a week-long mourning was declared, and the heads of the Mujahideen vowed to destroy our entire 459 company. And partially fulfilled their promise. September 19 The 1984 of the year before my eyes was shot down by a helicopter in which Boris Kovalev, Alexey Afanasyev and other comrades were ... "
According to the documents, the Black Stork unit, along with Bin Laden, created another infamous terrorist, Gulbuddin Khakmatyar, who personally selected the inveterate thugs, who had received extensive training under the guidance of American and Pakistani instructors, for sabotage activities. Each of the "storks" could perform the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc., owned all types of weapons, hand-to-hand combat techniques and was distinguished by bestial cruelty to Soviet prisoners of war.
When Bortinkov, preparing the material about the dead countryman, got acquainted with these memories, he was alarmed by the incredibly high number of mojaheds destroyed. Most likely, the sergeant (or the one who recorded his confession) was mistaken and confused the number of victims with the total number of enemy fighters. Sergey and the letter of Ensign Seagull mentioned in the text prompted such an idea ...
Nataliya Nataliya, the sister of the deceased stronghold Aleksandra Matvienko, for a long time tried to find at least one of those who stood shoulder to shoulder with her brother in that last battle. And such a person was found! It turned out to be Sergey Chaika. By that time, he received officer shoulder straps and was expecting to be sent to another hot spot, located far beyond the borders of his beloved Motherland. But I nevertheless found time for a response letter, prudently taking the word from the woman to never publish his memories. Unfortunately, that message was the first and the last ... And then there is also a great country, which Sergei swore to keep forever secrets, sunk into oblivion, and all the promises made earlier simply lost their meaning, so Natalia, once again coming from Moscow to Lutsk to her aged mother, after much persuasion, agreed to give the writer the only yellowed letter. Here it is, almost unchanged - only with a touch of proofreading:
“Hello, Natasha!
With Sasha, I served from 4 on April 1984 of the year, that is, from the first day of my stay in the DRA. I was the deputy commander of the first reconnaissance group, he served in the second. For some tasks, our groups were united into one. So it was at that time ...
About 20 hours 5 July 1984, we landed at the Afghan post Chauti 30 kilometers from Kabul with the task: to advance to the area of Mount Kuri-Shara, block the caravan trail, and in the case of the passage of enemy transport - to destroy it.
Sasha was a machine gunner and walked with PKM. He was constantly in the head platoon, where the most experienced scouts were selected.
At a given turn came on time. Equipped loopholes, settled ... Sasha was in the same shelter with Ensign Viktor Stroganov. They covered our rear. The first night was calm. Around the 5 hours of the morning noticed a caravan. The commander of the group Kovalev ordered to watch him. Leus, Matvienko and several other scouts went with me. The caravan turned out to be peaceful. But the group lit up, and decided to report it to Kabul. In such a situation, it was most reasonable to change the area of operations, but, as they say, the authorities know better ...
About twelve o'clock in the afternoon an Afghan boy appeared on the trail - spirits often use children as scouts. To a repeated request for permission to change the deployment - the command was again refused ...
With me was the core of the group, communications and the bulk of the scouts. The shelling began after 18 hours. First, the spirits hit the right of small arms, then went to the assault. The main enemy forces flooded just in the direction of the Stroganov cell, but Sasha stopped them with a machine gun. At that time, Kovalev transmitted by radio station that he had been cut off from the main group, and put the command on me. Sasha just jammed a machine gun, and I ordered to retreat. The guys threw perfumes with grenades and successfully transferred to my cell. However, the enemy suddenly received reinforcements in the form of grenade launchers and mortars. Soon we were surrounded from all sides. The help center did not give - the second half of the company went on alert to the cordon of the downed Mi-8. The helicopter commemorated the dead comrades and refused to take off ...
The fight lasted about 6 hours. The onslaught was such that we did not have time to recharge stores - this was helped by the wounded. And I decided to make a diversion to disperse the enemy's fire ... "
Dmitrienko interpreted this episode as negotiations with the Mujahideen, which is too doubtful. Or maybe it was so? Just a seagull for some reason did not want to tell the whole truth? - Sergey Bortnikov considers. However, back to the letter Chaika:
“I took Matvienko, Rakhimov and Baryshkin with me. During one of the excesses, when it was close to the shelter, both of us were flashed by machine-gun fire. My legs were smashed, Sasha was wounded in the stomach and chest. We, under fire, dragged him into a shelter, injected promedol, dragged it over, tied up wounds with calves - the dressing bags had ended by that time.
At that time, the turntables came up - the army chief of staff raised the link by personal order - and suppressed several enemy firing points from a height. Boris Kovalev bypassed the spirits and knocked them out of the last positions. The station contacted the helicopter pilots. Jan Kuskis begged them to take the wounded. One agreed, asked to designate the landing site, we burned all the flares, but he never sat down ...
In the morning came the armor. But Sasha, without regaining consciousness, died ... Only 6 from 23 of our fighters were able to descend from the mountains on their own, two died ...
For this fight, as reported by intelligence, we destroyed the 67 spirits from almost 400 ... "
There is not a word about the Black Stork in Chaika’s letter. The only mention of the fact that Kushkis heard on the radio station how someone led the rebels in English. Who knows, maybe this will once again confirm the version of Bin Laden’s close ties with the CIA?
Work on the book continues. And in Lutsk they will be grateful to everyone who can still tell about the fight.
Information