Which war was worse, the Afghan or the Chechen. Class hour dedicated to the participants of the Chechen and Afghan wars. Heroes of the Soviet Union from Chechnya

In 1973, the Daud (Saur) revolution took place,
overthrowing the monarchy in Afghanistan. First
Mohammed Daoud Khan becomes the President of Afghanistan
(cousin of the deposed king), who
relied on the People's Democratic Party
Afghanistan - PDPA. This party was formed in 1965
year and adhered to the pro-communist
orientation. In 1967, in view of tactical
disagreements, two wings took shape in it: "Khalys"
("People"), headed by N.M. Taraki and "Parchan" ("Banner")
headed by B. Karmal, who received their names from
factional newspapers of the same name.
The Afghan war lasted from December 25, 1979 to 15
February 1989, i.e. 2,238 days. December 25, 1979
year at 7 o'clock in the morning near the city of Termez two
pontoon bridge regiment began to build a pontoon
bridge

At 15.00, the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan began in
in accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR. First
scouts crossed, and then, under the leadership
General K. Kuzmin - 108th Motorized Rifle Division. In it
At the same time, military transport aviation began to transfer
by air of the main forces of the airborne division
separate parachute regiment to airfields
Kabul and Bagram. Until the last minute, the paratroopers did not
were privy to the plans of senior management. For
it took forty-seven
hours, during which 343 flights were made. to Kabul and
7,700 paratroopers and 894 units were delivered to Bagram
military equipment.
On December 27, the 103rd Airborne Division took over
control building of the Central Committee of the PDPA, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs,
Ministry of Communications and other important facilities of the capital
Afghanistan. Parts of the 108th motorized rifle division by the morning of 28
December concentrated northeast of Kabul.

military operation to bring Soviet troops into
Afghanistan can be divided into two stages: 1) 27-28
December, 2) December 29-31, 1979. At the first stage 27
December, the palace of Dar-ul-Aman was taken by storm,
Kabul radio and other important facilities.
The second step was to go
state border and marching along
routes Termez - Kabul - Ghazni and Kushka - Herat Kandahar, encircle the most important
administrative centers of the country. By doing this
task, the first motorized rifle division (12 thousand
people) moved in the direction of Kushka - Kandahar, and
other forces through Termez, Salang pass - to Bagram and
Kabul. Part of the Soviet troops from Kabul went to
Gardes.

Until January 1, 1980, 50 thousand
military personnel, including two airborne and two motorized rifle divisions. IN
January 1980, two more
motorized rifle divisions, and the total strength
Soviet troops reached 80 thousand people. IN
during the first half of 1980 the Soviet
the military contingent continued to grow,
especially at the expense of four regiments of combat aviation,
three helicopter and various independent brigades and
regiments.

Beginning in the winter of 1980/81, the opposition intensified
sabotage and terrorist activities. Instead of
large formations of 500-1000 people began
operate small detachments of 30-40 people, and even
smaller groups consisting of 2-3 terrorists.
The objects of sabotage were industrial
enterprises, transport, irrigation and
energy buildings. During these actions
opposition began to bear noticeable losses of the Soviet
military contingent, which primarily and
used to perform security tasks
state and other objects of the DRA.
If in 1979 the loss of personnel amounted to 86
people, then in 1980 - 1484, in 1981 - 1298, in 1982
- 1948, in 1983 - 1446, in 1984 - 2343, in 1985 - 1868, in 1986 -1333, in 1987 -1215, in 1988 - 759,
in 1989 - 53 people

Almost immediately after the introduction of Soviet troops began
attempt a political solution
"Afghan problem". However, only in 1986
DRA leadership put forward a policy program
national reconciliation. On this new course direct
influenced by the perestroika that began in the USSR and the new
political thinking of the Soviet leadership, led by
M.S. Gorbachev in the field of foreign policy. Politics
national reconciliation included: negotiations with
armed opposition; creating conditions for
repatriation of all refugees; political and
military amnesty for all Afghans who stopped fighting
against the existing government, and even
formation of a coalition government. As a result
of this new policy, new leaders came to the leadership of the PDPA
forces, and since May 1986 M.
Najibullah. November 30, 1987 in accordance with the new
Afghan constitution at a meeting of representatives
of all sections of the population, Najibullah was elected president
country.

After that, the DRA government allowed
unhindered return to their homeland for all refugees,
guaranteed the rights and freedoms of all citizens of the DRA,
stopped the armed struggle, and by October 1989
signed cessation of hostilities agreements with
2/3 of all field commanders of the Afghan opposition.
Meetings were held in late 1988 and early 1989
between representatives of the USSR and the Afghan opposition, and
also with representatives of the Pakistani, Iranian
leadership and former king of Afghanistan M. Zahir
Shah to end the war, restore peace in
country and the formation of a coalition government. IN
within the framework of these negotiations, the USSR confirmed that it would fulfill
fully taken over at Geneva on 14 April 1988
commitment to a political settlement
situation around Afghanistan. By February 15, 1989 was
completed the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan,
which was monitored by UN observers

10. Fellow villagers participating in the Afghan war

Matsyuk Alexander
Nikolaevich

11. 12. Zagorodny Vasily Alekseevich

13. 14. Chechen war

15.

First Chechen War (Chechen conflict 1994-1996
years. First Chechen campaign, Restoration
constitutional order in the Republic of Chechnya) - combat
actions in Chechnya and some settlements of neighboring
regions of the Russian North Caucasus in order to keep
Chechnya within Russia. Often referred to as "the first
Chechen war", although the official name of the conflict was
"measures to maintain constitutional order".
Conflict and events leading up to it
characterized by a large number of victims among
population, military and law enforcement agencies,
there were facts of genocide of the non-Chechen population in
Chechnya
Despite certain military successes of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Russia, the results of this conflict were the defeat and withdrawal
federal troops, mass destruction and casualties, de facto independence of Chechnya before the second Chechen
conflict and a wave of terror that swept across Russia

16.

Chechen conflict
In September 1991, Dudayev's people defeated
Grozny Supreme Soviet of the Chechen ASSR. deputies
beaten and thrown out of windows, as a result
the chairman of the City Council Vitaliy Kutsenko died.
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Ruslan
Khasbulatov then sent them a telegram “S
I learned with pleasure about the resignation of the Armed Forces of the Republic.
After the collapse of the USSR, Dzhokhar Dudayev announced
withdrawal of Chechnya from the Russian Federation and
on the establishment of the Republic of Ichkeria

17.

