Chronicle of the "Afghan war". "Stinger" against helicopters: special forces against the "Stinger. The last hero of Afghanistan: who really was the first to capture the first "Stinger" The first helicopters beaten by a stinger

Russian President Vladimir Putin to GRU Special Forces Reserve Colonel Vladimir Kovtun. He became one of the officers who were the first to capture an American portable weapon in Afghanistan. anti-aircraft missile system(MANPADS) "Stinger". Thus, the USSR provided the world with irrefutable evidence of US participation in sponsoring Afghan militants with weapons. Life figured out the history of the unique operation of the Soviet special forces.

The Soviet Union has been at war in Afghanistan since 1979. There were various reasons for this, the essence of which in this story does not make sense to go into. One way or another, throughout the entire war, Soviet troops acted quite successfully and could have achieved all their goals if the US and other NATO allies had not come to the aid of the Afghan Mujahideen opposing them. They provided the militants not only with weapons, but also with means of communication, money, food, and also provided instructor assistance. For a long time The USSR failed to obtain irrefutable evidence of US intervention in the conflict in Afghanistan. The turning point came only in 1987.

Throughout the war, one of the main advantages Soviet troops was aviation. For obvious reasons, the Mujahideen could not oppose anything to it in the air, and there were few means to fight from the ground. However, since the autumn of 1986, the Americans began to supply the militants with their own - modern at that time - Stinger MANPADS. This weapon was quite light and easy to operate, but at the same time extremely dangerous for Soviet pilots. "Stinger" confidently hit air targets at an altitude of 180 to 3800 meters. As a result of the supply of these weapons in 1986, Soviet troops lost 23 aircraft and helicopters.

The situation reached the point that helicopter pilots had to drastically change tactics and fly at extremely low altitudes, constantly using terrain folds as cover. Soviet intelligence, of course, received data on the supply of American MANPADS to the Mujahideen, but there was no 100% evidence of this. The command issued a statement that the first soldier or officer who captured the Stinger from the militants would be presented with the title of Hero of the USSR. However, the wait was not long.

The Meltanai Gorge in the Afghan province of Kandahar was at the junction of two Soviet units, and therefore the Mujahideen felt quite at ease there. The Soviet special forces knew this and periodically ambushed the militants. January 5, 1987 a group of scouts of the 186th separate detachment special purpose The GRU of the General Staff, under the command of the deputy commander of the detachment, Major Yevgeny Sergeev, decided to make another raid in the gorge. Under the command of Sergeyev was Vladimir Kovtun (then still in the rank of senior lieutenant).

The scouts arrived in the gorge on two Mi-8 helicopters. Flying up to the proposed landing site, they saw three motorcyclists on the road. At that time, only militants used this type of transport. However, the Mujahideen betrayed themselves: dismounting, they opened fire on the helicopters with automatic weapons and fired two shots from the same Stingers. As it turns out later, the militants fired offhand from MANPADS, and therefore did not hit the helicopters. And the special forces themselves at first decided that they were being fired from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers (RPGs).

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Grashchenkov

"Spirits"-motorcyclists are partially eliminated from the onboard machine gun, in addition, the commander of one of the helicopters, Captain Sobol, worked on militants with unguided rockets. The commander of the detachment Sergeyev orders to land the car, and the second helicopter asks to stay in the air to cover the special forces group. Already on the ground, the fighters divided into two detachments and began a battle with the Mujahideen almost point-blank. Our fighters had to storm the hill, on which the "spirits" were fortified. The dynamics of the battle was so high that it lasted no more than 10 minutes, the scouts literally flew up the hill.

In that battle, we failed sixteen "spirits". Apparently, a group of Mujahideen, who had come earlier from the village, was sitting on a high-rise. Couldn't they all have come on three motorcycles? Perhaps they were trying to organize an air defense ambush with ground cover and at the same time test the recently received Stingers. One of the "spirits", who had some kind of pipe and a case like a diplomat in his hands, was chased by me and two fighters. "Spirit" interested me primarily because of the "diplomat". Still not assuming that the pipe is an empty container from the Stinger, I immediately felt that there might be interesting documents in the case, - Vladimir Kovtun told the Bratishka publication after many years.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Andrey Solomonov

The senior lieutenant rushed in pursuit of the Mujahideen, but the militant broke away. Then Vladimir Kovtun, being a master of sports in shooting, decided to liquidate him. From a distance of more than 200 meters, a bullet from the AKS hit exactly in the head. Kovtun took the case and the American MANPADS. The scouts began to retreat to the helicopters, carrying valuable combat trophies. They also took one wounded Mujahideen with them, providing him with medical assistance.

