Where is Amin's palace in Afghanistan. Time "h" for country "a"

Chapter 2. Storming the Taj Bek Palace After the bath on December 27, 1979, V.V. At noon Kolesnik once again went to see their leaders. B.S. Ivanov contacted the Center and reported that everything was ready. Then he held out the radiotelephone to me. Yu.V. Andropov: Will you go yourself? -

Chapter 30. Amin's hands were untied ... Amin's hands were untied, and Taraki's supporters began to shoot openly, without embarrassment. Two ministers were killed right in their offices. One was shot with a sniper rifle from the roof of a neighboring house and at the same time

The assault on April 25, 1945 began the assault on the capital of the Third Reich. Even before the start of our assault, Berlin was destroyed by American and British aircraft. By the end of April, the Berlin garrison was surrounded by a steel ring of our troops. We understood that there, in the center of Berlin, we buried

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

In early December, a special group of the KGB of the USSR "Zenith" (30 people each) arrived at the air base in Bagram, and on December 23, a special group "Thunder" (30 people) was transferred. They operated under these code names in Afghanistan, but at the Center they were called differently. For example, the “Thunder” group is a subdivision “A”, which later became widely known as “Alpha”. The unique group "A" was created on the personal instructions of Yu.V. Andropov and prepared for the implementation of anti-terrorist activities. They were assisted by a Muslim battalion - 520 people and an Airborne Forces company - 87 people.
The security system of the Taj Bek Palace was carefully and thoughtfully organized. Inside the palace, the personal guard of Hafizullah Amin, consisting of his relatives and especially trusted people, was on duty. They also wore a special uniform, different from other Afghan servicemen: white bands on their caps, white belts and holsters, white cuffs on the sleeves. They lived in the immediate vicinity of the palace in an adobe building, next to the house where the headquarters of the guard brigade was located (later, in 1987-1989, the Operational Group of the USSR Ministry of Defense would be located there). The second line consisted of seven posts, each of which housed four sentries armed with a machine gun, a grenade launcher and machine guns. They were changed every two hours.
The outer ring of the guard was formed by the points of deployment of the battalions of the guard brigade (three motorized infantry and a tank one). They were located around the Taj Bek at a short distance. At one of the dominant heights, two T-54 tanks were buried, which could freely fire direct fire from cannons and machine guns to the area adjacent to the palace. In total, there were about 2.5 thousand people in the security brigade. In addition, an anti-aircraft regiment was located nearby, which was armed with twelve 100-mm anti-aircraft guns and sixteen anti-aircraft machine-gun installations (ZPU-2), as well as a construction regiment (about 1,000 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 the "special purpose" 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 KGB of the USSR and military units of the army special forces, was the seizure of the Taj Bek 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 password for identifying friend or foe was the shout "Yasha - Misha".


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


On the morning of 27, concrete preparations began for the storming of H. Amin's palace. The KGB officers had a detailed plan of the palace (layout of rooms, communications, power supply, etc.). Therefore, by the beginning of Operation Storm-333, the commandos from the “Muslim” battalion and the KGB special groups knew the target of capture thoroughly: the most convenient ways of approach; guard duty; the total number of Amin's guards and bodyguards; the location of machine-gun "nests", armored vehicles and tanks; the internal structure of the rooms and labyrinths of the Taj Bek Palace; placement of radiotelephone communication equipment, etc. Before the assault on the palace in Kabul, the KGB special group was supposed to blow up the so-called "well", and in fact, the central hub of secret communications with the most important military and civilian objects 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, Y. Drozdov and V. Kolesnik, according to the old Russian custom, washed in the bath before the battle and changed their linen. Then, once again, they reported on their readiness to their own leadership. B.S. Ivanov contacted the Center and reported that everything was ready. Then he held out the receiver of the radiotelephone to Yu.I. Drozdov. Yu.V. Andropov: “Will you go yourself? I’m not risking in vain, think about your safety and take care of the people.” V. Kolesnik was also reminded once again not to risk taking risks in vain.
The detachment, which due to its size and received the name of the battalion, consisted of 4 companies. The first company was armed with 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 army), a platoon of Lynx infantry jet flamethrowers and a sapper platoon. The detachment had all the corresponding rear divisions: platoons of automobile and material support, communications, additionally the battalion was assigned a platoon of the ZSU "Shilka".


An interpreter was attached to each company, but, given the ethnic composition, their services were almost never used, all Tajiks, half of Uzbeks and part of the Turkmen knew Farsi, one of the main languages ​​of Afghanistan. The curiosity came out only with the vacancy of an anti-aircraft 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 he was silent, did not stand out in the general mass. The detachment was led by Major Kh. Khalbaev.


During the lunch, the PDPA General Secretary and many of his guests suddenly felt unwell. Some have passed out. H. Amin also completely “switched off”. His wife immediately summoned the commander of the presidential guard, Jandad, who began calling the Central Military Hospital (Charsad Bistar) and the Soviet embassy's polyclinic to call for help. The products and pomegranate juice were immediately sent for examination. The suspected chefs have been detained. Enhanced security mode. However, the main performers of this action managed to escape.
H. Amin was lying in one of the rooms, stripped down to his underpants, with a drooping jaw and rolling eyes. He was unconscious, in a severe coma. Died? We felt a pulse - a barely perceptible beat. Dies? Quite a considerable time will pass before H. Amin's eyelids tremble, and he will come to his senses, then he will ask in surprise: “Why did this happen in my house? Who did this? Accident or sabotage? "


At the command of Captain Pautov, the ZSU-23-4 "Shilki" self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were the first to open fire on the palace at the command of Captain Pautov, unleashing a sea of ​​shells on him. Automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 began to fire at the location of the tank battalion, preventing the crews from approaching the tanks. Subdivisions of the "Muslim" battalion began to move to the destination areas. According to the plan, the first company to move to the palace was the company of senior lieutenant Vladimir Sharipov, on ten infantry fighting vehicles of which there were several subgroups of special forces from “Grom” headed by O. Balashov, V. Yemyshev, S. Golov and V. Karpukhin. Major Mikhail Romanov was in charge of them. Major Y. Semyonov with his “Zenith” on four armored personnel carriers had to move to the end of the palace, and then make a dash along the pedestrian staircase that led up to the Taj Bek. At the façade, both groups had to connect and act together.
Rocket infantry flamethrower "Lynx".


