Photos Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989

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What is the type of radio?

 

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A Soviet sapper

Withdrawal from Afghanistan, 1989

 

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Sappers after demining a mountain road in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (Photo by Viktor Khabarov)

 

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One of you is a ruski spy....

 

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I am going to assume these are Soviet POWs of the mujahedeen? I will have to do some research on the Soviet POW experience in AFG -- I would welcome any feedback from fellow readers who might be familiar with the topic. Thanks in advance.

 

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Multiple sources report 400+ Soviets as POW/MIA during their decade in AFG. Of those, 300+ were MIA, though in the 30-years since the war, ~30 Soviet MIAs have been identified as alive, many of them still living in AFG, having assimilated into the local culture/society. Very interesting.

 

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Koshiro Tanaka, a 40-something Japanese citizen and Karate instructor who volunteered to fight for the Mujaheddin during the Soviet-Afghan War, 1980s. He wasn't a Muslim, and he certainly wasn't an Afghan. He just hated communism. Tanaka spent four years fighting Soviets, and upon his return was met with universal scorn in pacifistic Japan. Upon his return, he gave a few words describing what he, a Japanese man, was doing in Islamic Afghanistan, fighting Russians: "They [the Soviets] don't want peace, they want land,"

He still teaches Karate to this day as a highly ranked black belt.

 

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An Afghan soldier

 

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A Soviet soldier in the poppy fields of Afghanistan

Undercover Spetznaz operators

 

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A collection of images showing the U.S. M-16 in the hands of Soviet troops in Afghanistan during the Soviet Afghan War.

 

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Soviet troops have their photo taken next to one of the Bamiyan Bhudda statues during the Soviet Afghan War. The statues were constructed in 507 and 544 AD and stood for over 1,450 years before they were later blown apart by the Taliban under the orders of Mullah Omar in 2001.

Left has a BMP crewman life jacket, minus floaties, middle is rocking a 6B3, and right has what looks to be babushkas handmade chest rig.
Armed with AK74s.

 

[RL64RL]

Soviet troops have their photo taken next to one of the Bamiyan Bhudda statues during the Soviet Afghan War. The statues were constructed in 507 and 544 AD and stood for over 1,450 years before they were later blown apart by the Taliban under the orders of Mullah Omar in 2001.

Left has a BMP crewman life jacket, minus floaties, middle is rocking a 6B3, and right has what looks to be babushkas handmade chest rig.
Armed with AK74s.

And sneakers/trainers/tennis shoes!! For the love of Pete, where are the combat boots!!?? LMAO . . .

 

[BeNder]

An Afghan soldier

Is that a locally produced mag or from Pakistan? Interesting.

 

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Is that a locally produced mag or from Pakistan? Interesting.

Soviet Bakelite w/side cut away for quick inventory of rounds loaded.

 

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We come in peace, to spread happiness and soviet civilisation.

Lovely, whats the Ballistic missile for?

It delivers peace.

 

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Soviet soldier with captured FIM-92 Stinger

 

[guest0001]

I am going to assume these are Soviet POWs of the mujahedeen? I will have to do some research on the Soviet POW experience in AFG -- I would welcome any feedback from fellow readers who might be familiar with the topic. Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the late response.....

I read quite a lot about the Soviet's war in Afghanistan, but that was many moons back...so maybe take it with a grain of salt. From what I remember most POWs were not treated well, many were tortured to death, a few survived as you stated above and integrated somehow into the Afghan society. The nature of the treatment the captured Soviet soldiers had to endure depended on many factors. What ethnicity did the captors belong to? Had the captors, or their families, suffered badly from Soviet actions? Did the Mudjhahideen need prisoners, for whatever reason? Were there western "advisors" with the captors? The ethnicity and the denomination of the soviet soldiers also mattered to some degree. One has to be aware that both sides played dirty and Afghan fighters as well as the civilians were often suffering from very cynic and cruel soviet tactics.