They gave the order to leave. The fighters brought two more pipes: one empty, the other unused. The spinner took off and took the opposite course. In the cabin, I opened the "diplomat", and there is complete documentation on the "Stinger", starting from the addresses of suppliers in the USA and ending with detailed instruction for the use of the complex. At this point, we were overjoyed. Everyone knew what a stir our command created around the purchase of Stingers by the Mujahideen. They also knew that the one who was the first to take at least one sample would be awarded the Star of the Hero, ”Kovtun shared his memories in an interview.

Thanks to the feat of intelligence officers, the USSR presented at an urgent press conference at the Afghan Foreign Ministry irrefutable evidence of US interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

However, none of the participants in this operation received the promised Star of the Hero of the USSR. The scouts themselves attribute this to the fact that they had a conflict with the higher leadership. However, they noted that the main thing was the result, during the capture of the Stingers, no one thought about any titles.

Photo: © Page" Afghan wind "Scorpio"/OK

There was a lot of noise around this case. The commander of the brigade, Colonel Gerasimov, arrived. They decided to introduce Sergeev, me, Sobol, the commander of the board on which we flew, and one sergeant from the inspection group (Colonel Vasily Cheboksarov. - Note. Life). For registration of the submission to the Hero, it is necessary to photograph the candidate. The four of us were photographed and ... they did not give anything. In my opinion, the Order of the Red Banner was given to Sgt. Zhenya Sergeev had an unresolved party penalty, and my relationship with the command was also not cloudless. Why they didn’t give the Hero to the helicopter pilot, I still don’t know. Probably, he, too, was in disgrace with his superiors. Although, in my opinion, we didn’t do anything particularly heroic then. But the fact remains: we took the first "Stinger"!

It took more than 20 years to get a well-deserved award. Thanks to the efforts of relatives and colleagues, the first title of Hero, but already of Russia, was received by the commander of the detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Sergeev in 2012. Unfortunately, posthumously. Sergeev did not live to receive the well-deserved award for only a couple of years, he died of a serious illness, which was the result of numerous injuries during the years of service.

Now, on the day of the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, justice has triumphed in relation to Colonel Vladimir Kovtun.

Despite the promises of the Soviet command to reward the soldiers who took out the enemy MANPADS, it took more than 30 years to wait for a well-deserved reward.

The Soviet Union has been at war in Afghanistan since 1979. There were various reasons for this, the essence of which in this story does not make sense to go into. One way or another, throughout the entire war, Soviet troops acted quite successfully and could have achieved all their goals if the US and other NATO allies had not come to the aid of the Afghan Mujahideen opposing them. They provided the militants not only with weapons, but also with means of communication, money, food, and also provided instructor assistance. For a long time, the USSR failed to obtain irrefutable evidence of US intervention in the conflict in Afghanistan. The turning point came only in 1987.

Throughout the war, one of the main advantages of the Soviet troops was aviation. For obvious reasons, the Mujahideen could not oppose anything to it in the air, and there were few means to fight from the ground. However, since the autumn of 1986, the Americans began to supply the militants with their own - modern at that time - Stinger MANPADS. This weapon was quite light and easy to operate, but at the same time extremely dangerous for Soviet pilots. "Stinger" confidently hit air targets at an altitude of 180 to 3800 meters. As a result of the supply of these weapons in 1986, Soviet troops lost 23 aircraft and helicopters.

The situation reached the point that helicopter pilots had to drastically change tactics and fly at extremely low altitudes, constantly using terrain folds as cover. Soviet intelligence, of course, received data on the supply of American MANPADS to the Mujahideen, but there was no 100% evidence of this. The command issued a statement that the first soldier or officer who captured the Stinger from the militants would be presented with the title of Hero of the USSR. However, the wait was not long.