Since the summer of 1994, hostilities have unfolded in Chechnya.
between government troops loyal to Dudayev and
by the opposition Provisional Council. For example,
troops loyal to Dudayev carried out offensive
operations in opposition-controlled
troops Nadterechny and Urus-Martan districts. They are
accompanied by significant losses on both sides,
used tanks, artillery and mortars. Only in UrusMartan in October 1994, the Dudaevites lost 27 people
killed, according to the opposition The operation was planned by
personally Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the ChRI
A. Maskhadov. The commander of the opposition detachment in UrusMartan B. Gantamirov lost from 5 to 34 people killed,
according to various sources In Argun in September 1994, a detachment
opposition field commander R. Labazanov lost
27 people were killed. The opposition, in turn, on September 12
and on October 15, 1994, carried out offensive actions in
Terrible, but every time she retreated, not having achieved a decisive
success, although it did not suffer heavy losses. November 26
the opposition for the third time unsuccessfully stormed
Grozny.

18.

March 3-4 - operation in the village of Sernovodsk in the west
Chechnya. The militants of the field commander A. Zakaev are losing, according to
official Russian data, more than 100 people
killed, but break out of the blocked populated
item.
March 6-8 - militants raid on Grozny.
During March 1996, federal troops again take
storming the village of Samashki v Orekhovo. Losses of militants
field commander X. Khachukaev in Samashki amounted to
4< до 100 человек убитыми. В Орехово гибнет до 40
militants, the Russian army lost 28 people killed
and 69 wounded, although the Chechens claim the destruction
100 military, 4 tanks and 10 infantry fighting vehicles.
April 15 - the withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnng-Ch began
April 16 - in the Argun Gorge near the village of Yaryshmardy
ambushed and suffered heavy casualties
federal troops. Losses exceeded 70 people killed

19.

April 21 - near the village of Gekhi-chu. 30 km from Grozny,
President of Chechnya Dzhokhar Dudayev was killed. It happened in
while talking Dudayev on the phone. His satellite
the phone was tracked by the Russian special services. IN
the air was raised by two attack aircraft with homing
missiles. Dudayev died from the impact of one of these fired
rockets into it.
May 22 - the capture of Bamut.
Also in May, they were taken by federal forces with a fight.
the villages of Goyskoye and Stary Achkhoy.
May 28 - shortly before the presidential election Boris
Yeltsin visited Chechnya. Speaking to
military personnel of the federal troops, he declared: “WAR
ended. Victory is yours. You defeated the rebellious
Dudayev's regime "Sh1.
July - federal troops conduct successful
operations in her. Gekhi and Makhkety, Shatoi and Vedeno
regions of Chechnya.

20.

Commanders on both sides are dying in this battle -
"Commander of the Southwestern Front] of the Armed
Forces of the ChRI, field commander D. Makhaev and deputy
Commander of the North Caucasian District of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
Major General N. V. Skripnik. Simultaneously
large groups of militants attack almost daily
positions of federal troops near the village of Bamut, but their
reflect with the help of mortars and artillery. 6
August - operation "Jihad", during which
Chechen fighters regain control over
Grozny, federal forces in Gudermes and Argun
also blocked by militants.
August 14 - ceasefire agreement.
On August 31, Khasavyurt
agreements signed by Aslan Maskhadov and
Alexander Lebed, considered by many
supporters of the integrity of the Russian Federation as treacherous.
The withdrawal of federal troops from Chechnya begins

21. 1994

December 11, 1994 units of the Ministry of Defense
and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia entered the territory of Chechnya on
based on the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin
"On Measures to Suppress the Activities of Illegal
armed formations in the territory
Chechen Republic and in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict"*2^
December 31, 1994 - February 1995 - Sturm
Grozny

22. 1995

January 7 - in the mountainous regions of Chechnya, they were surrounded by enemy forces and surrendered to
captured 48 servicemen of the 22nd separate brigade of the GRU special forces"91.
March 10 - the beginning of the battles for Bamut
April 7 - battle for the village of Samashki.
April 10 - Federal forces occupied AchkhoyMartan with minimal losses. Davydenko and Novy Sharoy.
April 15-17 - unsuccessful attempt to storm Bamut
June 3 - Federal forces entered Vedeno.
June 12 - Federal forces captured the settlements of Shatoi and NozhaiYurt.
June 14-17 - terrorist act in Budyonnovsk
October 6 - in Grozny there was an attempt on the life of the commander of the federal
group of troops of Lieutenant General Anatoly Romanov.
December 14 - Ruslan Gelayev's militants captured Urus-Martan and Achkhoy-Martan, but
retreated later.
December 15 - Salman Raduev's militants recaptured Gudermes, but after 8 days of fighting
with the use of aviation, MLRS "Grad" and artillery also retreated

23. 1996

January 9 - raid on Kizlyar (Salman Raduev)
February 17 - February 20 assault on the village
Novogroznenskoye in eastern Chechnya by federal
troops. Big losses on both sides: Chechens
recognize the death of 20 fighters on their part and
declare the destruction of 300 Russian
military personnel. The Russian side recognized
the death of 18 of their soldiers and claimed the death of 200
militants. A. Maskhadov and S. Raduev manage to leave.

Soviet war in Afghanistan e lasted 9 years 1 month and 18 days.

Date of: 979-1989

A place: Afghanistan

Outcome: The overthrow of H. Amin, the withdrawal of Soviet troops

Enemies: USSR, DRA against - Afghan Mujahideen, Foreign Mujahideen

With the support of : Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, Iran

Side forces

USSR: 80-104 thousand military personnel

DRA: 50-130 thousand military personnel According to the NVO, no more than 300 thousand

From 25 thousand (1980) to more than 140 thousand (1988)

Afghan war 1979-1989 - a prolonged political and armed confrontation between the parties: the ruling pro-Soviet regime of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) with the military support of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan (OKSVA) - on the one hand, and the Mujahideen ("dushmans"), with a part of the Afghan society sympathizing with them, with political and financial support of foreign countries and a number of states of the Islamic world - on the other hand.

The decision to send troops of the USSR Armed Forces to Afghanistan was made on December 12, 1979 at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, in accordance with the secret resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU No. friendly regime in Afghanistan. The decision was made by a narrow circle of members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Yu. V. Andropov, D. F. Ustinov, A. A. Gromyko and L. I. Brezhnev).

