Afghanistan Palace. Time "h" for country "a"

Operation Agat was prepared and carried out by the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Defense. The assault group was dressed in Afghan uniforms without insignia. On the eve of the attack, Amin and his guests were previously poisoned by a KGB agent, the chief cook of the presidential palace, and they even temporarily lost consciousness. The assault on Amin's palace began on the evening of December 27. A mine exploded in a manhole in a sewer system knocked out all telephone communications in Kabul. The assault forces included snipers, armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft guns were operating around the palace. Stormtroopers burst into the building and cleared every floor. Amin did not believe until recently that he was attacked by Soviet “shuravi”. As a result of the assault, Amin was killed and most of his guards were captured. In parallel with the palace, our troops captured the General Staff of the Afghan Army and other objects of strategic importance during the violent overthrow of the government. The new leader of the country, Babrak Karmal, was brought to Kabul, and the Soviet Union officially announced that Moscow’s protege had taken power due to the massive discontent of the Afghan people with the policies pursued by the late Amin.

The assassination of the leader of Afghanistan marked the beginning of the invasion of Soviet troops into the territory of this country. After this event, a ten-year undeclared war began, which cost the Soviet Union thousands of soldier and officer lives.

Change pieces on the political chessboard

The USSR always paid great attention to supporting friendly regimes in foreign countries. And if the political situation there did not meet the interests of the party and government, then they did not hesitate to edit it. Afghanistan is no exception. In the late 1970s, as a result of a coup in this country, Moscow’s protégé, the leader of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, Nur Taraki, was killed, and Hafizullah Amin, disliked by the USSR, came to power. Taraki's supporters began to be oppressed and persecuted, which the leadership of the Soviet Union did not like. Information about Amin’s cooperation with US intelligence services strengthened the decision to eliminate the new Afghan leader and replace him with one more loyal to the USSR.

You asked for it

In part, Amin himself brought his own end closer. He repeatedly asked the USSR for military assistance. And under the pretext of strengthening “brotherly assistance” to the people of friendly Afghanistan, the Soviet Union in December 1979 sent a so-called “Muslim battalion” to this country, which actually consisted of GRU officers. The beginning of the operation coincided with the introduction of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Along with military personnel and equipment, Kremlin protege Babrak Karmal and several of his supporters were also brought to Bagram. The “Muslim battalion” became part of the Amin palace security brigade, which greatly simplified the task of eliminating the unwanted ruler. In a short time, Soviet military personnel in Kabul established complete control over strategically important objects.

Operation Agate

Operation Agat was prepared and carried out by the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Defense. The assault group was dressed in Afghan uniforms without insignia. On the eve of the attack, Amin and his guests were poisoned by a KGB agent, the chief cook of the presidential palace, and they even lost consciousness for a while. The assault on the Taj Beg Palace began on the evening of December 27. A mine exploded in a manhole in a sewer system knocked out all telephone communications in Kabul. The assault forces included snipers and armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft guns were operating around the palace. Stormtroopers burst into the building and cleared every floor. Amin did not believe until recently that he was attacked by the Soviet Shuravi. As a result of the attack, Amin was killed and most of his guards were captured. In parallel with the palace, our troops captured the General Staff of the Afghan Army and other objects of strategic importance during the violent overthrow of the government. The new leader of the country, Babrak Karmal, was brought to Kabul, and the USSR officially announced that the latter had taken power due to the massive discontent of the Afghan people with the policies pursued by the late Amin.

Consequences of the assault

As a result of the attack, more than 100 people from among the attackers on the Taj Beg Palace were killed. In addition to Amin, his two sons and about 200 presidential guards were killed. The West regarded this operation as the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, and subsequently, with all its might, actively assisted the Mujahideen, who fought with limited troops who had been in the country for 10 years. Several participants in the assault received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union; group commander Grigory Boyarinov received the title posthumously. In total, about 700 employees of the KGB and the USSR Ministry of Defense were awarded for "Agat".

On December 27, 1979, Amin's palace near Kabul was stormed. As a result of a special operation code-named “Storm-333,” the President of Afghanistan, Hafizullah Amin, was eliminated. This operation, the active phase of which lasted about 1 hour, became the prologue to the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and marked the beginning of a series of local conflicts with the participation of our country at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.

About 650 people took part in the operation to seize Amin's residence. The Muslim battalion - 520 people, the Airborne Forces company - 87 people and two special forces groups of the KGB of the USSR "Grom" (24 people) and "Zenith" (30 people), which were supposed to directly capture the palace. The attackers were dressed in Afghan uniforms with white armbands; the friend-foe identification password was the shout “Yasha - Misha.”