The Meltanai Gorge in the Afghan province of Kandahar was at the junction of two Soviet units, and therefore the Mujahideen felt quite at ease there. The Soviet special forces knew this and periodically ambushed the militants. On January 5, 1987, a group of scouts of the 186th separate special forces detachment of the GRU of the General Staff, under the command of the deputy commander of the detachment, Major Evgeny Sergeev, decided to make another raid in the gorge. Under the command of Sergeyev was Vladimir Kovtun (then still in the rank of senior lieutenant).

The scouts arrived in the gorge on two Mi-8 helicopters. Flying up to the proposed landing site, they saw three motorcyclists on the road. At that time, only militants used this type of transport. However, the Mujahideen betrayed themselves: dismounting, they opened fire on the helicopters with automatic weapons and fired two shots from the same Stingers. As it turns out later, the militants fired offhand from MANPADS, and therefore did not hit the helicopters. And the special forces themselves at first decided that they were being fired from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers (RPGs).

"Spirits"-motorcyclists are partially eliminated from the onboard machine gun, in addition, the commander of one of the helicopters, Captain Sobol, worked on militants with unguided rockets. The commander of the detachment Sergeyev orders to land the car, and the second helicopter asks to stay in the air to cover the special forces group. Already on the ground, the fighters divided into two detachments and began a battle with the Mujahideen almost point-blank. Our fighters had to storm the hill, on which the "spirits" were fortified. The dynamics of the battle was so high that it lasted no more than 10 minutes, the scouts literally flew up the hill.

In that battle, we failed sixteen "spirits". Apparently, a group of Mujahideen, who had come earlier from the village, was sitting on a high-rise. Couldn't they all have come on three motorcycles? Perhaps they were trying to organize an air defense ambush with ground cover and at the same time test the recently received Stingers. One of the "spirits", who had some kind of pipe and a case like a diplomat in his hands, was chased by me and two fighters. "Spirit" interested me primarily because of the "diplomat". Still not assuming that the pipe is an empty container from the Stinger, I immediately felt that there might be interesting documents in the case, - Vladimir Kovtun said after many years.

The senior lieutenant rushed in pursuit of the Mujahideen, but the militant broke away. Then Vladimir Kovtun, being a master of sports in shooting, decided to liquidate him. From a distance of more than 200 meters, a bullet from the AKS hit exactly in the head. Kovtun took the case and the American MANPADS. The scouts began to retreat to the helicopters, carrying valuable combat trophies. They also took one wounded Mujahideen with them, providing him with medical assistance.

They gave the order to leave. The fighters brought two more pipes: one empty, the other unused. The spinner took off and took the opposite course. In the cabin, I opened the "diplomat", and there is complete documentation on the "Stinger", starting from the addresses of suppliers in the USA and ending with detailed instructions for using the complex. At this point, we were overjoyed. Everyone knew what a stir our command created around the purchase of Stingers by the Mujahideen. They also knew that the one who was the first to take at least one sample would be awarded the Star of the Hero, ”Kovtun shared his memories in an interview.

Thanks to the feat of intelligence officers, the USSR presented at an urgent press conference at the Afghan Foreign Ministry irrefutable evidence of US interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

However, none of the participants in this operation received the promised Star of the Hero of the USSR. The scouts themselves attribute this to the fact that they had a conflict with the higher leadership. However, they noted that the main thing was the result, during the capture of the Stingers, no one thought about any titles.

Photo: © Page" Afghan wind "Scorpio"/OK

There was a lot of noise around this case. The commander of the brigade, Colonel Gerasimov, arrived. They decided to introduce Sergeev, me, Sobol, the commander of the board on which we flew, and one sergeant from the inspection group (Colonel Vasily Cheboksarov. - Note) to the title of Hero. For registration of the submission to the Hero, it is necessary to photograph the candidate. The four of us were photographed and ... they did not give anything. In my opinion, the Order of the Red Banner was given to Sgt. Zhenya Sergeev had an unresolved party penalty, and my relationship with the command was also not cloudless. Why they didn’t give the Hero to the helicopter pilot, I still don’t know. Probably, he, too, was in disgrace with his superiors. Although, in my opinion, we didn’t do anything particularly heroic then. But the fact remains: we took the first "Stinger"!

It took more than 20 years to get a well-deserved award. Thanks to the efforts of relatives and colleagues, the first title of Hero, but already of Russia, was received by the commander of the detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Sergeev in 2012. Unfortunately, posthumously. Sergeev did not live to receive the well-deserved award for only a couple of years, he died of a serious illness, which was the result of numerous injuries during the years of service.