To achieve these goals, the USSR sent a group of troops into Afghanistan, and a detachment of special forces from among the emerging special unit of the KGB "Vympel" killed the incumbent President H. Amin and everyone who was with him in the palace. By decision of Moscow, the protege of the USSR, the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Afghanistan in Prague, B. Karmal, became the new leader of Afghanistan, whose regime received significant and versatile - military, financial and humanitarian - support from the Soviet Union.

Chronology of the Soviet war in Afghanistan

1979

December 25 - Columns of the Soviet 40th Army cross the Afghan border on a pontoon bridge over the Amu Darya River. H. Amin expressed his gratitude to the Soviet leadership and ordered the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the DRA to assist the troops being brought in.

1980

January 10-11 - an attempt at an anti-government rebellion by artillery regiments of the 20th Afghan division in Kabul. During the battle, about 100 rebels were killed; Soviet troops lost two killed and two more were wounded.

February 23 - tragedy in the tunnel at the Salang pass. During the movement of oncoming columns in the middle of the tunnel, a collision occurred, a traffic jam formed. As a result, 16 Soviet servicemen suffocated.

March - the first major offensive operation of the OKSV units against the Mujahideen - the Kunar Offensive.

April 20-24 - Massive anti-government demonstrations in Kabul are dispersed by low-flying jets.

April - The US Congress authorizes $15 million in "direct and open assistance" to the Afghan opposition. The first military operation in Panjshir.

June 19 - decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the withdrawal of some tank, missile and anti-aircraft missile units from Afghanistan.

1981

September - fighting in the Lurkoh mountain range in the province of Farah; the death of Major General Khakhalov.

October 29 - the introduction of the second "Muslim battalion" (177 OSSN) under the command of Major Kerimbaev ("Kara Major").

December - the defeat of the base point of the opposition in the Darzab region (Dzauzjan province).

1982

November 3 - Tragedy at the Salang pass. More than 176 people died as a result of the explosion of a fuel tanker. (Already during the years of the civil war between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban, Salang became a natural barrier and in 1997 the tunnel was blown up on the orders of Ahmad Shah Massoud to prevent the Taliban from advancing to the north. In 2002, after the unification of the country, the tunnel was reopened).

November 15 - meeting of Y. Andropov and Ziyaul-Khak in Moscow. The Secretary General had a private conversation with the Pakistani leader, during which he informed him about the "new flexible policy of the Soviet side and understanding of the need for a speedy resolution of the crisis." The meeting also discussed the expediency of the war and the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and the prospects for the participation of the Soviet Union in the war. In exchange for the withdrawal of troops from Pakistan, it was required to refuse assistance to the rebels.

1983

January 2 - in Mazar-i-Sharif, dushmans abducted a group of Soviet civilian specialists numbering 16 people. They were released only a month later, while six of them died.

February 2 - The village of Vakhshak in northern Afghanistan was destroyed by bombs in retaliation for the hostage-taking in Mazar-i-Sharif.

March 28 - meeting of the UN delegation headed by Perez de Cuellar and D. Cordoves with Y. Andropov. He thanks the UN for "understanding the problem" and assures the mediators that he is ready to take "certain steps", but doubts that Pakistan and the US will support the UN proposal regarding their non-intervention in the conflict.

April - an operation to defeat opposition groups in the Nijrab Gorge, Kapisa province. Soviet units lost 14 people killed and 63 wounded.

May 19 - Soviet Ambassador to Pakistan V. Smirnov officially confirmed the desire of the USSR and Afghanistan "to set a date for the withdrawal of the contingent of Soviet troops."

July - Dushman offensive on Khost. An attempt to blockade the city was unsuccessful.

August - the hard work of the mission of D. Cordoves to prepare agreements on a peaceful settlement of the war in Afghanistan is almost completed: an 8-month program for the withdrawal of troops from the country has been developed, but after Andropov's illness, the issue of the conflict was removed from the agenda of the Politburo meetings. Now it was only about "dialogue with the UN".

Winter - hostilities intensified in the Sarobi region and the Jalalabad valley (the reports most often mention the province of Laghman). For the first time, armed opposition detachments remain on the territory of Afghanistan for the entire winter period. The creation of fortified areas and resistance bases directly in the country began.

1984

January 16 - Dushmans shot down a Su-25 aircraft from the Strela-2M MANPADS. This is the first case of successful use of MANPADS in Afghanistan.

April 30 - During a major operation in the Panjshir Gorge, the 1st Battalion of the 682nd Motorized Rifle Regiment was ambushed and suffered heavy losses.

October - over Kabul from the Strela MANPADS, dushmans shoot down an Il-76 transport aircraft.

1985

April 26 - Soviet and Afghan prisoners of war revolt in the Badaber prison in Pakistan.

June - army operation in Panjshir.

Summer is a new course of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU for a political solution to the "Afghan problem".

Autumn - The functions of the 40th Army are reduced to covering the southern borders of the USSR, for which new motorized rifle units are involved. The creation of basic base areas in hard-to-reach places of the country has begun.

1986

February - at the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, M. Gorbachev makes a statement about the beginning of the development of a plan for a phased withdrawal of troops.

March - the decision of the R. Reagan administration to start deliveries to Afghanistan to support the Mujahiddins of the Stinger MANPADS of the ground-to-air class, which makes the combat aviation of the 40th Army vulnerable to ground attack.

April 4-20 - an operation to defeat the Javar base: a major defeat for the dushmans. Unsuccessful attempts by Ismail Khan's detachments to break through the "security zone" around Herat.

May 4 - at the XVIII Plenum of the Central Committee of the PDPA, instead of B. Karmal, M. Najibullah, who previously headed the Afghan counterintelligence service KhAD, was elected to the post of Secretary General. The plenum proclaimed the policy of solving the problems of Afghanistan by political means.

July 28 - M. Gorbachev defiantly announced the imminent withdrawal of six regiments of the 40th Army from Afghanistan (about 7 thousand people). The withdrawal date will be rescheduled at a later date. In Moscow, there are disputes about whether to withdraw troops completely.

August - Massoud defeated the base of government troops in Farkhar, Takhar province.

Autumn - Major Belov's reconnaissance group from the 173rd detachment of the 16th special forces brigade captures the first batch of three Stinger portable anti-aircraft missile systems in the Kandahar region.