However, at the last moment the plan was changed and the first to move to the palace building on three armored personnel carriers were the Zenit subgroups, the elders of which were A. Karelin, B. Suvorov and V. Fateev. The general management of them was carried out by Ya. Semenov. The fourth subgroup of “Zenith”, headed by V. Shchigolev, ended up in the column of “Thunder”. The combat vehicles knocked down the outer security posts and rushed along the only road that steeply climbed the mountain with a serpentine road, leaving the site 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 struck from the building. All the ears of the armored personnel carrier that went first were damaged, and the combat vehicle of Boris Suvorov was immediately knocked out, it caught fire. The subgroup commander himself was killed and the personnel were wounded. Jumping out of the armored personnel carriers "Zenith" were forced to lie down, and began to shoot at the windows of the palace, and with the help of assault ladders began to climb up the mountain.


At a quarter past seven in the evening, violent explosions thundered in Kabul. It was a subgroup of the KGB from “Zenith” (the head of the group Boris Pleshkunov) blew up the so-called “well” of communications, disconnecting the Afghan capital from the outside world. The explosion was supposed to serve as the beginning of the storming of the palace, but the commandos began a little earlier.


The Thunder subgroups also immediately came under heavy heavy machine gun fire. The breakthrough of the groups was under heavy fire. The commandos quickly rushed out to the area in front of the Taj Bek. The commander of the first subgroup of "Thunder" O. Balashov was pierced by shrapnel with shrapnel, but at first he did not feel pain in a fever and rushed along with everyone to the palace, but then he was sent to the medical battalion. Captain 2nd Rank E. Kozlov while still sitting in the BMP, barely had time to put his leg out, as she was immediately shot.


The first minutes of the battle were the most difficult. KGB special groups went to the assault on Taj Bek, and the main forces of V. Sharipov's company covered the outer approaches to the palace. Other units of the "Muslim" battalion provided the outer ring of cover. Shilki hit the Taj Bek, 23-mm shells bounced off the walls like rubber. Hurricane fire continued from the windows of the palace, which pressed the commandos to the ground. And they got up only when “Shilka” suppressed a 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. Ya. Semyonov with his soldiers rushed forward to the building, where at the entrance to the palace they met with a group of M. Romanov.


When the soldiers moved to the main entrance, the fire intensified even more, although it seemed that it was already impossible to do this. Something unimaginable was happening. Everything was confused. On the outskirts of the palace G. Zudin was killed, S. Kuvylin, A. Baev and N. Shvachko were wounded. In the first minutes of the battle at Major M. Romanov, 13 people were wounded. The group commander himself was concussed. Things were no better at Zenit. V. Ryazanov, having received a through wound in the thigh, himself bandaged his leg and went on the attack. A. Yakushev and V. Yemyshev were among the first to break through to the building. Afghans from the second floor threw grenades. Barely starting to climb the stairs, A. Yakushev fell, struck by grenade fragments, and V. Emyshev, who rushed towards him, was seriously wounded in his right arm. Later she 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 Ya. Semenov with soldiers from Zenit V. Ryazantsev, V. Bykovsky and V. Poddubny burst through the window on the right side of the palace. G. Boyarinov and S. Kuvilin at that time put out of action the communication center of the palace. A. Karelin, V. Shchigolev and N. Kurbanov stormed the palace from the end. The commandos acted desperately and decisively. If they did not leave the premises with their hands up, then the doors would break open, grenades were thrown into the room. Then they fired indiscriminately from machine guns. Sergei Golov was literally "chopped" by shrapnel of grenades, then as many as 9 were counted in him. During the battle, Nikolai Berlev was smashed by a bullet from an assault rifle magazine. Fortunately for him, S. Kuvylin turned out to be next to him, who in time managed to give him his horn. A second later, the Afghan guardsman who had jumped into the corridor would most likely have had time to shoot first, but this time he was late with the shot. P. Klimov was seriously wounded.


In the palace, officers and soldiers of Kh. Amin's personal guard, his bodyguards (about 100 - 150 people) fiercely resisted, not surrendering. “Shilki” again transferred fire and began to beat on Taj Bek and on the area in front of him. A fire started in the building on the second floor. This had a strong moral impact on the defenders. However, as the special forces moved to the second floor of the Taj Bek, gunfire and explosions intensified. The soldiers from Amin's guards, who at first took the special forces for their own rebellious unit, having heard Russian speech and obscenities, surrendered to them as the highest and just force. As it turned out later, many of them were trained at the airborne school in Ryazan, where, apparently, they remembered Russian swearing for the rest of their lives. Ya. Semenov, E. Kozlov, V. Anisimov, S. Golov, V. Karpukhin and A. Plyusnin rushed to the second floor. M. Romanov, due to a strong concussion, had to stay downstairs. The commandos attacked fiercely and brutally. They fired indiscriminately from machine guns and threw grenades into all the rooms that came across on the way.


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 continuous fire from machine guns, burst into the second floor of the palace , then we saw H. 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 Semyonov, “I reported on the Voki-Toki radio station to the leadership that the palace had been taken, many people were killed and wounded, and the main thing was over.”


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


The experience of storming the Taj Bek 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 do not know how to shoot. However, after the dissolution of the FSB special forces and the departure of professionals from the civil service, it was the untrained youths 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 employees of the KGB 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 his courage and heroism in providing international assistance to the fraternal Afghan people. Colonel V.V. Kolesnik, E.G. Kozlov and V.F. Karpukhin. Major General Yu.I. Drozdov was awarded the Order of the October Revolution. The commander of the “Thunder” group, Major M.M. Romanov was awarded the Order of Lenin. Lieutenant Colonel O.U. Shvets and Major J.F. Semyonov was awarded the Order of the Battle Red Banner.