Now, on the day of the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, justice has triumphed in relation to Colonel Vladimir Kovtun.

The title of Hero of the Russian Federation was awarded to one of the most famous special forces soldiers of the times of the USSR - Colonel Vladimir Kovtun. The award found the officer thirty years after the feat he had accomplished - Kovtun was part of the group that captured the first American Stinger MANPADS in Afghanistan. How did it happen?

From the moment the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, our aviation dominated the air almost without hindrance. The arrival of the Mi-24 fire support helicopters at the battlefield decided the outcome of the battle in the direction of the Soviet units. At the beginning of 1987, the Mujahideen had only 12.7 mm of air defense DShK machine guns and 14.5 mm anti-aircraft mountain mounts based on the Vladimirov machine gun, both made in China. Both machine guns were heavy weapons, which the Mujahideen installed in the base areas, creating an air defense zone through the massive use of these weapons. Sometimes DShK was placed in the back of a car. But they could only be good when acting in an ambush. In an open confrontation with the Mi-24, these mobile machine guns were losing.

The Americans, supplying the Mujahideen with a new generation of Stinger MANPADS, sought to deprive Soviet aviation of air supremacy. It was a unique case when the Americans went to supply the Mujahideen with systems that are in service with the US Army. As a rule, the CIA bought for them obsolete Lee Enfield rifles of British production from the First World War and Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, DShK machine guns and RPG-17 grenade launchers of Chinese production, the quality of which was low. This was done through third countries so that the US itself would remain in the shadows.

And the supply of Stingers really turned out to be very effective - Soviet aviation began to suffer heavy losses. Therefore, the capture of the first sample of the Stinger MANPADS solved two problems for the USSR at once. It allowed accusing the United States of directly supplying the Mujahideen with weapons, as well as providing Soviet scientists with the latest American MANPADS to develop means of protection against it. Apparently, this is why the Minister of Defense, Marshal Sergei Sokolov, announced that for the capture of the first sample of this weapon, the performers would be awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

The deputy commander of 186 Special Forces, Evgeny Sergeev, told how, after the operation to capture the first Stinger, they began to process the high ranks of our military intelligence. For the political leadership of the country, they presented the operation as the result of their painstaking work - supposedly it was they who revealed the fact of the deal and led the first batch of Stingers from the moment they were sent from the United States. The management believed this version - and those who were not involved, as usual, were awarded. And those who had a real and direct relationship to the case were left without awards ...

In fact, the capture of this weapon was purely accidental.

At the junction of the areas of responsibility of the 186th and 173rd special forces detachments was the Miltanai Gorge. Due to the fact that both the Kandahar and Sharjoy detachments were far away from flying there, the spirits felt relatively at ease there.

Major Sergeev was a very active and, in a good way, restless special forces officer. He was constantly thinking of ways effective fight with the enemy. His comrade-in-arms in this matter was the deputy commander of the company, senior lieutenant Vladimir Kovtun, at that time the most productive officer in the detachment. On that morning, January 5, 1987, the two of them decided, under the guise of another overflight of the area, to choose a place for an ambush in the gorge, a place for a day's rest and a place for landing Kovtun's group in the coming days.

Both were in the lead helicopter and 2-3 more scouts were with them. In the slave helicopter was the inspection team of Lieutenant V. Cheboksarov.

Here is what Sergeyev himself, who led the group that eventually captured the Stingers, said: “It all happened at about nine - half past ten in the morning. At this time, there is usually no movement of the spirits. We are just lucky, but the spirits are not.”

Vladimir Kovtun recalled: “At first they flew southwest along the concrete road. Then we turned left and entered the gorge. Suddenly, three motorcyclists were found on the road. Seeing our turntables, they quickly dismounted and opened fire from small arms, and also made two runaway launches from MANPADS. But at first we mistook these launches for RPG shots. It was a period when the coherence of the actions of the crews of helicopters and special forces groups was close to ideal. The pilots immediately made a sharp turn and sat down. Already when they left the board, the commander managed to shout to us: “They are firing from a grenade launcher.” "Twenty-fours" covered us from the air, and we started a fight on the ground.

