How did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan?

About 40 years ago, on December 25, 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan.

The USSR's war in Afghanistan was not spontaneous - many years before the invasion, Moscow metro workers built a road through the Salang Pass, later called the "Shuravi Road" - this route opened a direct route for Soviet military equipment from the USSR directly to Kabul - which was carried out in the winter of 1980. The USSR planned to annex Afghanistan as the 16th republic to the USSR - but the USSR ran into resistance from the Afghan people and got bogged down in this war for 9 long years.

How this war began, why the Afghans fought against the USSR, what the Soviet government said about this war and what is now left of the 40th Army in the mountains of Afghanistan - and today I will show you a rather rare selection of color photos from the time of the Afghan war.

So, in today's post — color photos from the Afghan war.

The introduction of the "Limited Contingent" of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began on New Year's Eve, 1980 — December 25, 1979, on Christmas. They introduced into Afghanistan, mainly motorized rifle units, tank units, artillery, and airborne units (which then mainly fought — since they were the most combat-ready troops in the SA). Aviation units were also introduced into Afghanistan, later attached to the 40th Army as the Air Force.

It was assumed that there would be no large-scale military operations, and the troops of the 40th Army would simply guard important strategic and industrial facilities in the country, helping the Soviet government of Afghanistan. However, the USSR troops were quickly drawn into military operations, providing support to the DRA government forces, which led to an escalation of the conflict — since the enemy, in turn, also strengthened its ranks.

The photo shows Soviet armored personnel carriers in a mountainous region of Afghanistan, with local women walking past with their faces covered by burqas.

It soon became clear that the "classical warfare" skills that the Soviet troops had been trained in were no good in Afghanistan - this was facilitated by the mountainous terrain of the country and the "guerrilla warfare" tactics imposed by the mujahideen - they appeared as if from nowhere, delivered pinpoint and very painful blows and disappeared without a trace in the mountains and gorges. The formidable tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the Soviet troops were practically useless in the mountain conditions - neither a tank nor an infantry fighting vehicle could climb a steep slope, and their guns often simply could not hit targets on the mountain tops - the angle of elevation of the barrel did not allow it.

 The Soviet command began to adopt the tactics of the mujahideen - attacks by small strike groups, ambushes on supply caravans, careful reconnaissance of the surrounding area to find the best paths, interaction with the local population. Around 1980-81, the image and style of the Afghan war had taken shape - checkpoints on the roads, small operations in the highlands carried out by helicopter pilots and airborne units, blocking and destroying "rebellious" villages, ambushes.

In the photo - one of the soldiers photographs camouflaged firing positions on flat terrain.

 A photo from the early 1980s: a T-62 tank has taken a commanding height and is covering the advance of a column of "nalivniks" (tankers were called that in Afghanistan). The tank looks pretty worn out - apparently, it has been involved in combat for quite some time. The gun is aimed at the mountains and trees - a small strip of vegetation in which a mujahideen ambush could hide.

The Afghans called the Soviet troops shuravi, which is translated from the Dari language as "Soviet", and the Soviet soldiers called their opponents dushmans (which is translated from the same Dari language as "enemies"), or dukhs for short. All the movements of the "shuravi" on the roads of the country quickly became known to the dushmans, since they received all the information directly from local residents - this made it easy to set up ambushes and mine the roads. By the way, Afghanistan is still full of mined areas; mines were laid by both the mujahideen and the Soviet soldiers. Almost every year someone is blown up by these mines - an echo of the war forty years ago

The classic Afghan uniform is quite recognizable thanks to the wide-brimmed Panama hat, which protected from the sun better than the classic cap of those years used in the SA. Sand-colored caps were also often used as headgear. What is interesting is that such Panama hats in the Soviet army were not at all an innovation of those years; very similar headgear was worn by Soviet soldiers during the battles at Khalkin Gol in 1939.

In the photo below, soldiers are wearing the old-style uniform, with open buttons. Later, the "Afghanka" received many pockets and a flap that covered the buttons - preventing them from coming off during, for example, mountain climbing.

You can buy some winter and summer uniforms of the Afghan war in our store: Buy Soviet Uniform

The classic "Afghanka" uniform (with many patch pockets), known to us from films about Afghanistan, appeared in the second half of the 80s. It was of several types - there were special suits for tankers, for motorized riflemen, landing jump suits "mabuta" and several others. 

During the war in Afghanistan, soldiers actively used Afghan m88 combar boots with nail soles; these boots became a symbol of the Afghan war.

Nowadays such boots are rare and very hard to find.

In our store you can order: Soviet Afghan m88 combat boots

There were also winter sets of the "Afghanka" uniform with 4 patch pockets. - they were used in the cold months (it is not always hot in Afghanistan), as well as in high-mountainous regions with a cold climate.

There were no tactical glasses in the USSR - in the photo you can see a driver-mechanic who protects his eyes with some kind of Soviet blue swimming mask.

 And this is what the mujahideen looked like - as a rule, their clothes were quite eclectic and mixed traditional Afghan outfits, captured uniforms and ordinary civilian clothes of those years like Adidas sweatpants and Puma sneakers. Open shoes like modern flip-flops were also very popular.

 Ahmad Shah Massoud, a field commander and one of the main opponents of the Soviet troops, is pictured surrounded by his mujahideen - it is clear that the soldiers are wearing very different clothes, the guy to the right of Massoud is clearly wearing a trophy ushanka hat from the winter set of the Soviet uniform. Now Ahmad Shah Massoud is a national hero of Afghanistan, buried in a mausoleum in the Panjshir Gorge.

Among the headdresses, among the Afghans, in addition to the turban, hats called "pakol" were also popular - a kind of beret made of fine wool. In the photo, the pakol is on the head of Ahmad Shah himself and some of his soldiers.

And these are Afghan refugees. They rarely differed in appearance from the mujahideen, which is why they often died - during the Afghan war, at least 1 million civilians died, the greatest number of victims were the result of bombing or artillery strikes on villages.

A Soviet tanker looks at a village destroyed during military operations in the Salang Pass area.

Aviation played a significant role in the Afghan war, especially small aircraft - helicopters delivered the bulk of cargo, carried out combat operations, and provided cover for convoys. In the photo - a helicopter of the Afghan government army, covering a Soviet convoy.

 And this is an Afghan helicopter shot down by the mujahideen in Zabul province - this happened in 1990, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

Soviet soldiers who were captured - the military uniforms were taken away from the prisoners, who were dressed in Afghan outfits. By the way, some of the prisoners converted to Islam and wished to stay in Afghanistan.

A checkpoint in Kabul, winter 1989, shortly before the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The photo shows a typical Kabul landscape with snow-capped mountains on the horizon.

Tanks on Afghan roads.

A Soviet plane approaches for landing at Kabul airport.

Military equipment in Kabul.

The beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

 A shepherd looks at the departing column of Soviet troops.

 The phrase "Афган - наша война" (Afghan is our war) was popular among Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan because many of them perceived the conflict as a personal challenge that went beyond the official ideology. It reflected their sense of responsibility and unity that arose in the face of danger and hardship. Soldiers often felt that they were fighting not so much for political interests as for survival and support for the comrades with whom they shared the hardships of war.

In honor of this unofficial but deep affection of Soviet soldiers, the SovietBoots.com brand released a wallet with the engraving "Afghanistan is our war". This wallet conveys the spirit of the 80s and will be a unique gift for those interested in the history and legacy of that era.

 To order a wallet with the engraving "Afghan is our war", made in the style of the 80s and dedicated to the spirit of the Afghan events, visit this page: Soviet Afghan Wallet