Rodric Braithwaite - Afgantsy

Music and poetry 192

Muslim battalion 63, 82, 90–94, 97, 99, 115, 117

Musulmanin , film 260

Nadir Shah Mohamed (1883–1933), Afghan ruler 16, 86

Najibullah Mohamed (1947–96), last Communist president 52, 276, 285, 288

Asks for Soviet troops to remain 287

Butchered by Taliban 303

Character sketch by GRU 275

Describes typical meeting with Soviet advisers 148

Exiled to Tehran, 1979 53

Exploits differences within Soviet government 277

Loses senior advocates in Soviet government 299

Popular after his death 335

Publicly blames Soviets for invasion 299

Releases Amin’s womenfolk 104

Replaces Babrak Karmal 143, 275

Requests Soviet military support 296

Seeks asylum with UN 301

Tells military advisers to leave 301

Worried about divergence of interests with Soviets 285

Writes bitterly to Shevardnadze 299

Nargez, Afghan wife of Andrei Olenin 260

National Reconciliation, policy of Najibullah government 53, 143, 241, 275–6, 279, 299

Nekrasov Vyacheslav, youth adviser 166–8, 171, 285

Nikiforov Sergei, soldier 172, 254

Novoe Vremya , newspaper 304

nursiki , rocket nose cones 295

Oerlikon, Swiss anti-aircraft gun 203

Ogarkov General Nikolai, Soviet Chief of General Staff 1977–84 48, 55, 74–5, 77, 80, 229

Ogonek , Soviet magazine 241

Okhrimiuk Yevgeni, adviser kidnapped and murdered 160

Okudzhava Bulat, popular Soviet singer 192

Olenin Aleksei, Russian convert to Islam 259–60

Olney Warren, Union Army 1, 180

Olympic boycott 113

Operation Magistral 214–15, 326

Operation Raduga (Rainbow) 69

Operation Typhoon 143, 288–90

Operational Group of the Ministry of Defence 84–5, 88, 141, 185, 243

Orenburg, Russian city 20–23

Orgyadro, local government cadre 222

Ostrovenko Yevgeni, Russian ambassador, Kabul 1992 301–2

Otradnoe, Russian village 260

Oxus River see Amu Darya

Paghman, Afghan town 34

Pakistan 232, 281, 296

Paktia, Afghan province 53, 183

Pandjeh oasis, sparks Anglo-Russian crisis 27

Pandsher Valley

Civilian population returns 187

Description 216

Soviet operations in 142, 215, 217

Lion of Pandsher 184

Panjshiri, Afghan Communist politician 95

Parcham, faction in Afghan Communist party 31, 38, 40, 42–3, 53, 60, 275

Partition of India, 1947 24

parvanistka , bazaar in Kabul 160

Pashanin, Soviet soldier captured by mujahedin 211–12

Pastukhov Boris, Soviet ambassador, Kabul 1989–91 304

Paul I, Russian Tsar 19

Pavlovski General Ivan, leads mission to Afghanistan, 1979 55

Payman S, Afghan Interior Minister 101

Peck Rory, British journalist 258

People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan 17, 30, 37

Perovski General Vasili, governor of Orenburg 1833–42 21–2

Pershing II missiles 47, 78

Peshawar—Afghan city annexed by Sikhs in 1834 24

Peter the Great—sends expedition to Khiva 18

Petrovski General Vasili, abortive campaign against Khiva 1839 22

Petrushenko Colonel Nikolai, critic of Gorbachev 309

Pipeline 207

Pitirim Metropolitan, critic of Gorbachev 317

Plassey, British victory 1757 19

Plastun Vladimir, expert on Afghanistan, criticises war 245

Poklonnaya Gora war memorial 324, 326

Pol Pot, Cambodian despot 44

Politburo (Afghan) 40

Politburo (Soviet) 47, 50, 52

Abandons attempt to build socialism in Afghanistan 278

Committee on Afghanistan 60, 272

Considers Geneva negotiations 281

Decides on invasion 77

Discusses Herat Rising 7, 45

Discusses withdrawal 270, 277, 279

Pleas to spare Taraki ignored 69

Preliminary decisions to send troops 76

Rejects Najibullah’s call for an air strike 296

Tries to keep war secret 235

Ponomarev, head of Communist Party International Department 52, 74, 171, 173, 181, 199, 211