Sergeev decided to land only with the leading side, since the enemy group discovered was small, and he planned to deal with them with the forces of the landing force of only the leading helicopter. Divided on earth. “I ran along the road with one fighter. Sergeyev said. - Volodya with two scouts ran to the right. The spirits were beaten almost point-blank. Motorcycles on the ground. A pipe wrapped in a blanket is attached to one of them. An inner voice calmly says: “This is a MANPADS.”

According to Kovtun, they killed 16 people in that battle. Apparently, the spirits decided to organize an air defense ambush on one of the hills, and some of them were already in place to protect the position, and trained operators with MANPADS arrived on motorcycles. Kovtun recalled: “I and two fighters chased after one of the spirits, who had some kind of pipe and a case like “diplomat” in his hands. He interested me, first of all, because of the “diplomat”. Even without assuming that the pipe is an empty container from the Stinger, I immediately felt that there might be interesting documents there. However, the spirit ran very fast, and when the distance between him and Kovtun increased, Vladimir remembered that he was a master of sports in shooting and the spirit was unlikely to be able to run faster than a bullet ...

The case contained documents for the supply of a batch of Stinger MANPADS from the United States to Pakistan. These documents were irrefutable evidence that the United States was supplying the Mujahideen with the latest weapons.

In order to capture the retreating enemy group of three, Sergeev ordered to land a slave helicopter with a group of Lieutenant V. Cheboksarov. But they could not take them and simply destroyed them. Therefore, from time to time, a pop-up story that another participant in these events, Cheboksarov, was forgotten is not true. He recently passed away. Yevgeny Sergeev also died, never having received the promised Gold Star during his lifetime. It was possible to push the award after his death in May 2012 to his friends, colleagues and relatives.

Thank God, Vladimir Kovtun managed to receive a well-deserved high award during his lifetime, although with a delay of three decades.

Why didn't they give the heroes the promised stars on time? Vladimir Kovtun himself answered this question: “They decided to introduce me, Sergeev, Sobol, the commander of the board on which we flew, and one sergeant from the inspection group to the Hero. For registration of the submission to the Hero, it is necessary to photograph the candidate. The four of us were photographed and ... in the end, they did not give anything. In my opinion, the “Banner” was given to Sgt. Zhenya had a party penalty that had not been lifted, but a criminal case was opened against me (Both the party penalty and the criminal case were inspired by far-fetched circumstances by people who did not like the independent nature of our heroes - approx. VIEW).

Why they didn’t give the Hero the helicopter pilot, I still don’t know. Probably, he, too, was in disgrace with his command. Although, in my opinion, we didn’t do anything particularly heroic then, but the fact remains. We took the first Stinger.

Hero Title Russian Federation assigned to one of the most famous special forces soldiers of the times of the USSR - Colonel Vladimir Kovtun. The award found the officer thirty years after the feat he had accomplished - Kovtun was part of the group that captured the first American Stinger MANPADS in Afghanistan. How did it happen?

From the moment the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, our aviation dominated the air almost without hindrance. The arrival of the Mi-24 fire support helicopters at the battlefield decided the outcome of the battle in the direction of the Soviet units. At the beginning of 1987, the Mujahideen had only 12.7 mm DShK machine guns and 14.5 mm anti-aircraft mountain mounts based on the Vladimirov machine gun, both of Chinese production, from air defense systems. Both machine guns were heavy weapons that the Mujahideen installed in base areas, creating an air defense zone through the massive use of these weapons. Sometimes DShK was placed in the back of a car. But they could only be good when acting in an ambush. In an open confrontation with the Mi-24, these mobile machine guns were losing.

The Americans, supplying the Mujahideen with a new generation of Stinger MANPADS, sought to deprive Soviet aviation of air supremacy. It was a unique case when the Americans went to supply the Mujahideen with systems that are in service with the US Army. As a rule, the CIA bought for them obsolete Lee Enfield rifles of British production from the First World War and Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, DShK machine guns and RPG-17 grenade launchers of Chinese production, the quality of which was low. This was done through third countries so that the US itself would remain in the shadows.