The Muslim battalion was created from soldiers and officers from Central Asia (Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens). During the selection, special attention was paid to physical training, only those who had served for half a year or a year were involved, the principle was voluntariness, but if there were not enough specialists, a good military expert could be enrolled in the detachment without his consent. The detachment, which, due to its size, was called a battalion, consisted of 4 companies. The first company received the BMP-1, the second and third BTR-60pb, the fourth company was an armament company, it included an AGS-17 platoon (which had just appeared in the troops), a platoon of Lynx infantry jet flamethrowers and a platoon of sappers. The detachment had all the relevant rear units: platoons of automotive and software support, communications, and an additional platoon of Shilka self-propelled guns was assigned to the battalion. An interpreter was assigned to each company, but, given the national composition, their services were almost never used; all Tajiks, half of the Uzbeks and some of the Turkmen knew Farsi, one of the main languages ​​of Afghanistan. Curiosity came up with only a vacancy for an anti-aircraft gunner officer; it was not possible to find the necessary person of the required nationality, and the dark-haired Russian captain Pautov was hired for this position, who, when silent, did not stand out in the crowd. The detachment was headed by Major Kh. Khalbaev.

The detachment received Afghan uniforms and documents and arrived in Afghanistan at the Bagram base in August 1979. Officially, the battalion was supposed to protect the President of the DRA Hafizullah Amin, but in fact the battalion was used in exactly the opposite way. To call a spade a spade, the leadership of the USSR immediately prepared a battalion to carry out a coup in Afghanistan with the establishment of a pro-Soviet government in power. Before this, Afghanistan had already asked for military assistance and turned to both the USSR and the USA; the leadership of the USSR decided to go its own way, to provide assistance only after the removal of the current leader of the country.

To implement the plan, an airborne company and two special forces detachments were redeployed to Bagram, the formation of which was carried out by the KGB of the USSR. The Zenit detachment consisted of 24 people from Special Group A, which later became known as the Alpha Group. The “Grom” detachment consisted of 30 officers from the special reserve of the KGB of the USSR. All half-divisions participating in the assault were armed with the most modern weapons at that time. Thus, the capture of Amin’s palace became the first time the RPG-18 “Fly” was used. This grenade launcher has become widely known, and now the image of a soldier with a “Fly” is firmly associated in the minds of the participants in the first and second Chechen wars.

Taking Amin's palace was not an easy task. An infantry brigade consisting of 3 battalions was deployed around the palace; the palace's security was additionally reinforced by a tank battalion and an anti-aircraft regiment, which was armed with 12 100-mm cannons and a large number of DShK machine guns, given that the palace stood on a hill, this artillery could become an insurmountable obstacle for the attackers. A company of Amin’s personal guard, largely consisting of his relatives, was located directly in the palace. Thus, the forces of the defenders were many times greater than the forces of the attackers.

Operation plan

The operation plan included the capture of the palace and the destruction of the air defense systems of the anti-aircraft regiment. The remaining units were supposed to be blocked in military camps. To destroy air defense systems, 2 AGS-17 crews and an engineering platoon were allocated. The grenade launchers were supposed to cut off the anti-aircraft gunners from the air defense systems located in the positions, at which time the engineering platoon was supposed to detonate them.

A separate group was supposed to capture 3 tanks dug in near the palace. 12 people were allocated for this purpose. Two snipers who were supposed to remove the guards from the tanks, 2 machine gunners, tank crews. They were supposed to drive a GAZ-66 car past the positions of the 3rd Security Battalion and capture the tanks.

The 2nd and 3rd companies of the Muslim battalion and the company of paratroopers attached to them were supposed to block the location of the battalions of the security brigade and the tank regiment. To storm the palace, the first company was brought in, which, on its infantry fighting vehicles, was supposed to bring the Thunder and Zenit assault detachments to the palace.

Storm

The assault on the palace was carried out in accordance with the operation plan; the active phase of the battle lasted about an hour, although the shooting did not stop for another day; some soldiers and officers of the infantry brigade did not want to surrender and fought their way into the mountains. Afghan losses amounted to about 200 people killed, including Amin and his son, about 1,700 military personnel surrendered. Our losses amounted to 19 people, 5 from the KGB assault groups, another 5 were lost by paratroopers, 9 people were lost by the “Muslim battalion”. Almost all members of the assault groups were injured.

The group was the first to leave in a GAZ-66 car, but when the car drove past the location of the 3rd battalion, the alarm had already been announced, the battalion commander and his deputies were standing in the center of the parade ground, the soldiers were receiving weapons and ammunition. The group commander Sakhatov was not at a loss and decided to seize the leadership of the battalion. The car drove onto the parade ground at full speed, the scouts instantly captured the Afghan officers and rushed off. When the Afghans came to their senses, it was already too late; having driven further away, the group lay down by the road and met the Afghan soldiers in pursuit with fire, advancing in a crowd without the leadership of officers, they became easy prey. At this time, the group's snipers destroyed the sentries near the tanks.