October 15-31 - tank, motorized rifle, anti-aircraft regiments were withdrawn from Shindand, motorized rifle and anti-aircraft regiments were withdrawn from Kunduz, and anti-aircraft regiments were withdrawn from Kabul.

November 13 - The Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU sets the task of withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan within two years.

December - An emergency plenum of the Central Committee of the PDPA proclaims a course towards a policy of national reconciliation and advocates an early end to the fratricidal war.

1987

January 2 - An operational group of the USSR Ministry of Defense headed by First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces General of the Army V. I. Varennikov was sent to Kabul.

February - Operation "Strike" in the province of Kunduz.

February-March - Operation Flurry in Kandahar province.

March - Operation Thunderstorm in the province of Ghazni. Operation Circle in the provinces of Kabul and Logar.

May - operation "Volley" in the provinces of Logar, Paktia, Kabul. Operation "South-87" in the province of Kandahar.

Spring - Soviet troops begin to use the Barrier system to cover the eastern and southeastern sections of the border.

1988

Soviet spetsnaz group preparing for operation in Afghanistan

April 14 - Through the mediation of the UN in Switzerland, the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan signed the Geneva Agreements on a political settlement of the situation around the situation in the DRA. The USSR and the USA became the guarantors of the agreements. The Soviet Union undertook to withdraw its contingent within 9 months, starting on May 15; The US and Pakistan, for their part, had to stop supporting the Mujahideen.

June 24 - Opposition detachments captured the center of the province of Wardak - the city of Maidanshahr.

1989

February 15 - Soviet troops are completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the troops of the 40th Army was led by the last commander of the Limited Contingent, Lieutenant-General B.V. Gromov, who, allegedly, was the last to cross the border river Amu-Darya (the city of Termez).

War in Afghanistan - results

Colonel General Gromov, the last commander of the 40th Army (led the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan), in his book "Limited Contingent" expressed this opinion regarding the victory or defeat of the Soviet Army in the war in Afghanistan:

I am deeply convinced that there is no basis for asserting that the 40th Army was defeated, nor that we won a military victory in Afghanistan. At the end of 1979, Soviet troops entered the country without hindrance, completed their tasks, unlike the Americans in Vietnam, and returned to their homeland in an organized manner. If we consider armed opposition detachments as the main enemy of the Limited Contingent, then the difference between us lies in the fact that the 40th Army did what it considered necessary, and the dushmans only what they could.

The 40th Army had several main tasks. First of all, we had to assist the government of Afghanistan in resolving the internal political situation. Basically, this assistance consisted in the fight against armed opposition groups. In addition, the presence of a significant military contingent in Afghanistan was supposed to prevent aggression from outside. These tasks were fully completed by the personnel of the 40th Army.

The Mujahideen, before the start of the withdrawal of OKSVA in May 1988, never managed to carry out a single major operation and failed to occupy a single large city.

Military casualties in Afghanistan

USSR: 15,031 dead, 53,753 wounded, 417 missing

1979 - 86 people

1980 - 1,484 people

1981 - 1,298 people

1982 - 1,948 people

1983 - 1,448 people

1984 - 2,343 people

1985 - 1,868 people

1986 - 1,333 people

1987 - 1,215 people

1988 - 759 people

1989 - 53 people

By rank:
Generals, officers: 2,129
Ensigns: 632
Sergeants and soldiers: 11,549
Workers and employees: 139

Out of 11,294 people 10,751 people discharged from military service for health reasons remained disabled, of which - 1st group - 672, 2nd group - 4216, 3rd group - 5863 people

Afghan Mujahideen: 56,000-90,000 (civilians from 600 thousand to 2 million people)

Losses in technology

According to official data, there were 147 tanks, 1314 armored vehicles (armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers), 510 engineering vehicles, 11,369 trucks and fuel trucks, 433 artillery systems, 118 aircraft, 333 helicopters. At the same time, these figures were not specified in any way - in particular, no information was published on the number of combat and non-combat losses of aviation, on the losses of aircraft and helicopters by type, etc.

Economic losses of the USSR

About 800 million US dollars were spent annually from the USSR budget to support the Kabul government.

By February 15, 1989, they were completely from Afghanistan. Veteran of that war, Hero of Russia Vyacheslav Bocharov recalls the feelings with which he left Afghanistan, and compares his Afghan experience with what he had to endure later in Chechnya.

"My mouth was like a toy"

“I didn’t want to leave. I was busy. I liked my job. My company was like a toy,” says Colonel Bocharov, a short, modestly dressed man with scars on the left half of his face – this is a trace of a terrible wound received during the storming of a school in Beslan - I filed a report in order to stay. Then, already in the Union, I filed a report in order to return ( Bocharov left Afghanistan back in 1983 - RIA Novosti). But how is it with us - you suggest, but the command disposes. The commanders decided that I was more needed in the Union."

Vyacheslav Bocharov ended up in Afghanistan in 1981 as deputy commander of an airborne reconnaissance company of the 213th Airborne Regiment. Bocharov still remembers how he flew to Kabul from Tashkent. It was like a scene from the Soviet movie Platoon.

"Those like me, shifters, a whole plane flew in, and those who won back theirs went to Tashkent on the same board. How different we were from each other! This difference was not so much that their faces were dark from the rays of the Afghan sun , how much of that internal state, which is a consequence of being in conditions that involve a risk to life. War leaves its mark on everyone, "he says.

“Today it’s hard to understand, but then we rushed to Afghanistan,” recalls Bocharov. “I was an officer, and I knew why the Motherland raised and fed me. I grew up on the examples of Spain ( Spanish Civil War 1936-1939). For me, Afghanistan was a kind of Spain."

Back in 1980, Ivan Prokhor, the first of Bocharov’s classmates at the Ryazan Airborne Forces School, died in Afghanistan: “They were already returning from a mission on two infantry fighting vehicles, when they were ambushed. They were fired upon. One car caught fire. so that all the fighters can be calmly evacuated from it. And he himself fell under the fragments.

"What are you, fascists, or what?"

At the end of February 1982, the Bocharov regiment advanced to the area of the city of Tagab - this is 50 km northeast of Kabul. The company of Bocharov himself was ordered to occupy a dominant height from which dushmans could fire at the Soviet column.

"Shuravi" (Soviet soldiers) stumbled upon an ambush of "spirits": "a machine-gun burst cut. I did not feel pain, but fell - as if someone had hit my legs with a club." Bocharov noticed holes in his trousers. He put his hand - blood. Three bullets hit him in the legs.