"It just so happened that it was I who liquidated Hafizullah Amin ..."

“They summoned us at night, collected special weapons all night, prepared for loading ... Why we flew to Kabul, I learned from my colleagues in Bagram. They told me about the preparations for the assault. There, on the territory of the military airfield, we met ours - the group of Yuri Izotov, under whose protection were Babrak Karmal and other members of the government. They lived there, at the airfield, in caponiers, and everything was furnished so secret that neither I nor anyone from my group knew about the location of Karmal. If there was a leak, they would all be slammed by Amin's men. So everything was VERY serious. The jokes were over. Or us - or we ...

When we saw the object that was to be taken by the forces of two platoons, we immediately quieted down. We were opposed by 200 guards of Amin's guard, occupying a perfectly protected "tough nut". They took the palace with the following forces: 500 people (battalion) of the GRU - "musbat" and the KGB special forces. The task of the "musbat" is to implement external blocking. Some of their fighters also really sat at the levers of combat vehicles - ordinary conscripts, mostly of Tajik and Uzbek nationality. There were 48 of us - fighters from the KGB special forces. 24 officers from Thunder and 24 from Zenit.

They began to prepare for battle. For several days, in order to dull the vigilance of the palace security, we accustomed the guards to the noise of car engines, deliberately drove back and forth at night, practiced disembarking from the BMP on the move. To the questions of the guardsmen, they reasonably answered that we were conducting exercises. Two days before the assault, they settled down in the barracks, changed into the uniform of the Afghan army, sewed additional pockets for grenades and shops on it ... We broke up in fives, each dragged 45 kilos of ammunition, and settled in their cars. We - the Grom group - were in the BMP, the Zenit men were in the armored personnel carriers. There were nine cars in total. Five - at "Thunder" and four - at "Zenith". On the day of the operation, I was worried and jittery. None of our real experience of military operations had ... They drank 150 grams each. Before landing on the technique, I retired to tune in. I said goodbye to my family and loved ones, just in case. One of my commanders, Balashov, teased me just before the jump: "Right now, let's see how the saboteurs behave in battle!" It pissed me off.

The beginning of the assault - 19.00. Immediately, the first car was knocked out at the very top, before driving to the upper platform near the Taj Bek. The second "armor" pushed her, and I rode in the third. In total, the guards burned two of our armored personnel carriers and damaged one BMP. Perhaps our five were lucky that they managed to "drive the limousine" to the very porch, almost stopped at the steps! The front doors were taken out of the BMP turret cannon (one second), dismounted (two seconds) and jumped under the canopy (three more seconds). I landed first. Then we covered the landing (half a minute), then, under fire from the guards, we infiltrated the hall of the palace (five minutes, or even less). In battle, time passed unusually slowly. Every dash, every throw from column to column, from corner to wall - these seconds, they were so long, my legs did not want to move, and I still remember some of the columns, because I looked at them and thought I would have time to reach hide behind?

The fight itself in the hall took another five minutes. It was necessary to act quickly. Swiftly!

In the beginning there was chaos. We were all not shot. When you shoot people live, and they shoot you, when you run past your corpses, when you slip on their blood ... How many guardsmen did I kill in battle then? I don’t remember, honestly ... Maybe five, maybe more ... Knowing that our strength is becoming less and less every second (we have already had people killed and seriously wounded), I immediately ran up the front staircase to the second floor. Kolomeets ran after me. Not reaching two steps to the top of the flight of stairs, I had to lie down: the fire was dense, and the grenades fell like cucumbers. Some, however, did not explode ... The Afghans with whom we fought were athletic guys, under two meters tall, many were trained at the Ryazan Airborne Force School. One such athlete in front of my eyes was removed from the "Fly" Anisimov. He shot from below, from a distance of 15 meters. A tall Afghan machine gunner, sitting on the balcony with a light machine gun, crashed down onto the floor of the marble hall with a crash. After the fall, he ... got up to his full height, walked four meters to the porch, sat down near the column and died there.

I threw a grenade at the door of the meeting room of the Council of Ministers. It was located to the left of the glass door of the dictator's private quarters. I did not calculate the force of the throw, the grenade hit the wall and bounced towards me. Fortunately, the brace prevented it from rolling smoothly, and the explosion went into the column. I was just shell-shocked and doused with marble chips. Kolomeets could not stand the stress and ran downstairs. I don’t blame him, of course, especially since he was wounded in battle. Turning over on my back, I began to shoot prone, from bottom to top, at the guards, this duel continued for another half a minute. Then I looked around and realized that on the patch in front of the entrance to the terrace of the second floor I was left ... alone. I continued to shoot until I ran out of ammunition. Immediately I found a dead corner, where bullets and shrapnel did not reach. Covering myself with the walls and taking advantage of the fact that the rapid-fire "Shilka", firing from the outside, did not allow the guardsmen to protrude in this area, I "chirped" cartridges into the magazine from the bag. I packed five or six magazines out of a sack, and then Golov, Karpukhin, Berlev and Semyonov climbed the stairs ...

So, there were five of us at this door, and it was necessary to act. Move on. Until the guards figured out to take up a perimeter defense and crushed us. I kicked the glass door with my foot and threw a grenade inside. A deafening explosion. Then immediately a wild, heart-rending, piercing female cry “Amin! Amine! Amin! ”, Scattered along the corridors and floors. Jumping into the room, I saw Amin's wife first. She sobbed loudly, sitting over the corpse of the dictator. There was no longer any doubt that Hafizullah Amin was dead. He was lying on the floor, wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. He lay on his side, in a pool of his own blood, gnarled and somehow small. The room was dark, we shone with flashlights and made sure that everything was ready. It just so happened that my grenade exploded in the very depths of the small room, killing Amin himself, hiding behind his women and children, and wounding his household. I remember that in addition to Amin's family, we found our nurse from a team of Soviet doctors in the room, assigned to the dictator after an attempt to poison him ...