As soon as the shooting began at the positions of the 3rd battalion, a general assault began. Two “Shilkas” began to work around the palace, 2 more and AGS crews began to fire at the barracks and courtyards, preventing the soldiers from leaving the barracks. At the same time, motorized infantry advanced to block the barracks. And assault groups advanced to the palace in infantry fighting vehicles. The Afghans quickly came to their senses and opened heavy fire on infantry fighting vehicles moving along the serpentine road. They managed to knock out the first vehicle, and the paratroopers had to leave it and climb up the mountain using ladders specially prepared for such an occasion. As a result, the combat vehicles were at the palace 20 minutes after the start of the operation, followed by an assault and battle for each room of the palace, at the same time as the start of the assault, the Shilkas were supposed to be silent, but this did not happen. The communication channel was clogged with requests for help from the commander of one of the armored personnel carriers, which had fallen into a ditch, so to cease fire on the palace, a liaison had to be sent to the Shilok location. An hour later, President Hafizullah Amin was already dead.

There are only a few secret service operations written in history in gold. This operation was carried out by the KGB and the Soviet army in Taj Beg, the palace of the Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin.
On December 27, 1979, at 19:30, the force phase began - KGB special forces, GRU special forces and a special Muslim battalion went into battle.

At the beginning of December, a special group of the USSR KGB “Zenit” (30 people each) arrived at the Bagram airbase, and on December 23 the special group “Grom” (30 people) was transferred. They operated under these code names in Afghanistan, but in the Center they were called differently. For example, the group “Thunder” - division “A”, which later became widely known as “Alpha”. The unique group “A” was created on the personal instructions of Yu.V. Andropov and prepared to carry out anti-terrorism activities. They were assisted by a Muslim battalion - 520 people and an airborne company - 87 people.

The security system of the Taj Beg Palace was organized carefully and thoughtfully. Hafizullah Amin’s personal guard, consisting of his relatives and especially trusted people, served inside the palace. They also wore a special uniform, different from other Afghan soldiers: white bands on their caps, white belts and holsters, white cuffs on the sleeves. They lived in close proximity to the palace in an adobe building, next to the house where the headquarters of the security brigade was located (later, in 1987-1989, it would house the Operational Group of the USSR Ministry of Defense). The second line consisted of seven posts, each of which had four sentries armed with a machine gun, grenade launcher and machine guns. They were changed every two hours.
The outer guard ring was formed by the deployment points of the guard brigade battalions (three motorized infantry and a tank). They were located around Taj Bek at a short distance. At one of the dominant heights, two T-54 tanks were buried, which could freely shoot the area adjacent to the palace with direct fire from cannons and machine guns. In total, there were about 2.5 thousand people in the security brigade. In addition, an anti-aircraft regiment was located nearby, armed with twelve 100-mm anti-aircraft guns and sixteen anti-aircraft machine gun mounts (ZPU-2), as well as a construction regiment (about 1 thousand people armed with small arms). There were other army units in Kabul, in particular, two divisions and a tank brigade.

The main role in the initial period of the Soviet military presence in the DRA was assigned to “special forces”. Indeed, in fact, the first military action in Operation Storm-333, which was carried out on December 27 by special forces groups of the USSR KGB and military units of army special forces, was the capture of the Taj Beg Palace, where the residence of the head of the DRA was located, and the removal of Hafizullah Amin from power.
The attackers were dressed in Afghan uniforms with white armbands; the friend-foe identification password was the shout “Yasha - Misha.”

The Muslim battalion was created from soldiers and officers from Central Asia (Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens). During the selection, special attention was paid to physical training, only those who had served for half a year or a year were involved, the principle was voluntariness, but if there were not enough specialists, a good military expert could be enrolled in the detachment without his consent.

On the morning of the 27th, concrete preparations began for the assault on the palace of Kh. Amin. The KGB officers had a detailed plan of the palace (location of rooms, communications, electrical networks, etc.). Therefore, by the beginning of Operation Storm-333, special forces from the “Muslim” battalion and KGB special groups thoroughly knew the target of capture: the most convenient routes of approach; guard duty regime; the total number of Amin's security and bodyguards; location of machine gun nests, armored vehicles and tanks; the internal structure of the rooms and labyrinths of the Taj Beg Palace; placement of radiotelephone communication equipment, etc. Before storming the palace in Kabul, the KGB special group had to blow up the so-called “well,” which was actually the central hub for secret communications with the most important military and civilian facilities of the DRA. Assault ladders, equipment, weapons and ammunition were being prepared. The main thing is secrecy and secrecy.
On the morning of December 27, Yu. Drozdov and V. Kolesnik, according to the old Russian custom, before the battle, washed in the bathhouse and changed their linen. Then they once again reported their readiness to their superiors. B.S. Ivanov contacted the Center and reported that everything was ready. Then he handed the receiver of the radiotelephone to Yu.I. Drozdov. Yu.V. spoke. Andropov: “Are you going to go yourself? I’m not taking risks in vain, think about your safety and take care of people.” V. Kolesnik was also reminded once again not to take risks in vain and take care of people.
The detachment, which, due to its size, was called a battalion, consisted of 4 companies. The first company received the BMP-1, the second and third BTR-60pb, the fourth company was an armament company, it included an AGS-17 platoon (which had just appeared in the troops), a platoon of Lynx infantry jet flamethrowers and a platoon of sappers. The detachment had all the relevant rear units: platoons of automotive and software support, communications, and an additional platoon of Shilka self-propelled guns was assigned to the battalion.