Member of Committee on Afghanistan 60

Potemkin Prince Grigori (1739–91), Catherine the Great’s adviser and lover 19

PPZh, ‘field service wife’ 158

praporshchik (warrant officer) 121, 155, 206, 210, 242, 255–7

Pravda newspaper 155, 189, 239, 243, 293, 315

Prikaz , Demobilisation order 250

Primakov Yevgeni (1929–), Russian politician 29, 303

Prokhanov Alexander, Soviet writer 129, 231

Propaganda

Civilian casualty figures often exaggerated 331

Soviet propaganda 242–3

West exploits fate of Soviet deserters 259

Western propaganda 112, 234, 259, 332

PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 319 see also Afghan syndrome

Public attitudes to the war

More information available under Gorbachev 245

Pul-i Charkhi prison 39–40, 44, 67, 76, 104, 227, 275

Pul-i Khumri logistics base 205

Pushtu language 13, 101, 151, 153

Pushtun ethnic group 13–14, 201, 276

Pushtunistan 28

Putin Vladimir (1952–), Russian President 312, 318, 324

Warns President Bush of consequences of Masud’s assassination 304

Puzanov Alexander, Soviet ambassador, Kabul 43, 48, 55, 65, 69, 71, 75

Rabbani Buhanuddin, (1940–), leader of mujahedin party 17, 32, 184, 200–201, 266–7, 279, 286, 330

Claims war caused Soviet collapse 330

Negotiates with Badaber insurgents 267

Visits Moscow 268

Rafi Mohamed, Afghan Chief of Staff 40, 42, 53

Rakhmonov Feliks, Soviet officer of Tajik origin 233

Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), Sikh ruler 24

Ratebzad Anakhita (1930–), Afghan Communist politician 42, 53, 152

razvedchik , intelligence officer or scout 210–11, 220

Reagan Ronald (1911–2004), US President 114, 272, 280, 296

Refugees 45, 135, 186, 231–2, 237, 290

Reshetnikov Professor Mikhail, expert on PTSD 322–3

Rodionov General I, Commander 40th Army 1985–6 124, 309

Rokossovski Marshal K, Soviet commander in World War II 158

Romanov Major, commander of Grom 91, 93

Rozenbaum Alexander, popular singer 192, 253

Rozenbaum Alexander, young journalist 292

Rutskoi Colonel Alexander 230, 311, 317

Ruzi Lieutenant, one of Taraki’s murderers 72–3, 93

Ryabchenko General, commander of 108th Airborne Division 100–101

Rykova Svetlana, wangles a job in Shindand 156

Ryurikov Dmitri, diplomat 65–6, 107

Saimetdinov Dodikhudo, interpreter 167

Sakharov Andrei (1921–89), nuclear physicist and dissident 108, 237

Salang tunnel 88, 205–6

Samin, Russian PoW 261

Sandirescu, praporshchik in 860th Regiment 210–11

Sapper 132

Sarwari Asadullah, member of ‘Gang of Four’ 59, 62, 64–5, 68, 83, 92

Satarov Captain, 96

Sayyaf Abdul Rasul (1946–.), mujahedin commander 17

Sberbank, Soviet savings bank 188

Sebrov General, unimpressed with official speeches 291

Semchenko Grisha, youth adviser 163

Semenov Major, commander of Zenit 93

Sergeev Major, captures a Stinger 204, 304

Severny Komsomolets, newspaper 292

Shafi, Afghan agent working for Russians 127

Shah Wali, Amin’s foreign minister 71

Shchedrov, Pravda correspondent 239

Shebarshin Leonid, KGB general 222

Returns to Herat 333

Shershnev Colonel Leonid, critic of war 239–41, 243

Shevardnadze Eduard (1927–), Soviet foreign minister 81, 276–7, 280, 287–9, 309

Proposes leaving Soviet troops to support Najibullah after withdrawal 282