“I injected an anesthetic. But I didn’t tell the soldiers about the wound. There would have been unnecessary panic, unnecessary thoughts,” says the officer. “It was very difficult to shoot at people for the first time. very difficult. It was necessary to overcome this moment. And then it went easier. "

Bocharov's company managed to repulse the attack of dushmans. “We check all the duvals for the presence of bandits. We break down the doors. We found one peasant. And the soldiers are so furious: two of ours were wounded. They wanted to put him against the wall, although there was no certainty that he also fired. I shouted to the soldiers: “Let go! What are you doing, fascists, or what?

For that battle, Bocharov received the Order of the Red Star. After the hospital, he fought in Afghanistan for another year.

"Everything was done perfectly"

Bocharov does not doubt the need for the participation of the USSR in that war.

“I understood very well that Afghanistan borders on our territory. If we are not on it, then the United States will come. And they will shoot through the territory of the USSR with their missile systems through and through, to the Urals.

We didn't get there on our own. We were invited by the Afghan government. The army did not have the task of destroying everyone and taking control of the entire territory. There was a task to help the national army in restoring order. Afghan units acted with us. We approach the village, we tell the Afghans: act, you are the masters here. True, it often happened that the Afghans fled, and then we had to solve the task already set.

Now our servicemen are coming to Afghanistan - they are greeted as friends. I have a friend, Alexei Posokhov - they studied together, fought together - he told me how he recently went to Afghanistan. I met with one Afghan, he pulled up his shirt, shows a scar: this scar is from Shuravi! And he smiles happily at the same time. Because we fought honestly. It was a war of equals.

Afghanistan, especially when compared with the Chechen company, is a clear fulfillment of all the requirements of the military manual. There was no looseness there. No disorganization in actions. Clearly, using the experience of both wars and exercises. Everything was done perfectly. A soldier has to wash once a week - he washed. Yes, there were linen lice. But we fried the laundry. In the evening, before going to bed, you brush your teeth, look for lice in the seams and crush - if you want to sleep peacefully.

Odessa, who died in Grozny

In Chechen companies, everything was completely different. In the first half of the 90s, Vyacheslav Bocharov served in Moscow, in the General Staff of the Airborne Forces. He moved here from Lithuania - after all, Russia began to withdraw its troops from the Baltic states. He transferred, but was not provided with housing, his salary was delayed for months. To feed himself, Bocharov, like many staff officers, worked at night as a security guard in a convenience store. For the sake of a room in a hostel, he got a job as a janitor. "At five in the morning, I, a colonel, a holder of orders, took a broom. You sweep the broom into the pantry, and you yourself - to the headquarters of the Airborne Forces. I did not leave the army: I hoped that this mess would end sooner or later."

These were the realities of the country that started the war in Chechnya.

"The terrible first Chechnya. This is the result of the fact that there was no army. The union fell apart - the army was destroyed. There were some separate military formations, units. But they were practically demoralized. Troops from Eastern Europe were withdrawn, thrown into the open field. What to do with the family "It's not clear where to live. Everyone lives in tents. And suddenly they say: the war has begun. Let's go to the Caucasus. There is not even a whole military unit. The commanders did not know their soldiers. Combined battalions, prefabricated companies ... They were pulled from everywhere. Sailors were even dragged! The sailors fought there, in the Caucasus! What interaction can there be, what kind of training? There was no rear, everything was stolen. As you look at the photographs of that time, your heart bleeds. Poor soldiers, where your homeland threw you and forgot there, "Bocharov recalls.

And again, as in the days of Afghanistan, strings of "cargo-200" were pulled from the hot spot. Bocharov takes out a photograph of the New Bogorodskoye cemetery (Novinsky district of the Moscow region) - it is lined with monuments to unknown soldiers who died in Chechnya. The remains have not yet been attributed. “Every year parents come here and go to the grave where their heart leads them,” testifies Bocharov, who has seen this many times.

“My classmate at the school, Volodya Selivanov, died in the first Chechen war. At the school he was called “Odessa” - he came from those places, and he himself was such a dashing guy, he liked to laugh. In Afghanistan, he was the head of the intelligence regiment. headquarters, he says: "In two days I'm going on a business trip." I didn’t attach any importance - not the first and not the last business trip of the officers of the headquarters of the Airborne Forces. The phenomenon is common. I say: "Well, good luck!". Luck turned away. "

After a while, Bocharov found out how Odessa died. He became one of the one and a half thousand Russian soldiers and officers who died in the "New Year's assault" on the capital of Chechnya on December 31, 1994. The column of Colonel Selivanov entered Grozny from the east and came under heavy fire from militants. During the shelling, he was not injured, but the next day, when he helped to drag the wounded, he received a sniper's bullet in the back.

Chechnya, a meeting place for old friends

A few years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the experience of the "Afghans" was in demand in Chechnya. Bocharov was invited to the FSB Special Purpose Center, to the famous Vympel. He became the deputy commander of the detachment.

Soon Bocharov received another wound: the helicopter, in which he and a group of special forces were returning from a mission, was shot down by Chechens in the Vedeno Gorge. The helicopter miraculously did not explode, but only fell apart. "Vympelovtsy" were on the territory occupied by militants and surrounded by minefields. All with severe injuries, except for Bocharov himself and Major Andrei Chirihin. Firing back, Bocharov and Chirihin dragged 16 wounded soldiers away from the helicopter. Then they had to fight their way to their own. Many of the fighters were later awarded for this battle - except for Bocharov himself, "since the operation did not go without heavy losses."

And just three months later, his assistant Andrei Chirihin died tragically - the special forces took a particularly dangerous criminal in the village of Tsentoroi. The militant surrounded himself with his own children so that the special forces could not shoot. And he himself shot Major Chirihin. “We took the bandit, but not in front of the children. The children have something to do with it ...” - as if Bocharov is still justifying himself for the death of his colleague Bocharov.

"Many 'Afghans' fought in Chechnya. By the way, not only from our side, but also from the Chechen side," recalls the colonel.

Bocharov did not have to meet former colleagues in Afghanistan on the opposite side, but he remembered one local policeman, a senior police lieutenant in the village of Dachu-Borzoy. "He was not for us and not for the Chechens. He was for order. He was a good man, correct. The locals respected him." In Afghanistan, a Chechen fought in the infantry. And soon he was killed by separatist militants.