An interpreter was assigned to each company, but, given the national composition, their services were almost never used; all Tajiks, half of the Uzbeks and some of the Turkmen knew Farsi, one of the main languages ​​of Afghanistan. Curiosity came up with only a vacancy for an anti-aircraft gunner officer; it was not possible to find the necessary person of the required nationality, and the dark-haired Russian captain Pautov was hired for this position, who, when silent, did not stand out in the crowd. The detachment was headed by Major Kh. Khalbaev.

During lunch, the PDPA General Secretary and many of his guests suddenly felt unwell. Some lost consciousness. Kh. Amin also completely “disconnected”. His wife immediately called the commander of the Presidential Guard, Jandad, who began calling the Central Military Hospital (Charsad Bistar) and the Soviet Embassy clinic to summon help. The products and pomegranate juice were immediately sent for examination. The suspected cooks were detained. The security regime has been strengthened. However, the main perpetrators of this action managed to escape.
Kh. Amin lay in one of the rooms, stripped to his underpants, with his jaw slack and his eyes rolled back. He was unconscious and in a severe coma. Died? They felt the pulse - a barely perceptible beat. Dies? Quite a significant amount of time will pass before Kh. Amin’s eyelids tremble and he comes to his senses, then asks in surprise: “Why did this happen in my house? Who did it? Accident or sabotage?

The ZSU-23-4 Shilki anti-aircraft self-propelled guns were the first to open fire on the palace with direct fire at the command of Captain Pautov, bringing down a sea of ​​shells on it. AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers began firing at the location of the tank battalion, preventing the crews from approaching the tanks. Units of the “Muslim” battalion began moving to their destination areas. According to the plan, the first to advance to the palace was the company of Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Sharipov, on whose ten infantry fighting vehicles there were several subgroups of special forces from “Grom” led by O. Balashov, V. Emyshev, S. Golov and V. Karpukhin. Their general leadership was carried out by Major Mikhail Romanov. Major Y. Semenov with his Zenit in four armored personnel carriers was supposed to advance to the end of the palace, and then rush up the pedestrian stairs that led up to the Taj Beck. At the facade, both groups had to connect and act together.
Rocket infantry flamethrower "Lynx".

However, at the last moment the plan was changed and the Zenit subgroups, the senior ones of which were A. Karelin, B. Suvorov and V. Fateev, were the first to advance to the palace building on three armored personnel carriers. Their general management was carried out by Ya. Semenov. The fourth Zenit subgroup, led by V. Shchigolev, ended up in the Thunder column. The combat vehicles knocked down the outer security posts and rushed along the only road, which climbed steeply up the mountain in a serpentine path leading to the area in front of the palace. The road was heavily guarded, and other approaches were mined. As soon as the first car passed the turn, heavy machine guns fired from the building. All the ears of the armored personnel carrier that went first were damaged, and Boris Suvorov’s combat vehicle was immediately knocked out and caught fire. The subgroup commander himself was killed, and the personnel were injured. Having jumped out of the armored personnel carriers, the Zenit soldiers were forced to lie down, and began to shoot at the windows of the palace, and also began to climb up the mountain using assault ladders.

At quarter past seven in the evening, strong explosions occurred in Kabul. It was a KGB subgroup from Zenit (group senior Boris Pleshkunov) that undermined the so-called “well” of communications, cutting off the Afghan capital from the outside world. The explosion was supposed to be the beginning of the assault on the palace, but the special forces began a little earlier.

The “Grom” subgroups also immediately came under heavy fire from heavy machine guns. The breakthrough of the groups took place under hurricane fire. The special forces quickly jumped out onto the platform in front of the Taj Beck. The commander of the first subgroup of “Grom” O. Balashov was pierced by shrapnel in his bulletproof vest, but in a fever, at first he did not feel pain and rushed along with everyone to the palace, but then was nevertheless sent to the medical battalion. Captain 2nd Rank E. Kozlov, still sitting in the infantry fighting vehicle, barely had time to put his leg out before he was immediately shot through.