If the guards took up a perimeter defense and managed to hold out until their fifth tank army approached, then we would have had a very difficult time, but almost immediately after the elimination of Amin, his guards began to surrender. They were seated in the hallway, on the floor, on their haunches, hands on the back of their heads. And they filled up the whole hall and lobby ...

For the official identification of Amin's corpse, our Afghan comrades Gulabzoy and Sarvari were invited, who later ordered me to be taken out of the palace at any cost and delivered to our embassy. It took us three hours. Were bored. Either the BMP stalls, then we get lost. Then, after their speech on the Kabul radio, in which they spoke about the "victory of the people over the bloody dictator," we fiddled with them for three more days until we returned to our location.

The Kabul operation of the KGB special forces went down in the history of the world's secret services. The history of the department did not know anything like this before. Nevertheless, this was the political will of the leadership of our state. Now I think that there was no need to go there, to Afghan. And now I would not go there. It is a pity for the Soviet guys, who for ten years laid down their heads "beyond the river", and those who were crippled in a foreign country, and then forgotten by our state.

I was decommissioned from the authorities in 1982 with the rank of senior lieutenant. After being fired, I could not find a job for three years. First I went to work at the plant. Again as a welder. Then he got a job in the security service of a hotel. I was silent about my work in the KGB special forces for twenty years.

Later I heard a story about the fact that in case the assault drowned out, there was an order to cover the palace with “Grad” with everyone who would be there. I don't know if this is true or not. Many of our people believe in it. There was also a rumor that the plane we flew home was supposed to be shot down. Well, so as not to leave witnesses ... On the other hand - why weren't they shot down? And the assault itself, the battle itself with guards, without cleaning, took about forty minutes, at most an hour. But it seemed like an eternity to me. We were few. The only advantages of the KGB special forces on the evening of December 27, 1979 were only speed, Russian mate and luck. I often think back to that evening in December. Many of the KGB special forces consider December 27 their second birthday.

* * *
"In the hospital, we danced with joy that we had survived in hell near Kabul ..."

Repin Alexander Georgievich, colonel of the KGB of the USSR, worked in the KGB - from 1974 to 1998, an operative in the second set of Group "A" since 1978.

At the time when the Kabul epic started, I was in the rank of ensign and I was only 26 years old. I, like most of my colleagues in the Group, was born in peacetime, and I could only imagine what war was from films about the Great Patriotic War, I had no combat experience. I was summoned to the emergency department. Everyone was gathered in Lenin's room and announced that we were going on a business trip. Each was given a bottle of vodka and a set of equipment: a bulletproof vest, reinforced with ammunition, an assault rifle, a pistol. I also received an SVD sniper rifle. We took quite a lot of warm clothes, because the previous shift told us: "The warmth is not waiting for you there." To tell you the truth, the winter nights in Afghanistan are very cold, and we, in addition to dressing very warmly, were warmed by vodka for sleep. We departed on board Andropov from Chkalovsky, before the flight, Serega Kuvylin managed to photograph us, despite the prohibitions of special officers. He also took pictures of us - there, in Bagram and in the "musbat". If not for him, there would have been no historical memory of the Kabul operation. I flew in a plane next to Dima Volkov, who later died in battle in Kabul. Some of our vodkas were printed on the plane. Before landing, the Tu-154 suddenly turned off all landing lights. They sat down in complete darkness. A minute before the wheels touched the takeoff of Bagram, Romanov commanded everyone: "Charge!" This was the very first sign that something serious was in store for us. However, they sat down safely, "normally," as they say.

The next day, upon arrival, we went to shoot the weapons. Golovatov was my teacher. He prepared me well. I understood that the entire outcome of the operation could depend on the effectiveness of the sniper's work. I already knew that in the mountainous thin air, the bullet flies along a different trajectory, as if being attracted to the ground, so before work it was necessary to understand what the excess was, to make corrections on the sights. We have done it. They settled us in one of the musbat barracks. The food in the battalion was well organized, and I remember that I slept excellently all the nights I spent near Kabul. Nothing bothered. When the entire future Politburo of Afghanistan was brought to the Musbat on the evening of December 26, they were not shown to anyone. I had no idea who was being delivered. All were hidden in a separate room, in the most inconspicuous corner of the battalion's location. In addition to the external security of the "musbat" itself, guards were also set up around the perimeter of the premises where unknown persons were hiding. V. Grishina and I were assigned to guard the night. I remember that that night it was very cold, and we envied with black envy our employees N. Shvachko and P. Klimov, who closed themselves together with the unknown from the inside and, as we suspected, drank tea with them or something stronger. Thus the night passed. The next day, Romanov finally told us that an order had been received to storm the residence of the President of Afghanistan, the Taj Bek Palace, and to destroy the "X-Man" who was in the palace. No special political work was carried out, no one was gathered and no lectures were given, but they simply said that “unhealthy forces” were striving for power in a friendly country and we need to help stop them. Before that, there were already “quiet” conversations in the battalion that we would take by storm the handsome palace, located on the mountain, directly above us, 15 minutes away along the serpentine, and joked about the assault stairs. We even began to put together them, according to the order of Romanov. Mikhail Mikhailovich also instructed to "drive" the equipment so that the palace guards got used to the noise of military vehicles, and to conduct a reconnaissance. I did not take all this seriously then, because of my youth. No, I understood that real combat work was ahead, that it would be necessary to shoot, including at live targets, and I was ready for this. But until the very moment of landing from the BMP, I had no idea what kind of hell awaited us. On the evening of December 27, we started to the Taj Bek. I sat farthest to the exit from the car. Together with me were Major Romanov, Captain II Rank Evald Kozlov, G. Tolstikov, E. Mazaev and one of the opposition leaders A. Sarvari - a future member of the Afghan government.