And the supply of Stingers really turned out to be very effective - Soviet aviation began to suffer heavy losses. Therefore, the capture of the first sample of the Stinger MANPADS solved two problems for the USSR at once. It allowed accusing the United States of directly supplying the Mujahideen with weapons, as well as providing Soviet scientists with the latest American MANPADS to develop means of protection against it. Apparently, that is why the Minister of Defense, Marshal Sergei Sokolov, announced that for the capture of the first sample of this weapon, the performers would be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The deputy commander of 186 Special Forces, Evgeny Sergeev, told how, after the operation to capture the first Stinger, they began to process the high ranks of our military intelligence. For the political leadership of the country, they presented the operation as the result of their painstaking work - supposedly it was they who revealed the fact of the transaction and led the first batch of Stingers from the moment they were sent from the United States. The management believed this version - and those who were not involved, as usual, were awarded. And those who had a real and direct relationship to the case were left without awards ...

In fact, the capture of this weapon was purely accidental.

At the junction of the areas of responsibility of the 186th and 173rd special forces detachments was the Miltanai Gorge. Due to the fact that both the Kandahar and Sharjoy detachments were far away from flying there, the spirits felt relatively at ease there.

Major Sergeev was a very active and, in a good way, restless special forces officer. He constantly came up with ways to effectively deal with the enemy. His comrade-in-arms in this matter was the deputy company commander, senior lieutenant Vladimir Kovtun, at that time the most productive officer in the detachment. On that morning, January 5, 1987, the two of them decided, under the guise of another overflight of the area, to choose a place for an ambush in the gorge, a place for a day's rest and a place for landing Kovtun's group in the coming days.

Both were in the lead helicopter and two or three more scouts were with them. In the slave helicopter was the inspection team of Lieutenant V. Cheboksarov.

Here is what Sergeev himself, who led the group that eventually captured the Stingers, said: “It all happened at about nine - half past ten in the morning. At this time, there is usually no movement of the spirits. We are just lucky, but the spirits are not.”

Vladimir Kovtun recalled: “At first they flew southwest along the concrete road. Then we turned left and entered the gorge. Suddenly, three motorcyclists were found on the road. Seeing our turntables, they quickly dismounted and opened fire from small arms, and also made two quick launches from MANPADS. But at first we mistook these launches for RPG shots. It was a period when the coherence of the actions of the crews of helicopters and special forces groups was close to ideal. The pilots immediately made a sharp turn and sat down. Already when they left the board, the commander managed to shout to us: "They are shooting from a grenade launcher." "Twenty-fours" covered us from the air, and we started a fight on the ground.

Sergeev decided to land only with the leading side, since the enemy group discovered was small, and he planned to deal with them with the forces of the landing force of only the leading helicopter. Divided on earth. “I ran along the road with one fighter. Sergeyev said. - Volodya with two scouts ran to the right. The spirits were beaten almost point-blank. Motorcycles on the ground. A pipe wrapped in a blanket is attached to one of them. An inner voice calmly says: "This is a MANPADS."

According to Kovtun, they killed 16 people in that battle. Apparently, the spirits decided to organize an air defense ambush on one of the hills, and some of them were already in place to protect the position, and trained operators with MANPADS arrived on motorcycles. Kovtun recalled: “I and two fighters chased after one of the spirits, who had some kind of pipe and a diplomat-type case in his hands. He interested me primarily because of the “diplomat”. Even without assuming that the pipe is an empty container from the Stinger, I immediately felt that there might be interesting documents there. However, the spirit ran very fast, and when the distance between him and Kovtun increased, Vladimir remembered that he was a master of sports in shooting and the spirit was unlikely to be able to run faster than a bullet ...

The case contained documents for the supply of a batch of Stinger MANPADS from the United States to Pakistan. These documents were irrefutable evidence that the United States was supplying the Mujahideen with the latest weapons.

In order to capture the retreating enemy group of three, Sergeev ordered to land a slave helicopter with a group of Lieutenant V. Cheboksarov. But they could not take them and simply destroyed them. Therefore, from time to time, a pop-up story that another participant in these events, Cheboksarov, was forgotten is not true. He recently passed away. Yevgeny Sergeev also died, never having received the promised Gold Star during his lifetime. It was possible to push the award after his death in May 2012 to his friends, colleagues and relatives.

Thank God, Vladimir Kovtun managed to receive a well-deserved high award during his lifetime, although with a delay of three decades.