The first minutes of the battle were the most difficult. KGB special groups went to storm the Taj Beg, and the main forces of V. Sharipov’s company covered the outer approaches to the palace. Other units of the “Muslim” battalion provided an outer ring of cover. “Shilkas” hit the Taj Beg, 23-mm shells bounced off the walls like rubber ones. Hurricane fire continued from the windows of the palace, which pinned the special forces to the ground. And they rose only when “Shilka” suppressed the machine gun in one of the windows of the palace. This did not last long - maybe five minutes, but it seemed to the fighters that an eternity had passed. Y. Semenov and his fighters rushed forward to the building, where at the entrance to the palace they met with M. Romanov’s group.

When the fighters advanced to the main entrance, the fire intensified even more, although it seemed that this was no longer possible. Something unimaginable was happening. Everything was mixed up. While still on the approaches to the palace, G. Zudin was killed, S. Kuvylin, A. Baev and N. Shvachko were wounded. In the very first minutes of the battle, Major M. Romanov had 13 people wounded. The group commander himself was shell-shocked. Things were no better at Zenit. V. Ryazanov, having received a through wound in the thigh, bandaged his leg himself and went on the attack. Among the first to break through to the building were A. Yakushev and V. Emyshev. Afghans threw grenades from the second floor. As soon as he started to climb the stairs, A. Yakushev fell, struck by grenade fragments, and V. Emyshev, who rushed to him, was seriously wounded in his right arm. It later had to be amputated.

The battle in the building itself immediately took on a fierce and uncompromising character. A group consisting of E. Kozlov, M. Romanov, S. Golov, M. Sobolev, V. Karpukhin, A. Plyusnin, V. Grishin and V. Filimonov, as well as Y. Semenov with fighters from Zenit V. Ryazantsev, V. Bykovsky and V. Poddubny burst through the window on the right side of the palace. G. Boyarinov and S. Kuvylin at this time disabled the palace communications center. A. Karelin, V. Shchigolev and N. Kurbanov stormed the palace from the end. The special forces acted desperately and decisively. If people did not leave the premises with their hands raised, the doors were broken down and grenades were thrown into the room. Then they fired indiscriminately from machine guns. Sergei Golov was literally “cut” by grenade fragments, then as many as 9 of them were counted in him. During the battle, Nikolai Berlev had his machine gun's magazine smashed by a bullet. Luckily for him, S. Kuvylin was nearby and managed to give him his horn in time. A second later, the Afghan guardsman who jumped out into the corridor would most likely have managed to shoot first, but this time he was late with the shot. P. Klimov was seriously wounded.

In the palace, the officers and soldiers of H. Amin's personal guard, his bodyguards (about 100 - 150 people) resisted desperately, not surrendering. The “Shilkas” again transferred fire and began to hit the Taj-Bek and the area in front of it. A fire started in the building on the second floor. This had a strong morale impact on the defenders. However, as the special forces advanced to the second floor of the Taj Beg, the shooting and explosions intensified. The soldiers from Amin's guard, who at first mistook the special forces for their own rebel unit, heard Russian speech and obscenities, surrendered to them as a higher and just force. As it turned out later, many of them were trained at the airborne school in Ryazan, where, apparently, they memorized Russian obscenities for the rest of their lives. Y. Semenov, E. Kozlov, V. Anisimov, S. Golov, V. Karpukhin and A. Plyusnin rushed to the second floor. M. Romanov had to stay downstairs due to a severe concussion. The special forces attacked fiercely and harshly. They fired indiscriminately from machine guns and threw grenades into all the rooms they came across.

When a group of special forces consisting of E. Kozlov, Y. Semenov, V. Karpukhin, S. Golov, A. Plyusnin, V. Anisimov, A. Karelin and N. Kurbanov, throwing grenades and firing continuously from machine guns, burst onto the second floor of the palace , then they saw Kh. Amin lying near the bar in Adidas shorts and a T-shirt. A little later, V. Drozdov joined this group.

The battle in the palace did not last long (43 minutes). “Suddenly the shooting stopped,” recalled Major Yakov Semenov. “I reported to the leadership over the Voki-Toki radio station that the palace had been taken, many were killed and wounded, the main thing was over.”

In total, five people in the KGB special groups died directly during the storming of the palace, including Colonel G.I. Boyarinov. Almost everyone was wounded, but those who could hold weapons in their hands continued to fight.

The experience of storming the Taj Beg Palace confirms that in such operations only highly trained professionals can successfully complete the task. And even for them it is very difficult to act in extreme conditions, and what can we say about untrained eighteen-year-old boys who really don’t know how to shoot. However, after the dissolution of the FSB special forces and the departure of professionals from government service, it was untrained young men who were sent to Chechnya in December 1994 to seize the so-called presidential palace in Grozny. Now only mothers mourn their sons.