Thirty years have passed. This is now for everyone and everything is clear. And then ... I had no idea what a storm of fire would fall on us, and I was completely unprepared for the development of the situation. When landing, I noticed that Kozlov was sitting without a bulletproof vest. Now I think that he knew more than we did and assumed that we didn’t care p ... t. I was in armor, in a "Tigovskaya" helmet, armed with an assault rifle, a pistol, an RPG-7 and an SVD, which I never got out of the BMP. As soon as we approached the palace, several thousand invisible men, armed with hammers, surrounded our BMP and began to loudly thresh at the armor. It was a hail of bullets hitting us. For a few moments we sat in armor and listened to these "hammers". Then Romanov gave the command: "To the car!" As soon as I touched the ground, something hit painfully on my legs and warmth flowed down my left leg. Immediately I did not attach any importance to this. The body was mobilized to complete the task - it was necessary to extinguish the enemy's firing points, to cover their assaults. Zhenya Mazayev and I immediately opened fire from machine guns from behind the parapet at the windows of the palace. It was about 25 meters to the porch of the building, and I saw the results of my work. A guard fell out of two windows after I fired at them. We worked for about fifteen minutes. Then Romanov again commanded: "To the car!" He decided to jump on the armor to the very porch of the palace. I took a step and suddenly my legs refused. I sank on my right knee, tried to get up, but neither the right nor the left listened to me. I shouted to Mazayev: “Zhenya! I can't go! " Then they went to the BMP to the main entrance, and I was left alone in an open, shot-through place, all the same 25 meters from the palace. I realized that I was seriously wounded by a grenade that exploded right at my feet. Out of anger, I fired all five RPG-7 shots at the windows of the palace, after which I somehow began to hobble to its walls. I moved on my knees. All around, everything rumbled and cracked. Shilki were beating from behind, and the defenders of Taj Bek were in front. How I was not killed in this hell - I can’t put my mind to it. I got to the side porch. Gena Kuznetsov was sitting on the steps, also wounded in the legs. He, apparently, was still seriously wounded, because he spoke inadequately. I knew about the order not to provide assistance to the wounded until the main task was completed and wanted to leave him there and move to the main entrance, but he began to persuade me not to leave him and help. I started to bandage him. As it turned out later, out of excitement (for the first time I had healed a real wound), I excellently bandaged both the wounded and absolutely healthy leg! (The doctors later laughed heartily in the infirmary). Yes, in this hell I was also inadequate ...

Imagine: I gave part of my equipped ammunition to a soldier from the "Musbat", who was especially fiercely eager to fight and "watered" around the palace, telling everyone that “they, these, from the palace, killed my brother” and that now he “will tear everyone up ". I also gave something to Kuznetsov, and I climbed to recharge myself ... on the platform, brightly lit by the palace's searchlight. An ideal target - and I did not realize the illogicality of my actions! Only after Fedoseev's loud obscenities returned me to reality, I returned to Gennady and already equipped the shops there, behind the columns. There were still ten meters to the main entrance, which we - two invalids, Kuznetsov and Repin - nevertheless overcame with a sin in half. At the very entrance we were met by colleagues from Zenit and said: "Let's row to Emyshev!" Kuznetsov stayed with Petrovich, whose arm was torn off at the very beginning of the battle in the hall, and I hobbled to the front staircase, where I again ran into the delighted Mazayev. He smiled at me and shouted: "And Mikhalych (Romanov) told me that you already p ... c!" It made me laugh too. I thought, "I'll live some more."

It has already become known that the "Main" - the end. The guardsmen began to surrender. Romanov ordered me to go to the hospital together with other wounded - Baev, Fedoseyev and Kuznetsov. Together with us was the body of the Soviet doctor Kuznechenkov, who was killed during the assault. On the way, we, as it should be, got lost and almost stopped at the barracks of Amin's guards. But that is not all. At the entrance to the embassy, ​​our own paratroopers fired at us. A vigorous Russian mat came to the rescue again! In the Soviet embassy itself, disturbed like a bee hive and turned into a temporary medical battalion, everyone was on their ears. The wives of our diplomats sobbed as they looked at the wounded commandos. We were operated on, and the next day we were sent to Tashkent by special plane.

We celebrated the new 1980th year in Uzbekistan. We walked well then! Local comrades from the KGB department in Uzbekistan rendered us every assistance in this, creating all the conditions. And there they let us go! There, in the hospital, my friends and I began to realize WHAT it was! Forgetting our wounds, we danced with joy that we had survived the December hell near Kabul. Seryoga Kuvylin, not paying attention to his foot crippled by BMP tracks, “fried” the hopak! The next day, his leg hurt, but it was nothing ... It was still funny with Gena Kuznetsov: we rolled him out in a wheelchair into the corridor to set the table in the ward, and forgot about the hungry and sober Gennady! He yelled at us and knocked from the corridor - it's useless! They remembered about him when everyone had already drunk!

Two days later, just before the operation, I passed out in the corridor. He walked and fell. I woke up already on the operating table, where they had to remove the remaining small fragments from my legs. By the way, everything was never deleted. Seven pieces remain.

* * *
The end follows ...

By the twenty-fifth anniversary of the date of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, we publish a story about the storming of the palace of President Hafizullah Amin.

The development of the situation in Afghanistan in 1979 - armed actions of the Islamic opposition, mutinies in the army, internal party struggles and especially the events of September 1979, when the leader of the PDPA N. Taraki was arrested and then killed by order of H. Amin, who removed him from power - caused a serious anxiety among the Soviet leadership. It watched Amin's activities at the head of Afghanistan with caution, knowing his ambition and brutality in the struggle to achieve personal goals. Under Amin, terror unfolded in the country not only against the Islamists, but also against the PDPA members who were Taraki's supporters. The repressions also affected the army, the main support of the PDPA, which led to the fall of its already low morale and caused mass desertions and revolts. The Soviet leadership feared that a further exacerbation of the situation in Afghanistan would lead to the fall of the PDPA regime and the coming to power of forces hostile to the USSR. Moreover, the KGB received information about Amin's connections with the CIA in the 1960s and about secret contacts of his emissaries with American officials after the assassination of Taraki.