Why didn't they give the heroes the promised stars on time? Vladimir Kovtun himself answered this question: “They decided to introduce me, Sergeev, Sobol, the commander of the board on which we flew, and one sergeant from the inspection group to the Hero. For registration of the submission to the Hero, it is necessary to photograph the candidate. The four of us were photographed and ... in the end they did not give anything. In my opinion, the “Banner” was given to Sgt. Zhenya had a party penalty that had not been lifted, and a criminal case was opened against me ( And party punishment, and a criminal case were inspired by far-fetched circumstances by people who did not like the independent nature of our heroes - ed. SIGHT ).

Why they didn’t give the Hero the helicopter pilot, I still don’t know. Probably, he, too, was in disgrace with his command. Although, in my opinion, we didn’t do anything particularly heroic then, but the fact remains. We took the first Stinger."

People who wrote invisibly recent history countries.

Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Georgievich Sergeev

In memory of a special forces officer.

On April 25, 2008, in the ancient Russian city of Ryazan, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Georgievich Sergeev died of a fourth heart attack - a man amazing fate who lived a bright and very eventful life. He was called the legend of the national special forces during his lifetime, which he devoted to the main cause, in which the mission of a man was originally laid down - the protection of his homeland.

The operation to capture MANPADS is perhaps the brightest page in the military biography of Yevgeny Sergeev. During his service in Afghanistan, under his direct supervision and with his direct participation, many different operations were carried out, thanks to which E. Sergeev was considered one of the most effective commanders. It was very difficult to achieve this: twice the commando officer was on fire in the helicopter, and once he collapsed with him.

The result of Yevgeny Sergeev's stay in the DRA was two Orders of the Red Star and the most honorable medal - "For Courage". At the same time, he arrived in Afghanistan in the position of deputy battalion commander, and was replaced in the same position after 2 years - the most ill-fated party penalty again affected. Others, without fighting, managed to make a career during this period ...

Sergeev Evgeniy Georgievich - at the time of promotion to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - deputy for combat training of the commander of the 186th separate special forces detachment of the 22nd separate brigade special purpose GRU General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR (as part of a limited contingent of a grouping of Soviet troops in Democratic Republic Afghanistan), major.

Lieutenant colonel. He was awarded 2 orders of the Red Star, the Order of Courage, medals, including the medal "For Courage".

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2012, for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty in the Republic of Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Sergeev Evgeny Georgievich was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously).

In the summer of 2012, at a ceremony in cultural center Armed Forces RF Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Major General I.D. Sergun, on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, handed over the insignia of the Hero of the Russian Federation - the Gold Star medal - to the widow of E.G. Sergeeva ‒ Natalia Vladimirovna Sergeeva.

Eugene was born on February 17, 1956 in Belarus, in the city of Polotsk, in the family of a paratrooper officer, and therefore Sergeyev had no questions about who to become and where to go. After graduation high school in 1973 he became a cadet of the 1st year of the 9th company of the faculty of special intelligence of the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command Twice Red Banner School named after Lenin Komsomol(390031, Russia, Ryazan, Army General V.F. Margelov Square, 1).

From 1971, when the first graduation of the 9th company took place, until 1994 inclusive, until the transfer of the 5th battalion to the Novosibirsk VOKU, 1068 officers were trained. More than 30 graduates graduated from the school with a gold medal, more than 100 graduated with honors, six became generals, five became Heroes of the Russian Federation, more than 15 commanded special forces. Graduates of the 9th company and the 5th battalion have always been proud of belonging to the Ryazan Airborne School.

The cadet Sergeev studied quite well, he had a phenomenal memory of a scout. According to the recollections of his fellow students, Eugene could read any text in English from two or three typewritten pages a couple of times and retell, if not by heart, then very close to the text. Being the smallest in the company, he did not lag behind other cadets in sports either. He was a school boxing champion. True, in his weight class, as a rule, there were no rivals, and the victory was awarded automatically. But there was a case when a lightweight boxer was prepared and put up in one of the companies, Sergeev was not slow to confirm his champion title, thus proving that he had not worn it in vain.

In fairness, it should be noted that Yevgeny Sergeev was not a model of military discipline, rather, on the contrary, he was often listed as a prisoner in the Ryazan garrison guardhouse. There was even a case when the future legendary commando was going to be expelled from a military university altogether, but then the intervention of his father, at that time the head of the airborne training department of the school, saved him.