By a closed Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a large group of KGB employees of the USSR (about 400 people) were awarded orders and medals. Colonel G.I. Boyarinov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) for the courage and heroism shown in providing international assistance to the fraternal Afghan people. The same title was awarded to Colonel V.V. Kolesnik, E.G. Kozlov and V.F. Karpukhin. Major General Yu.I. Drozdov was awarded the Order of the October Revolution. Commander of the “Grom” group, Major M.M. Romanov was awarded the Order of Lenin. Lieutenant Colonel O.U. Shvets and Major Ya.F. Semenov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle.

Storming of Amin's Palace

In 1978, a coup d'etat took place in Afghanistan, after which the People's Democratic Party led by Taraki came to power. But very soon a civil war broke out in the country. Opponents of the government loyal to Moscow - radical Islamists, the Mujahideen, who enjoyed the support of a considerable number of the population, were rapidly moving towards Kabul. In the current situation, Taraki prayed for the entry of Soviet troops into his country. Otherwise, he blackmailed Moscow with the fall of his regime, which would definitely lead the USSR to the loss of all positions in Afghanistan.

However, in September, Taraki was unexpectedly overthrown by his ally Amin, who was dangerous for Moscow because he was an unprincipled usurper of power, ready to easily change his external patrons.

At the same time, the political situation around Afghanistan was heating up. In the late 1970s, during the Cold War, the CIA made active efforts to create a "New Great Ottoman Empire" including the southern republics of the USSR. According to some reports, the Americans even intended to launch the Basmach movement in Central Asia in order to later gain access to Pamir uranium. In the south of the Soviet Union there was no reliable air defense system, which, if American Pershing-type missiles were deployed in Afghanistan, would have jeopardized many vital facilities, including the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Afghan uranium deposits could be used by Pakistan and Iran to create nuclear weapons. In addition, the Kremlin received information that Afghan President Amin may be collaborating with the CIA...

Even before the final decision was made - and it took place in early December 1979 - to eliminate the President of Afghanistan, in November the so-called “Muslim” battalion of 700 people had already arrived in Kabul. It was formed a few months earlier from special forces soldiers who were of Asian origin or simply looked like Asians. The battalion's soldiers and officers wore Afghan military uniforms. Officially, their goal was to protect the Afghan dictator Hafizullah Amin, whose residence was in the Taj Beg Palace in the southwestern part of Kabul. Amin, who had already had several attempts on his life, feared only his fellow tribesmen. Therefore, Soviet soldiers seemed to him the most reliable support. They were placed near the palace.

Afghan Mujahideen

In addition to the “Muslim” battalion, special groups of the USSR KGB, subordinate to foreign intelligence, and a detachment of the GRU General Staff were transferred to Afghanistan. At Amin’s request, it was planned to introduce a “limited contingent” of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. The Afghan army already had Soviet military advisers. Amin was treated exclusively by Soviet doctors. All this gave a special character to the measure to overthrow and eliminate him.

The security system of the Taj Beg Palace was - with the help of our advisers - organized carefully and thoughtfully, taking into account all its engineering features and the nature of the surrounding terrain, which made it difficult for attackers to reach. Inside the palace, the guards of X. Amin, consisting of his relatives and especially trusted people, served. When not serving in the palace, they lived in the immediate vicinity of the palace, in an adobe house, and were constantly in combat readiness. The second line consisted of seven posts, each of which had four sentries armed with a machine gun, grenade launcher and machine guns. The outer security ring was provided by three motorized rifle and tank battalions of the security brigade. At one of the dominant heights, two T-54 tanks were dug in, which could shoot with direct fire the area adjacent to the palace. There were two and a half thousand people in the security brigade. In addition, anti-aircraft and construction regiments were located nearby.

The operation itself to eliminate Amin was codenamed “Storm-333”. The coup scenario looked like this: on Day X, fighters of the Muslim battalion, taking advantage of the fact that they are outwardly indistinguishable from the Afghan military, seize the general headquarters, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Puli-Charkhi prison, where thousands of Amin’s opponents were kept, a radio station and telephone centers, some other objects. At the same time, an assault group of 50 people, staffed by KGB foreign intelligence special forces officers (Grom and Zenit groups), breaks into Amin’s palace and eliminates the latter. At the same time, two airborne divisions (103rd and 104th) landed at Bagram airfield, the main base of the Afghan Air Force, which completely took control of the base and sent several battalions to Kabul to help the Muslim battalion. At the same time, tanks and armored personnel carriers of the Soviet army begin to invade Afghanistan across the state border.

Preparations for military operations to capture the palace were led by V.V. Kolesnik, E.G. Kozlov, O.L. Shvets, Yu.M. Drozdov. The matter was complicated by the lack of a plan for the palace, which our advisers did not bother to draw up. In addition, they could not weaken its defenses for reasons of conspiracy, but on December 26 they managed to bring reconnaissance saboteurs into the palace, who carefully examined everything and drew up its floor plan. Special forces officers conducted reconnaissance of firing points at nearby heights. Scouts conducted round-the-clock surveillance of the Taj Beg Palace.