Participants in the operation
The plan of the operation was approved by representatives of the KGB of the USSR and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (B.S.Ivanov, S.K.Magometov), ​​endorsed by Lieutenant General N.N. Major of the KGB V. A. Kirpichenko (deputy head of the KGB PGU), E. S. Kuzmin, L. P. Bogdanov and V. I. Osadchim (resident of the KGB of the USSR). The management of forces and means was carried out from the Mikron command post, deployed at the stadium, here were generals Nikolai Nikitovich Guskov, Sultan Kekezovich Magometov, Boris Semenovich Ivanov and Yevgeny Semenovich Kuzmin, as well as from the Soviet embassy, ​​where General Vadim Alekseevich Kirpichenko and Colonel Leonid Pavlovich Bogdanov ensured the coordination of their actions and monitored changes in the situation in the country. They were constantly in direct contact with Moscow. The actions of the KGB special groups were led by Major General Y. Drozdov, and the “Muslim battalion” was led by Colonel of the GRU V. Kolesnik.
The direct leadership of the assault was carried out by Colonel of the KGB Grigory Ivanovich Boyarinov, head of the advanced training courses for officers (KUOS) of the KGB of the USSR. The participants in the assault were divided into two groups: "Thunder" - 24 people. (fighters of the Alpha group, commander - deputy chief of the Alpha group MM Romanov) and Zenit - 30 people. (officers of the special reserve of the KGB of the USSR, graduates of the KUOS; commander - Yakov Fedorovich Semyonov). In the "second echelon" were soldiers of the so-called "Muslim battalion" of Major Kh. T. Khalbaev (520 people) and the 9th company of the 345th separate guards parachute regiment under the leadership of senior lieutenant Valery Vostrotin (80 people).
The attackers wore no insignia Afghan uniforms with a white armband on their sleeves. The password for identifying their own people was the shouts "Yasha" - "Misha".

Storm
In the afternoon of December 27, during lunch, H. Amin and many of his guests felt unwell, some, including Amin, fainted. This was the result of a special KGB operation. Amin's wife immediately called the commander of the presidential guard, who began to call the Central Military Hospital and the Soviet Embassy's polyclinic to call for help. The food and juice were immediately sent for examination, and the cooks were detained. A group of Soviet doctors and an Afghan doctor arrived at the palace. Soviet doctors, unaware of the special operation, assisted Amin. These events alerted the Afghan guards.

At 19:10 a group of Soviet saboteurs in a car approached the hatch of the central distribution center of underground communications, drove over it and "stalled". While the Afghan sentry was approaching them, a mine was lowered into the hatch and after 5 minutes an explosion thundered, leaving Kabul without a telephone connection.

The assault began at 19:30 local time. Fifteen minutes before the start of the assault, soldiers of one of the groups of the "Muslim" battalion, passing through the location of the third Afghan guard battalion, saw that an alarm had been declared in the battalion - the commander and his deputies were standing in the center of the parade ground, and the personnel were receiving weapons and ammunition. The vehicle carrying the scouts of the "Muslim" battalion stopped near the Afghan officers and they were captured, but the Afghan soldiers opened fire after the retreating vehicle. The scouts of the "Muslim" battalion lay down and opened fire on the attacking guards. The Afghans lost more than two hundred people killed. The snipers, meanwhile, removed the sentries from the tanks dug into the ground near the palace.

Then two self-propelled anti-aircraft guns ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" of the "Muslim" battalion opened fire on the palace, and two more - on the location of the Afghan tank guard battalion in order to prevent its personnel from reaching the tanks. The crews of the AGS-17 "Muslim" battalion opened fire on the location of the second guard battalion, preventing the personnel from leaving the barracks.

On 4 armored personnel carriers, the KGB special forces moved to the palace. One car was hit by Kh. Amin's guards. Units of the "Muslim" battalion provided the outer ring of cover. Having burst into the palace, the storming men "cleaned" floor by floor, using grenades in the premises and firing from machine guns.

When Amin learned about the attack on the palace, he ordered his adjutant to inform the Soviet military advisers about it, saying: "The Soviets will help." When the adjutant reported that it was the Soviets who were attacking, Amin in a rage threw an ashtray at him and shouted "You're lying, it can't be!"

Although a significant part of the soldiers of the guard brigade surrendered (about 1700 people were captured in total), some of the brigade's divisions continued to resist. In particular, the "Muslim" battalion fought with the remnants of the third battalion of the brigade for another day, after which the Afghans left for the mountains.

Simultaneously with the assault on the Taj Bek palace, KGB special forces groups with the support of the paratroopers of the 345th paratrooper regiment, as well as the 317th and 350th regiments of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, captured the general headquarters of the Afghan army, the communications center, the KhAD buildings and Ministry of Internal Affairs, radio and television. Afghan units stationed in Kabul were blocked (in some places it was necessary to suppress armed resistance).

On the night of December 27-28, the new Afghan leader B. Karmal arrived in Kabul from Bagram, guarded by KGB officers and paratroopers. Radio Kabul broadcast an appeal of the new ruler to the Afghan people, in which the "second stage of the revolution" was proclaimed. The Soviet newspaper Pravda wrote on December 30 that "as a result of the rising wave of popular anger, Amin, along with his henchmen, was brought before a just people's court and was executed."

Losses
During the assault on Taj Bek, 5 officers of the KGB special forces, 6 people from the "Muslim battalion" and 9 paratroopers were killed. The head of the operation, Colonel Boyarinov, was also killed. Almost all of the participants in the operation were injured. Also, from the fire of his own people, a Soviet military doctor who was in the palace, Colonel V.P. Kuznechenkov, was killed (he was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner).

On the opposite side, Kh. Amin, his two young sons and about 200 Afghan guards and servicemen were killed. The wife of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sh. Vali, who was in the palace, was also killed. Amina's widow and their daughter, wounded during the assault, after serving several years in a Kabul prison, then left for the USSR.

The killed Afghans, including two young sons of Amin, were buried in a mass grave not far from the palace. Amin was buried there, but separately from the others. No headstone was placed on the grave.

