With the 1970s coming to a close, the Cold
War was seemingly going through a lull, and tensions between the United States and the
USSR were easing. This would all change right before the end
of the decade, with the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan – a conflict of global proportions,
albeit indirectly, due to the fact that a great number of the world’s powers were
involved. Its significance is frequently overlooked,
which is especially surprising if we consider the fact that the conflict’s reverberations
can be felt to this day in almost every corner of the world. If you’re interested in the history of this
era, don’t forget to check out our second channel, the Cold War. The link is in the top-right corner. These 3d videos are difficult to make, so
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the description to get a Golden chest, 500 coins, and 50 diamonds worth 6$. Afghanistan was recognized as a sovereign
country in 1919, after a war with the British. The country subsequently established close
ties with its largest neighbor, the Soviet Union. Over the next 5 decades, the USSR’s influence
in Afghanistan would only grow, with Afghanistan’s economy and military becoming dependent on
the Soviet Union. Thousands of Afghan soldiers were trained
in the USSR, many embracing Marxist ideals and they would found the People’s Democratic
Party of Afghanistan in 1965. In 1973, Afghanistan’s monarchy was abolished
in a coup and Mohammad Daoud Khan would become the first President of the country. Five years later, a high-ranking member of
the PDPA was assassinated, culminating in another coup, led by the PDPA, and the murder
of Khan. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was
established on the 28th of April, with Nur Mohammad Taraki becoming its President and
Hafizullah Amin Prime Minister. Taraki’s political reforms, most notably
the ones regarding education and marriage, horrified conservative rural sensibilities,
in turn encouraging resistance on religious grounds. The PDPA lacked any real ability to rule the
country so they responded with severe repression towards any unrest. Counterproductively, the repression united
the opposition against Taraki’s government and the DRA slowly began losing control of
the countryside to Islamic resistance movements, collectively known as the Mujahideen. On March 15th, 1979, an uprising began in
Herat. The central government sent the 17th division
of the army to defeat the uprising, however, the soldiers mutinied and joined the insurrection. The uprising was eventually quelled, but it
became evident to everyone that the DRA’s army was in a state of disrepair. This weakness of the Afghan government further
strengthened the Mujahideen insurgency, with uprisings breaking out everywhere. The Afghan government managed to secure a
treaty that ensured the aid of the Soviet troops. Nonetheless, Brezhnev and the rest of the
Soviet leadership were not eager to enter any direct conflict. Meanwhile, the relationship between Taraki
and Amin also began to sour, climaxing in Taraki’s assassination in October 1979. Amin set out to undo many of Taraki’s reforms,
but it was too little too late. The Afghan people still hated him and the
DRA’s control of the countryside became nominal or non-existent. Following the assassination of Taraki, the
Soviet leadership began viewing Amin as a weak and volatile leader, whose days were
numbered. They argued that if a radical Islamic regime
would come to power in Afghanistan, they would foment unrest in Soviet Central Asia, an area
with a considerable Muslim population. On December 12th, Brezhnev and his key advisors
held a secretive meeting, where it was most likely decided to assassinate Amin. After a failed poisoning attempt, Soviet advisors
instructed Amin to move to the isolated Tajbeg palace for his own safety. In reality, it was simply easier for the Soviets
to assassinate him there than in the Presidential palace. In early December, Soviet special forces consisting
of KGB and GRU operatives arrived in Afghanistan. They were later joined by the 345th Airborne
Regiment. Amin’s desired replacements, Babrak Karmal
and Anahita Ratebzad were also brought in Afghanistan illegally on the 7th. These special forces were under the overall
command of General Yuri Drozdov, the chief of the Directorate of Illegal Intelligence
of the KGB. They were mostly deployed to the strategically
important Bagram airfield and the Hindu Kush, where Amin’s opposition was hiding. On December 24th, the Soviet Minister of Defense
signed a directive ordering the troops to “provide international help to the Democratic
Republic of Afghanistan” and “avert possible threats to the Soviet Union”. The 40th Army was chosen for the invasion
of Afghanistan, with General-Lieutenant Tukharinov leading it. Advance divisions of the invading force, under
the 40th Army, entered Afghanistan on the 25th, while engineers began building pontoon
bridges over the Amu Darya near Termez. This invasion force numbered around 80000
men. Soviet aircraft from the 105th and 103rd Airborne
Divisions also began landing near the border and in Bagram and Kabul. The 108th Motorized Rifle Division crossed
the newly-built pontoon bridges and started advancing towards Bagram and Kabul through
the main roads in the Hindu Kush. At the same time, the 5th Motorized Rifle
Division would advance from Kushka, in Turkmenistan, towards Herat and Kandahar. Amin was elated after hearing that Soviet
soldiers have entered the capital. It seemed that his wish had finally come to
fruition. Unfortunately for Amin, this story would be
one of history’s cautionary tales. On the 27th, Soviet special forces captured
12 points of interest in Kabul – major political institutions and communication hubs. Meanwhile, Soviet military advisors sabotaged
most of the DRA’s military near Kabul. Tanks were left without munition, soldiers
were ordered to check their storage for faulty ammo and batteries were taken out of vehicles
for winter maintenance. In spite of all signs pointing to the contrary,
Amin still believed that the Soviets were there to help him. One final attempt to resolve the situation
without the use of force was made around noon. Amin was poisoned yet again, but this time
the poison was effective and he, along with many of his advisors and family, ended up
in a coma. Even though the Afghan forces throughout the
city were left virtually useless, the Tajbeg palace was still heavily defended by more
than 2500 soldiers. There were guards in the palace, along with
a security cordon around the building and several outposts. An over-watch position was established on
a nearby hill, aided by three tanks, together with an anti-aircraft division. Additionally, the roads leading to the palace
were heavily guarded. The Soviet assault force consisted of at least
648 men, most of them from the Soviet Special Operation Forces - the Spetsnaz: including