By the way, while a detailed plan for storming the palace was being developed, units of the Soviet 40th Army crossed the state border of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. This happened at 15.00 on December 25, 1979.

Without capturing the dug-in tanks, which held all approaches to the palace at gunpoint, it was impossible to begin the assault. To capture them, 15 people and two snipers from the KGB were allocated.

In order not to arouse suspicion ahead of time, the “Muslim” battalion began to carry out diversionary actions: shooting, going out on alarm and occupying established defense areas, deployment, etc. At night, flares were fired. Due to the severe frost, the engines of armored personnel carriers and combat vehicles were warmed up so that they could be started immediately upon a signal. At first, this caused concern among the command of the palace security brigade. But they were reassured by explaining that regular training was going on, and missiles were being launched to exclude the possibility of a surprise attack by the Mujahideen on the palace. The “exercises” continued on the 25th, 26th and the first half of the day on December 27th.

On December 26, to establish closer relations in the “Muslim” battalion, a reception was held for the command of the Afghan brigade. They ate and drank a lot, toasts were made to the military partnership, to Soviet-Afghan friendship...

Immediately before the assault on the palace, the KGB special group blew up the so-called “well” - the central hub of secret communication between the palace and the most important military and civilian facilities in Afghanistan.

The advisers who were in the Afghan units received different tasks: some had to stay in the units overnight, organize dinner for the commanders (for this they were given alcohol and food) and in no case allow the Afghan troops to act against the Soviet troops. Others, on the contrary, were ordered not to stay long in the units. Only specially instructed people remained.

Unsuspecting Amin expressed his joy at the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and ordered the Chief of the General Staff, Mohammed Yakub, to establish cooperation with their command. Amin hosted a lunch for Politburo members and ministers. Later he was going to appear on television.

However, this was prevented by one strange circumstance. Some of the dinner participants suddenly felt sleepy, and some lost consciousness. Amin himself also “passed out.” His wife raised the alarm. Doctors were called from the Afghan hospital and from the Soviet embassy clinic. The products and pomegranate juice were immediately sent for examination, and the Uzbek cooks were arrested. What was it? Most likely, a strong, but not lethal dose of sleeping pills to literally “lull” the vigilance of Amin and his associates. Although who knows...

Perhaps this was the first, but failed attempt to eliminate Amin. Then there would be no need to storm the palace and tens and hundreds of lives would be saved. But one way or another, Soviet doctors prevented this. There was a whole group of them - five men and two women. They immediately diagnosed “mass poisoning” and immediately began to provide assistance to the victims. Doctors, colonels of the medical service V. Kuznechenkov and A. Alekseev, fulfilling the Hippocratic oath and not knowing that they were violating someone’s plans, began to save the president.

The one who sent the doctors did not know that they were not needed there.

The palace security immediately took additional security measures: they set up external posts and tried to contact the tank brigade. The brigade was put on alert, but never received the order to move, because the special communications well had already been blown up.

The coup began at 19:30 on December 27, 1979, when two special forces - the GRU of the General Staff and the KGB? - began a special operation in close cooperation. With a dashing “cavalry” raid in a GAZ-66 vehicle, the group led by Captain Satarov managed to capture dug-in tanks, take them out of the trenches and headed towards the palace.

Anti-aircraft self-propelled guns began to fire directly at the palace. Units of the “Muslim” battalion moved to their destination areas. A company of infantry fighting vehicles moved towards the palace. On ten infantry fighting vehicles there were two KGB groups as a landing force. Their general management was carried out by Colonel G.I. Boyarinov. The infantry fighting vehicles shot down the outer security posts and rushed towards the Taj Beg along a narrow mountain road, serpentine rising upward. The first BMP was hit. The crew members and the landing party left it and, using assault ladders, began to climb the mountain. The second BMP pushed the damaged car into the abyss and cleared the way for the others. Soon they found themselves on a level area in front of the palace. A group of Colonel Boyarinov jumped out of one car and burst into the palace. The fighting immediately became fierce.

The special forces rushed forward, frightening the enemy with shots, wild screams and loud Russian obscenities. By the way, it was by this last sign that they recognized their own in the dark, and not by the white bands on their sleeves, which were not visible. If they did not leave any room with their hands raised, then the door was broken open and grenades were thrown into the room. So the fighters moved up the corridors and labyrinths of the palace. When assault groups of reconnaissance saboteurs burst into the palace, the special forces of the “Muslim” battalion participating in the battle created a ring of fire, destroying all living things around and protecting the attackers. The officers and soldiers of Amin's personal guard and his personal bodyguards desperately resisted, not surrendering: they mistook the attackers for their own rebellious unit, from which no mercy could be expected. But, having heard Russian shouts and obscenities, they began to raise their hands - after all, many of them were trained at the airborne school in Ryazan. And they surrendered to the Russians because they considered them a higher and fairer force.