Awards
In April 1980, about 400 KGB officers of the USSR who were involved in the operation were awarded orders and medals. About 300 officers and soldiers of the "Muslim" battalion also received government awards.
For the heroism shown in Operation Storm 333, the storming of Amin's Taj-bek palace in Dar-ul-Aman during the Afghan war, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to:

• Boyarinov, Grigory Ivanovich (PSU KGB of the USSR) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated 04/28/1980 (posthumously).


• Isakov, Mikhail Ivanovich (USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated 04.10.1980


• Karpukhin, Viktor Fedorovich (PSU KGB of the USSR) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of 04/28/1980


• Kozlov, Evald Grigorievich (PGU KGB of the USSR) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated 04/28/1980


• Kolesnik, Vasily Vasilievich (General Staff of the Armed Forces) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of 04/28/1980

The assault on Amin's palace- a special operation codenamed "Storm-333", preceding the beginning of the participation of Soviet troops in the Afghan war 1979-1989. , during which the special forces of the KGB of the USSR and the Soviet Army at the Taj-Bek residence 34 ° 27'17 ″ s. NS. 69 ° 06′48 ″ in. etc. HGI AMOL in the Dar-ul-Aman region of Kabul on December 27, 1979, Afghan President Hafizullah Amin was assassinated.

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The decision to eliminate Amin

The development of the situation in Afghanistan in 1979 - armed actions of the Islamic opposition, mutinies in the army, internal party struggles and, especially, the events of September 1979, when the leader of the PDPA N. Taraki was arrested and then killed by order of H. Amin, who removed him from power - caused serious concern among the Soviet leadership. It watched Amin's activities at the head of Afghanistan with caution, knowing his ambition and brutality in the struggle to achieve personal goals. Under Amin, terror unfolded in the country not only against the Islamists, but also against the PDPA members, former supporters of Taraki. The repressions also affected the army, the main support of the PDPA, which led to the fall of its already low morale and caused mass desertions and revolts. The Soviet leadership feared that a further exacerbation of the situation in Afghanistan would lead to the fall of the PDPA regime and the coming to power of forces hostile to the USSR. Moreover, the KGB received information about Amin's connections with the CIA in the 1960s and about secret contacts of his emissaries with American officials after the assassination of Taraki.

As a result, it was decided to eliminate Amin and replace him with a more loyal Soviet leader. As such, B. Karmal was considered, whose candidacy was supported by the chairman of the KGB, Yu. Andropov. At the end of November, when Amin demanded the replacement of the Soviet ambassador A. M. Puzanov, the chairman of the KGB Andropov and the Minister of Defense Ustinov were in agreement on the need for such a broad operation.

When developing the operation to overthrow Amin, it was decided to use the requests of Amin himself for Soviet military assistance (in total, from September to December 1979, there were 7 such appeals). In early December 1979, the so-called "Muslim battalion" was sent to Bagram (a special-purpose unit of the GRU, specially formed in the summer of 1979 from Soviet servicemen of Central Asian origin to guard Taraki and carry out special tasks in Afghanistan).

The decision to eliminate Amin and to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan was made at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on December 12, 1979.

To the position in "A".

1. To approve the considerations and measures outlined by vols. Andropov Yu. V., Ustinov DF, Gromyko AA Allow them to make adjustments of a non-fundamental nature in the course of these measures. Issues requiring a decision by the Central Committee should be submitted to the Politburo in a timely manner. The implementation of all these activities shall be entrusted to Comrades. Andropova Yu.V., Ustinova D.F., Gromyko A.A.

2. Instruct com. Yu. V. Andropov, DF Ustinov, AA Gromyko to inform the Politburo of the Central Committee about the progress of the planned measures.

Department 8 of Directorate "C" (illegal intelligence) of the KGB of the USSR developed the operation to destroy Amin "Agat", which was part of a larger invasion plan. On December 14, a battalion of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment was sent to Bagram to reinforce the battalion of the 111th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, which since July 7, 1979 has been guarding Soviet military transport in Bagram. aircraft and helicopters. At the same time, B. Karmal and several of his supporters were secretly brought to Afghanistan on December 14 and were in Bagram among Soviet servicemen. On December 16, an attempt was made to assassinate Amin, but he survived, and B. Karmal was urgently returned to the USSR. On December 20, a "Muslim battalion" was transferred from Bagram to Kabul, which entered the guard brigade of Amin's palace, which greatly facilitated preparations for the planned assault on this palace. For this operation, 2 KGB special groups also arrived in Afghanistan in mid-December.

In addition to ground forces, the 103rd Guards Airborne Division from Belarus was also prepared for transfer to Afghanistan, which was transferred to airfields in the Turkestan Military District on December 14.

On December 25, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began. In Kabul, units of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division by noon on December 27 completed the landing method and took control of the airport, blocking the Afghan aviation and air defense batteries. Other units of this division were concentrated in designated areas of Kabul, where they received tasks to blockade the main government agencies, Afghan military units and headquarters, and other important facilities in the city and its environs. After a skirmish with Afghan servicemen, the 357th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 103rd Division and the 345th Guards Parachute Regiment were established over the Bagram airfield. They also provided security for B. Karmal, who was brought back to Afghanistan on December 23 with a group of his closest supporters.

Participants in the operation

The plan of the operation was approved by representatives of the KGB of the USSR and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (B.S.Ivanov, S.K.Magometov), ​​endorsed by Lieutenant General N.N. Major of the KGB V.A.Kirpichenko (deputy head of the KGB PGU, according to documents from Mitrokhin's archives, he was the head of Department "C" (illegal intelligence)), E. S. Kuzmin, L. P. Bogdanov and V. I. Osadchim ( resident of the KGB of the USSR). The management of forces and means was carried out from the Mikron command post, deployed at the stadium, there were generals Nikolai Nikitovich Guskov, Sultan Kekezovich Magometov, Boris Semenovich Ivanov and Yevgeny Semenovich Kuzmin, as well as a representative of the Soviet embassy in the DRA, where General Vadim Alekseevich Kirpichenko and Colonel Leonid Pavlovich Bogdanov ensured the coordination of the actions of the units and monitored changes in the situation in the country. They were constantly in direct contact with Moscow. The actions of the KGB special groups were led by Major General Y. Drozdov, and the “Muslim battalion” was led by Colonel of the GRU V. Kolesnik.