520 GRU spetsnaz, known as the “Muslim battalion”, 80 paratroopers from the 9th company of the
345th Airborne Regiment, as well as 24 spetsnaz from the KGB special unit Zenit and another
24 spetsnaz from the elite KGB special unit A. Babrak Karmal promised 500 of his own guerillas
for the operation, but only one actually showed up. Soviet paratroopers were also placed further
along the roads to the palace to halt any possible reinforcements. Due to the fact that the palace was so well-defended,
the element of surprise was crucial for the offensive. Therefore, Soviet troops conducted decoy operations
on the 25th, 26th and the morning of the 27th. The Afghan defenders were told that these
were regular training maneuvers, so they lowered their guard. To help maintain the surprise, the Soviet
soldiers were also given Afghan military uniforms. The assault on the palace was supposed to
happen at 10pm, however, due to circumstances within the palace it was moved to 730pm. 20 minutes before the assault began, a group
of 14 men attacked the hill where the Afghan tanks and anti-air defenses were. Although the Afghans resisted, they were quickly
overpowered. Luckily for the Soviets, the crews were too
far from the tanks to reach them in time. From that position, Soviet troops even fired
several shells towards the palace. The anti-aircraft Shilka systems were also
captured and were used to fire during the offensive. The tank positions were supposed to be taken
silently, so the fire distraught Col. Kolesnik, one of the commanders. At 7:15, he gave the order to assault the
palace. Operation Storm-333 had begun. The Shilka’s were the first to open fire
on the palace. Two other guns fired at Afghan infantry batallions,
thus aiding the paratrooper company, which was supposed to capture Afghan outposts. The KGB and GRU spetsnaz started the direct
assault on the palace complex in armored personnel carriers. The first APC passed through the traffic barrier
and advanced on the curved road which led to the palace. After turning, machine guns and grenade launchers
started firing from the building. The road was heavily defended and in the line
of fire, however, all other approaches to the palace were turned into minefields. The second APC was quickly disabled by incoming
fire and the troops had to abandon it. Many were wounded at the Zenit sub-commander
was killed. The vehicles had machine guns at the top,
though their fire could only reach the 2nd floor. This left the Afghan soldiers on the 3rd and
4th floor in a substantially more comfortable position. Another APC ran into a brick wall only 20
meters from the palace and those men were also forced to fight on foot. Several other vehicles were also disabled. At 7:30, loud explosions were heard from Kabul,
which confused the Afghan defenders. These explosions took out the wires of the
main communication hub in the city and they were supposed to announce the start of the
operation. Soviet engineers, however, failed to start
the timer so the explosion was delayed. All possible Afghan reinforcements were now
headed towards the explosion. Most of the Soviet soldiers had managed to
get near to the palace but they had forgotten one very important thing. One of the Afghan security posts was not taken
out and those soldiers were free to fire on the assaulting forces from behind. An APC was gunned down near the outpost. This turned out to be a big mistake for the
Afghans, as those soldiers managed to quickly capture it after leaving the vehicle. Without any fire from the rear or the flanks,
the Soviets had an easier time advancing now. Proof of how intensely the defenders fought
was the fact that the first Soviet vehicle to reach the palace was from the third column. Those troops quickly left the vehicle, finding
cover near the entrance. The rest of the forces were still pinned down
by unrelenting fire from the palace. The spetsnaz commanders saw this as the crucial
point of the battle. They decided that they would advance quickly
towards the building, straight through the incoming fire. Other spetsnaz quickly followed, after a machine
gun nest had been taken out. At last in position for the final phase of
the assault, members of Alpha broke in through the front door while members of Zenit broke
in through a window on the right. Those KGB soldiers were the only Soviet troops
entering the building. According to one of the officers, the “Muslim
battalion” was ordered to stay outside. The two dozen KGB spetsnaz now had to deal
with Amin’s personal bodyguards, numbering about 150. The fighting continued room to room. The bodyguards resisted stubbornly, wounding
many of the Soviets. Ultimately, their resolve was also broken
after a fire broke out in the building. The GRU stifled all resistance on the outside. The majority of the Afghan soldiers surrendered
once they realized that they were being attacked by Soviet troops, rather than the Mujahideen. By now, Amin, aided by his Soviet doctors,
had woken up from his coma. He wandered into the palace bar, wearing nothing
but shorts and a T-shirt. Confused, he asked his men who were the attackers. To the very end, he would not believe that
the Soviets were behind it all. Only a few minutes afterwards, Amin was shot
down by a group A officer and subsequently blown up by a grenade. Operation Storm-333 finally came to an end. All of the Afghan soldiers were killed or
captured, while the Soviets lost 5 KGB and 5 GRU members respectively, along with 2 paratroopers. General Yuri Drozdov arrived at the palace
in the morning and made it his headquarters. After being assured that the mission was a
success, Babrak Karmal was flown into Kabul, to assume his new position as leader of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, radio and TV stations broadcasted
that Hafizullah Amin had been tried and shot as the enemy of the people and the republic. This act of aggression by the Soviet Union
appalled Afghanistan’s already unruly rural community. Even local leaders and mullahs who previously
were not opposed to Amin’s rule started agitating the general populace to rise up
against their common enemies. The mujahideen, consisting of several ideologically
diverse groups, also began working towards a united front of resistance. Ironically, what made the Soviet operation
so simple was Amin’s unwavering belief that he was fully backed by Moscow and that any
Soviet troops in Afghanistan would only be there to assist him. The easy part of the Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan was over. They were now left with a Herculean task,
however, pacifying a land known for its fervent resistance against foreign aggressors. In the next video in this mini-series we will
show if this task was achieved, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell
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