The battle took place not only in the palace. One of the units managed to cut off the personnel of the tank battalion from the tanks, and then captured these tanks. The special group took an entire anti-aircraft regiment and its weapons. The building of the Afghan Ministry of Defense was captured almost without a fight. Only the chief of the general staff, Mohammad Yaqub, barricaded himself in one of the offices and began to call for help on the radio. But, making sure that no one was rushing to help him, he gave up. An Afghan who accompanied the Soviet paratroopers immediately read out his death sentence and shot him on the spot.

Meanwhile, from prison, lines of released opponents of the regime of the overthrown dictator were already stretching.

What was happening at this time with Amin and Soviet doctors? This is what Yu.I writes. Drozdov in his documentary book “Fiction is Excluded”:

“Soviet doctors hid wherever they could. At first they thought that the Mujahideen had attacked, then N.M.’s supporters. Taraki. Only later, when they heard Russian obscenities, did they realize that they were Soviet military personnel.

A. Alekseev and V. Kuznechenkov, who were supposed to go help the daughter of X. Amin (she had an infant), after the start of the assault, found “shelter” at the bar counter. After some time, they saw Amin walking along the corridor, covered in the reflections of the fire. He was wearing white shorts and a T-shirt, holding bottles of saline solution in his arms, wrapped high in pipes, like grenades. One could only imagine how much effort it cost him and how the needles inserted into the cubital veins were pricked.

A. Alekseev, running out of the shelter, first of all pulled out the needles, pressing the veins with his fingers so as not to ooze blood, and then brought him to the bar. X. Amin leaned against the wall, but then a child’s cry was heard - from somewhere in the side room Amin’s five-year-old son was walking, smearing his tears with his fists. Seeing his father, he rushed to him and grabbed him by the legs. X. Amin pressed his head to himself, and the two of them sat down against the wall.

According to the testimony of the participants in the assault, the doctor, Colonel Kuznechenkov, was killed by a grenade fragment in the conference room. However, Alekseev, who was next to him all the time, claims that when the two of them were hiding in the conference room, some machine gunner dropped in and fired a burst into the darkness just in case. One of the bullets hit Kuznechenkov. He screamed and died immediately...

Meanwhile, a KGB special group broke through to the premises where Hafizullah Amin was located, and during a shootout he was killed by an officer of this group. Amin's corpse was wrapped in a carpet and carried out.

The number of Afghans killed has never been established. They, along with Amin's two young sons, were buried in a mass grave near the Taj Beg Palace. The corpse of X. Amin, wrapped in a carpet, was buried in the same place that night, but separately from the others. No tombstone was erected.

The surviving members of Amin's family were imprisoned by the new Afghan government in Puli-Charkhi prison, where they replaced N.M.'s family. Taraki. Even Amina’s daughter, whose legs were broken during the battle, ended up in a cell with a cold concrete floor. But mercy was alien to the people whose relatives and friends were destroyed by order of Amin. Now they were taking revenge.

The battle in the yard did not last long - only 43 minutes. When everything calmed down, V.V. Kolesnik and Yu.I. The Drozdovs moved the command post to the palace.

That evening, the losses of the special forces (according to Yu.I. Drozdov) were four killed and 17 wounded. The general head of the KGB special groups, Colonel G.I., was killed. Boyarinov. In the “Muslim” battalion, 5 people were killed, 35 were wounded, of which 23 remained in service.

It is likely that in the confusion of the night battle, some people suffered from their own. The next morning, special forces disarmed the remnants of the security brigade. More than 1,400 people surrendered. However, even after the white flag was raised from the roof of the building, shots were heard, one Russian officer and two soldiers were killed.

The wounded and surviving KGB special forces were sent to Moscow literally a couple of days after the assault. And on January 7, 1980, the “Muslim” battalion also left Kabul. All participants in the operation - living and dead - were awarded the Order of the Red Star.

“On that dramatic night, not just another coup d’etat took place in Kabul,” an officer of the “Muslim” battalion later recalled, “in which power passed from the hands of the Khalqists into the hands of the Parchamists, supported by the Soviet side, and the beginning of a sharp intensification of civil war in Afghanistan. A tragic page was opened both in Afghan history and in the history of the Soviet Union. The soldiers and officers who took part in the December events sincerely believed in the justice of their mission, in the fact that they were helping the Afghan people get rid of Amin’s tyranny and, having fulfilled their international duty, would return to their home.”

Even in a nightmare, Soviet strategists could not foresee what awaited them: 20 million mountaineers, proud and warlike, fanatically believing in the tenets of Islam, would soon rise up to fight the foreigners.