There was another unexpected meeting. “We arrived in Khattuni (a village in the Vedeno district). I came to the location of the airborne forces group to the commander. I introduce myself: Colonel Bocharov.

— Comrade Bocharov, have you been to Afghanistan?

- Don't you remember me?

I look at him and say: no, I didn’t have such fat ones. And he is so dense, bald.

- I'm your medical instructor, who bandaged your legs in Afghanistan!

I remembered. It turned out that since then he has long been a Hero of Russia and a colonel.

Afghanistan and Chechnya, fighters and their opponents

"In Chechnya, it was the same Russian soldier, with all his traditions of mutual assistance. I can recall a lot of examples of heroism in Chechnya - how officers covered young soldiers with themselves or fell on grenades to save the rest. But the army itself was no longer the same - disorganized, demoralized "Many did not understand what they were doing there at all. Like, why should I risk my life in this turmoil? For whom? Ideals were blurred. There were just a lot of young, unshooted soldiers."

Or the story of the 6th company: a company of 90 people opposed a detachment of two thousand militants (February 29 - March 1, 2000 near Argun). No one came to her aid, and Chechen fighters confided on the air that they paid "500 pieces of greenery" for getting out of the encirclement.

There were more professionals in Chechnya than in Afghanistan. We fought not only against bandits - ours, Russians by citizenship. There were bastards of all stripes, rushed from all over the world. The secret services of all states worked. There is only one task - to start the process of tearing Russia apart into smaller parts. And if it were not for the army with all its shortcomings, then this would have happened. In Afghanistan, they fought like a peasant. There were more local people, ordinary dekhans (peasants). But they owned small arms well, like all nomadic peoples.

I wanted to get to Chechnya.

The last war of the Soviet Army was started and ended in the very center of Asia - on the land of ancient Afghanistan. Herat, Bagram, Khost, Jalalabad, Kabul, Kandahar…
Until relatively recently, these names were for us, who lived in the then Soviet Union, very distant and at the same time close geographical points.
Far away because these cities were in Afghanistan, close because our peers, friends and relatives were there. Every time we heard these names, we worried about the fate of our guys who were there, beyond the “river” (Amu-Darya is a river on the border between the USSR and Afghanistan).
They are remembered on February 15, when on that cold windy day in 1989 the last Soviet soldier of a limited contingent of Soviet troops left the Afghan land.
It was a strange and lingering war, about the victories and defeats of which the Soviet people knew little. This war had its own characteristics.

I would like to recall the guys called up from the Chechen Republic to fulfill their international duty in Afghanistan. The events in Chechnya and the subsequent two wars made the topic of the participation of the natives of the Chechen Republic in the Afghan war closed and almost forgotten for a long time.

According to the information of the chairman of the Chechen regional branch of the all-Russian public organization "Russian Union of Veterans of Afghanistan" Salam Asuev, during the period of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, 2,441 natives of the then Checheno-Ingushetia served in the military. Of this number, having fulfilled their military duty to the end, 69 people died. Of these, 44 Chechens, 24 Russians and one Ukrainian. Three more dead Chechens were called up outside the republic.

At present, there are 670 members of the organization in the database of the Chechen branch of the Union of Afghan Veterans. It should be noted that during the entire ten-year Afghan war, not a single one of our countrymen was taken prisoner, did not become a deserter or went missing.

The military events in Chechnya made their sad adjustments. After Afghanistan, 170 people were killed and died. Ten people are still missing, not in that distant country, but in their homeland, at home, during the period of hostilities.

Heroes of the Soviet Union from Chechnya

Until now, Georgy Demchenko, who was awarded this highest award posthumously, was considered the only Hero of the Soviet Union from among the natives of the Chechen Republic. I didn't know him, although we were both the same age and lived in Grozny just a few blocks from each other.

Fulfilling his international duty in Afghanistan, Senior Lieutenant Demchenko died in 1983. When performing a combat mission, he was surrounded by superior enemy forces and, covering the retreat of his comrades, so as not to be captured, Demchenko blew himself up with a grenade. Then he was 23 years old. He was buried in the central city cemetery of Grozny.

24 years after his death, in April 2007, I was present at the exhumation of his remains. During the hostilities in Grozny, one of the artillery shells hit directly on Demchenko's grave, splitting the marble monument in two. The city administration brought the grave into proper shape, glued the monument.

The exhumation took place at the request of the Hero's parents, who moved to Volgograd with the start of the Chechen war. The parents were of advanced age and, for health reasons, could not visit their son's grave in Grozny.

They appealed to the President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, who went to meet the wishes of Demchenko's parents. On his instructions, all necessary measures were taken to exhume and transport the remains to the new burial site.

I especially remember that after so many years, on top of the zinc coffin, the cockade and flag from the paratrooper's beret were completely untouched by corrosion.

Salamu Asuev, who was present at the funeral ceremony, said then that "the youth of the Chechen Republic was brought up by such a countryman as Georgy Demchenko."

Chechen veterans of Afghanistan expressed regret that one of their comrades, many years after his death, leaves his homeland. However, according to them, "the desire of his parents for his former brothers in arms is sacred." Hero of the Soviet Union Georgy Demchenko was given military honors. After that, the funeral escort went to Volgograd.

Friends and fellow soldiers say that Suleiman Khachukaev was to become another Hero. He also saved an entire reconnaissance company at the cost of his life. Not allowed. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin, which was usually awarded along with the Golden Star.

A year after the Hero of the Soviet Union Demchenko found his final resting place in Volgograd, it suddenly became known that among the natives of our republic there is another Hero of the Soviet Union. It turned out to be the now living Ruslan Zaipulaev.

Zaipulaev was awarded the highest award of military glory back in 1990 for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty during the military operations in Afghanistan. As you know, a year later the USSR ceased to exist as a great country, and the award was lost. Perhaps it was deliberately lost due to the well-known political events that began in 1991 in the Chechen Republic. After only 18 years, the award found a hero. In 2008, Ruslan was awarded the "Golden Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union - one of the last Soviet military awards.

The Brotherhood of War

Afghanistan has become a place where the concept of nationality was completely absent. When a fighter donated his blood to a seriously wounded man, he did not ask what nationality and religion he was.

There were other values: brotherhood, friendship, mutual assistance, rendering assistance, it would seem, from a hopeless situation.
I clearly remember the story of my relative Hussein Tsamaraev, who went through Afghanistan. He was a tanker, and his countryman named Imran served in the air assault brigade. In one of the few meetings he told Hussein a story that I cannot forget.