The general supervision of the operation "Agat" to assassinate Amin was carried out by the head of the 8th KGB Department (sabotage and intelligence of foreign special forces), Vladimir Krasovsky, who flew to Kabul. General management of Operation Agat was carried out by his deputy A. I. Lazarenko (archive of the KGB Mitrokhin, volume 1, chapter 4). The direct leadership of the assault was carried out by Colonel of the KGB Grigory Ivanovich Boyarinov, head of the advanced courses for officers (KUOS of the KGB of the USSR) (according to the archive of the KGB Mitrokhin, volume 1, chapter 4, - the school for preparation for special.operations under Division 8, located in Balashikha). The participants in the assault were divided into two groups: "Thunder" - 24 people. (fighters of the Alpha group, commander - deputy chief of the Alpha group MM Romanov) and Zenit - 30 people. (officers of the special reserve of the KGB of the USSR, graduates of the KUOS; commander - Yakov Fedorovich Semyonov). In the "second echelon" were soldiers of the so-called "Muslim battalion" of Major Kh. T. Khalbaev (520 people) and the 9th company of the 345th separate guards parachute regiment under the leadership of senior lieutenant Valery Vostrotin (80 people).

The attackers wore no insignia Afghan uniforms with a white armband on their sleeves. The password for identifying their own people was the shouts "Yasha" - "Misha". In order to sound masking of the retractable armored personnel carriers, a few days before the assault, a tractor was driven around the palace not far from the palace so that the guards got used to the noise of the engines.

Storm

In the afternoon of December 27, during lunch, H. Amin and many of his guests felt unwell, some, including Amin, fainted. This was the result of a special KGB action (the main chef of the palace was Mikhail Talibov, an Azerbaijani, a KGB agent, two Soviet waitresses were serving). Amin's wife immediately called the commander of the presidential guard, who began to call the Central Military Hospital and the Soviet Embassy's polyclinic to call for help. The food and juice were immediately sent for examination, and the cooks were detained. A group of Soviet doctors and an Afghan doctor arrived at the palace. Soviet doctors, unaware of the special operation, helped Amin. These events alerted the Afghan guards.

At 19:10 a group of Soviet saboteurs in a car approached the hatch of the central distribution center of underground communications, drove over it and "stalled". While the Afghan sentry was approaching them, a mine was lowered into the hatch and after 5 minutes an explosion thundered, leaving Kabul without a telephone connection. This explosion was also the signal for the start of the assault.

The assault began at 19:30 local time. Fifteen minutes before the start of the assault, soldiers of one of the groups of the "Muslim" battalion, passing through the location of the third Afghan guard battalion, saw that an alarm had been declared in the battalion - the commander and his deputies were standing in the center of the parade ground, and the personnel were receiving weapons and ammunition. The vehicle carrying the scouts of the "Muslim" battalion stopped near the Afghan officers and they were captured, but the Afghan soldiers opened fire after the retreating vehicle. The scouts of the "Muslim" battalion lay down and opened fire on the attacking guards. The Afghans lost more than two hundred people killed. The snipers, meanwhile, removed the sentries from the tanks dug into the ground near the palace.

Then two self-propelled anti-aircraft guns ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" of the "Muslim" battalion opened fire on the palace, and two more - on the location of the Afghan tank guard battalion in order to prevent its personnel from reaching the tanks. The crews of the AGS-17 "Muslim" battalion opened fire on the location of the second guard battalion, preventing the personnel from leaving the barracks.

On the night of December 27-28, the new Afghan leader B. Karmal arrived in Kabul from Bagram, guarded by KGB officers and paratroopers. Radio Kabul broadcast the appeal of the new ruler to the Afghan people, in which the "second stage of the revolution" was proclaimed. On December 30, the Soviet newspaper Pravda wrote that "as a result of the rising wave of popular anger, Amin, along with his henchmen, was brought before a just people's court and was executed." Karmal praised the heroism of the KGB and GRU troops who stormed the palace, saying: “When we have our own awards, we will reward all Soviet troops and security officers who participated in the hostilities with them. We hope that the government of the USSR will award these comrades with orders ”(Mitrokhin KGB archive, volume 1, chapter 4).

Losses

On the opposite side, Kh. Amin, his two young sons and about 200 Afghan guards and servicemen were killed. The wife of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sh. Vali, who was in the palace, was also killed. Amina's widow and their daughter, wounded during the assault, after serving several years in a Kabul prison, then left for the USSR. [ ]

The killed Afghans, including two young sons of Amin, were buried in a mass grave not far from the palace. Amin was buried there, but separately from the others. No headstone was placed on the grave.

Outcomes

Despite the fact that the operation was successful in military terms, the very fact of the assassination of the head of state was interpreted by Western countries as evidence of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and the next leaders of the DRA (Karmal, Najibullah) were called puppet leaders by the leadership of these countries.

Awards

In April 1980, about 400 KGB officers of the USSR who were involved in the operation were awarded orders and medals. About 300 officers and soldiers of the "Muslim" battalion also received government awards. First Deputy Head of the KGB Foreign Intelligence Department, Colonel Lazarenko, was awarded the rank of Major General, the head of support for illegal residents in Kabul Ismail Murtuza Ogly Aliyev was awarded the Order of the Red Star, as well as other persons from the assault groups (Mitrokhin KGB archive, volume 1, Appendix 2).

For the heroism shown in Operation Storm 333, during the assault on Amin's Taj-Bek palace in Dar-ul-Aman during the Afghan war, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to:

1. Boyarinov, Grigory Ivanovich (PSU KGB of the USSR) - Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces dated 04/28/1980 (posthumously).
2. Karpukhin, Viktor Fedorovich (PSU KGB of the USSR) -