By order of the command, Imran with a group of paratroopers went deep into the rear of the territory controlled by the Afghan Mujahideen. The purpose of the dangerous mission was to destroy a large enemy transshipment base with a huge amount of ammunition.

At first, everything went well. Without any special incidents, they reached the location of the base, staged a grandiose "fireworks" and began to retreat without loss. The Mujahideen, who woke up from such a daring sortie "shuravi" (as the soldiers of the Soviet Army were called), organized a pursuit, regularly coming into combat contact with the paratroopers.

Despite their losses, the dushmans continued to press stubbornly. For an independent retreat to their own and scattering the pursuers, the paratroopers decided to disperse in five people. Imran was appointed as the squad leader. His group made their way along the most difficult mountain route. Soon the first wounded appeared. Leaving became even more difficult. In a moment of desperation, Imran decided to stay and cover the retreat of his comrades.

In a moment of respite, he spoke of his decision. In the ensuing silence, which seemed to last an eternity, but in fact some seconds, the voice of one of the fighters was heard. Everyone called him Sanka, probably because he looked too boyish. This was his first baptism of fire.

“Commander,” he said, “let me stay,” said Sanka. Imran was taken aback by such a request, as if it was about something ordinary. “Salaga, didn’t you hear the order? - It’s said that everyone should leave!” - "Guys! You all have parents. And I have no one, I'm an orphanage. So, there is no one to cry for me, ”he said with a sad, somewhat apologetic smile. Despite the order, and then persuasion, Sanka remained there. Forever... Thanks to him, the remaining fighters safely reached the location of their troops. I didn't know this guy, but I remember him, nineteen years old, forever.

A resident of Gekhi Ruslan Saraliyev, at the age of eighteen, immediately went to Afghanistan, having served as an anti-aircraft gunner for exactly two years of military service. He recalls how, after typhus, he ended up in the hospital, he was offered a commission. When meeting with his countrymen, he told them about this proposal. Together with him, six Chechens and four Ingush were in his unit. His final decision was: “I came here with you and will leave, Allah willing, home with you.”

There, in the hospital, he met another fellow countryman, a resident of the village of Chishki, Said-Selim Eskiev. It was their first and last meeting. Eskiev served at a remote post near the settlement of Surabi near the Afghan-Pakistani border. When he had two months left before the end of his service life, his detachment went on a combat mission. When one of those walking in front heard a click under his feet, Eskiev, without hesitation, pushed him away and himself lay down on a mine, saving his comrades with his life.

Bilal Tatashov recalls how, after his service in Afghanistan, his younger brother Khalil was called up for military service there. Once, while escorting a column, he ended up in the unit in which Bilal served and met his colleague Yusup-Khadzhi from the Gudermes region.

“We had a rule that when a Chechen retired, then, signing his name, he handed over his belt to the Chechen who remained to serve. When I handed over my belt to Yusup-Khadzhi, there were already five names on it. After talking with my brother, Yusup-Khadzhi gave him the very belt that I had given him at one time, ”recalls Bilal Tatashov.

It should be noted that just five years later, already during the hostilities in the Chechen Republic, the military brotherhood turned out to be stronger than political prejudices. It is known that part of the Chechen "Afghans" during the period of hostilities in the territory of the Chechen Republic were part of illegal armed formations. However, this did not prevent them from maintaining contacts with the "Afghans" from the regions of Russia, who asked to search for missing soldiers, as well as military personnel who were in captivity.

The military brotherhood proved to be stronger than political prejudices. It is known that part of the Chechen "Afghans" during the period of hostilities in the territory of the Chechen Republic were part of illegal armed formations. However, this did not prevent them from getting in touch with the "Afghans" from the regions of Russia, who asked to search for missing soldiers, as well as military personnel who were in captivity.

So, for example, veterans of the war in Afghanistan, with the help of their fighting Chechen friends, assisted in the release of Major Morozov and his group of 50 people from captivity.

And here is how Major Morozov, commander of the detachment of the 22nd arr. interrogated the head of intelligence and the head of counterintelligence of the Shali region. Both are former military men who served in Afghanistan.

It's getting dark. We sit in the chamber. They come in: "Morozov, let's go." Well, I think it's starting. We leave the building of the department of state security of the Shali region, before the police were there. They are so quiet to me: "Just be calm, don't twitch." And we look almost the same. All in camouflage and black knitted hats. I have grown in a few days.

We leave, cross the square and go to the cafe. We sit down at the table. They said something, and soon a bottle of vodka, pickles and some other snack appeared on the table. They pour and say: "Well, bro, let's meet." Like, “Afghan” brothers, etc. Then they say: “You know, we have not yet decided what to do with your detachment. But if it comes to wet you, then you know, a hand will not rise against you. There is a Zhiguli, let's take you to Khasavyurt now, and everything will be fine with you. And then we will decide with the detachment. I refused this offer." As you know, the entire detachment returned home safely. Such is the story of former brothers-in-arms who, by the will of fate, found themselves on opposite sides of the “barricades”.

With the help of Chechen "Afghans" in the summer of 1998, two more conscripts of the year were released.
We must pay tribute to the then young people - our countrymen, who with honor passed the roads and gorges of Afghanistan.

In total, 293 Chechens were awarded state awards. Combat awards of our fellow countrymen, of which 1 person was awarded the Order of Lenin (posthumously), 2 people of the Battle Red Banner (1 posthumously), two Orders of the Red Star - 2 people, the Order of the Red Star - 77 people (38 posthumously), the medal "For Courage "- 109 and the medal "For Military Merit" - 84 people.

Document-reference about losses in Afghanistan

In total, 13833 people were killed, died from wounds and diseases, including 1979 officers.
In total, 49985 people were wounded, including 7132 officers.
Became disabled - 6669 people.
Are on the wanted list - 330 people.
200 thousand people were awarded orders and medals of the USSR, 76 of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union. A total of 5,462,555 people passed through Afghanistan.
(Data of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, 1989)
Publicity. - 1991. - N 29.
* * *
According to updated data, the following died in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989:
Russians - 6888
Ukrainians - 2378
Belarusians - 613
Uzbeks - 1086
Tatars - 442
Kazakhs - 362
Turkmens - 263
Tajiks - 236
Azerbaijanis - 195
Moldovans - 194
Kyrgyz - 102
Bashkirs - 98
Armenians - 95
Georgians - 81
mordva - 66
Lithuanians - 57
Mari - 49
Chechens - 47
Ossetians - 30
Kabardians - 25
Latvians - 23
Kalmyks - 22
Udmurts - 22
Komi - 16
Estonians - 15
Ingush - 12
Balkars - 9
Jews - 7
Abkhazians - 6
Karelians - 6
Karakalpak - 5
Tuvans - 4
Buryats - 4
Yakuts - 1
other peoples and nationalities - 168
nationalities of Dagestan - 101

Chechens take 18th place in the martyrology among the representatives of 67 nationalities of the Soviet Union who took part in the Afghan war. Most of them were not even twenty years old. War is the business of the young, the cure for wrinkles.

1 In Vienna, the conflict between the Afghan and Chechen diasporas has once again escalated. After the beating of a Chechen boy, his relatives were preparing to take revenge on the natives of Afghanistan, but the matter did not come to an open confrontation due to the intervention of influential representatives of the diaspora.
A few days ago there was a quarrel between Chechens and Afghans. The Afghans were suspected of drug trafficking in the Vienna Praterstern park. A quarrel between the two diasporas led to a group of Afghans beating up a 12-year-old Chechen boy, Kavkaz.Realii reports.

As soon as the news about the beating of the child spread on social networks and instant messengers, mailing lists began in closed groups calling on Chechen youth to gather for an action of retribution.

However, new clashes were prevented, as representatives of the public organization "Council of Chechens and Ingush in Austria" became aware of them. As a result, representatives of the Afghan diaspora in Vienna, as well as the local police, were also involved in resolving the situation.

Shaikhi Musalatov, chairman of the Council of Chechens and Ingush in Austria, said that on Thursday night, representatives of both diasporas held an emergency meeting with Austrian youth and law enforcement officials to work out a joint plan to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

A protracted confrontation between Afghan and Chechen youth in Austria, from time to time turning into fights, began several years ago. In the spring of 2016, the beating of several Chechen teenagers by a large crowd of Afghans caused a great resonance.

According to the police, at least 25 Afghans armed with bladed weapons and baseball bats took part in the fight, while there were no more than five Chechens. Two Chechens then received severe stab wounds.

The Afghans waited for the Chechens at the exit of the local youth leisure center, where teenagers spend their free time under the supervision of social workers.

Although some of the attackers were detained by the police, they were sentenced only to suspended prison terms, which gave rise to discontent and resentment among Chechen youth.

In January 2009, Umar Israilov, a former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, was killed in broad daylight in the center of the Austrian capital with several shots at point-blank range. The police detained three killers, one managed to escape. All turned out to be Chechens by nationality.

The press then wrote a lot about the fact that the Chechen authorities were allegedly behind the demonstration execution, because Israilov, having personally accused Kadyrov of organizing secret prisons and reprisals against his opponents, filed a complaint against him with the Strasbourg court.

The Austrian investigation also adhered to this version. However, during the trial, it was not possible to prove that the order for the murder came directly from Grozny. However, the direct perpetrator received a life sentence, the other two - from 15 to 20 years in prison.

In general, about 30,000 immigrants from Chechnya live in Austria, most of whom arrived in the Alpine Republic in 2003-2004. Their integration, according to the migration services, encountered difficulties and has not actually taken place so far.

Approximately half of Chechen migrants continue to receive social benefits Mindestsicherung - in Vienna, its amount ranges from 900 to 1250 euros per person, plus 150 euros for each child.

Only about 5,000 have registered on the labor market as wage laborers, and just over 500 have started their own business.

At the same time, sociologists noted that Chechens practically did not develop horizontal social ties, preferring to lead a secluded lifestyle within the family and close circle of relatives.

Two or three years ago, teenagers and youth Chechen groups were of particular concern to the Austrian police. They arose on a territorial basis in places of compact residence of Chechens.

They engaged in petty theft and robbery in parks and recreation areas, dealt in drugs and fought for spheres of influence with other ethnic gangs, mainly Afghans.

Sometimes skirmishes turned into real battles, when cold and firearms were used. The victims did not contact the police. Law enforcement officers were called by local citizens who are very intolerant of any violators of the order.

More serious problems for the Austrian law enforcement officers were created by radical Islamists - recruiters and volunteers who go to fight in Iraq and Syria on the side of the Islamic State (an organization banned in Russia).

Of the nearly 300 IS supporters under constant surveillance by the Austrian police, almost half are Chechens.

However, the Chechen theme has recently receded into the background for the Austrians. The country was covered by an unprecedented migration wave.

In 2015 alone, more than a million refugees from the Middle East, Afghanistan and North Africa passed through the Alpine Republic, almost 200 thousand migrants requested Austrian asylum.

Now police crime statistics are full of Afghan and Arabic names. Due to the surge in migrant crime, law enforcement officers sometimes simply do not have time to arrive at the crime scene on time.

It so happens that 15-20 calls about offenses are received per day only from the Vienna Praterstern station area.

According to police information, the showdown between Chechen groups and Afghans or Arabs has almost completely stopped due to their significant numerical superiority. Although there are still resonant crimes in which Chechens are involved.

In November 2016, in one of the Viennese suburbs, 9 men from two Chechen families started a shootout with each other due to a domestic quarrel. As a result, four were injured, two of them seriously.

Tellingly, the investigation failed to identify the instigators - all the participants, strictly observing silence, refused to testify against their compatriots.

A similar thing happened during the detention of Chechens on February 3 this year. They, stubbornly talking about a joint walk in the fresh air, did not reveal the true reasons why 22 men with weapons (two pistols, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a knife) met in a secluded place on the banks of the Danube. Searches at the apartments also did not bring clarity.

It was not possible to establish the grounds for the arrest, the Chechens were released a day later. Only two detainees were left in custody due to violation of the migration regime, and another one was checked for illegal possession of a pistol. Who owned the rest of the weapons has not yet been clarified.

Due to the public excitement around the incident, the floor was personally taken by the Austrian Minister of the Interior, Wolfgang Sobotka. In this case, according to him, there was an ordinary criminal showdown, and not a meeting of terrorists. There was a hint of relief in the Minister's statement.

The Islamic religious community of Austria controls many mosque communities, the publication says. However, some of them do not cooperate with the organization.

Most of the radicals come from these, in particular the Chechen, Bosnian and Albanian communities, according to the report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. At the same time, Chechens are often called the number one "problematic diaspora" in Austria, notes Die Presse.