A cocky character, a sharp mind and an equally sharp tongue did not allow Sergeyev to walk in the favorites of his superiors. But that didn't bother him much. But the questions of friendship, officer honor and human dignity were in the first place for Yevgeny. His friends respected him immensely for this. Despite his short stature, he had an iron will and rare courage, and therefore was not afraid of people above himself, neither in position and rank, nor in height.

After graduating from college in 1977, Sergeev was assigned to serve in Transbaikalia, and a few years later he already commanded a separate special-purpose company deployed in Mongolia.

At the end of 1984, it was decided to strengthen the special forces grouping in Afghanistan with three separate detachments. Captain Sergeev became the deputy commander of one of them. Here, too, he almost immediately showed his cocky disposition, when, during the deployment of the detachment, the deputy for equipment and weapons somehow inadvertently spoke out against Sergeyev, deciding to laugh at his short stature, for which he was immediately knocked down by Evgeny.

Then he himself, despite the fact that he was essentially the instigator of the conflict, complained about Sergeyev to the district command. But Yevgeny Georgievich cared little for the fact that he was making enemies for himself in high offices, and the broken nose of the deputy technical officer, as well as some other facts, were later recalled to him.

But it wasn't until then. An accelerated coordination of the detachment began and a long and difficult march through the snow-covered Salang Pass at an altitude of 4000 m, to the south of Afghanistan, to Sharjoy.

When crossing it, very serious incidents and tragedies repeatedly occurred: for example, on February 23, 1980, in the middle of the pass tunnel, when oncoming columns were moving, a collision occurred, resulting in a traffic jam in which 16 Soviet military personnel suffocated, and on November 3, 1982, here there was an explosion of a fuel truck, killing at least 176 soldiers and officers Soviet army. But the detachment under the command of Sergeyev made the most difficult march through the whole of Afghanistan, in difficult and unusual weather conditions without loss of personnel and equipment. It is also important that Evgeny Georgievich himself did not have any combat experience by that time ...

E. Sergeev always and everywhere tried to delve into everything himself, calculate and think through everything to the smallest detail, and only then get to work. As a true commander, he was everywhere at the head of his subordinates, almost all the time he walked in the head patrol.

The head watch is two or three people who ensure the safety of the group. They go forward several hundred meters and in the event of a sudden collision with the enemy, they can only rely on themselves. If there are large enemy forces in front of them, then the head patrol takes the blow and thereby gives the group the opportunity to either retreat or take vantage point to repel an enemy attack. Of course, it is not the job of the deputy commander to go on the rampage, but this is only when we are talking about daily work. And in the period when this work is just getting better, the commander, in order to better understand the features of the upcoming activity, should try everything himself. Another thing is that not everyone will go for it.

A few months after arriving in Afghanistan, an event will occur in the life of Evgeny Sergeev, which will subsequently play important role in his military career, and, perhaps, in life.

For a clearer organization of the activities of the detachment, E. Sergeev decided to establish contact with our military advisers in order to receive intelligence information from them. He invited them to visit, but it so happened that they arrived when Yevgeny was not there, no one in the detachment knew about their arrival, and therefore they were not admitted. As soon as E. Sergeev arrived, he was immediately informed about what had happened, and in order to correct the situation, he rushed to catch up with them in his UAZ. Naturally, he took a bottle of vodka with him in order to smooth out the embarrassment. Caught up with. Everything was resolved. The bottle was sold to several healthy men, purely symbolically. And when he returned back, the head of the political department of the brigade, which included the detachment, was already waiting for him.

Probably, those who found themselves in Soviet times do not need to explain who the political officer was in those years in the army. Other commanders of regiments and divisions were afraid to conflict with their deputies on the political side, not without reason fearing possible unpleasant consequences - both in their careers and in later life. But Yevgeny Sergeev was not a shy one. Attempts to explain to the political worker why he smelled of alcohol were not successful, and Yevgeny Georgievich left in his hearts, slamming the door. And after some time, for his demarche, he received a penalty along the party line, which meant - fight, do not fight, and you will not receive any awards or positions. Still - 1985. The height of the "new thinking" and the fight against drunkenness. But in fairness, it should be noted that E. Sergeev served not for this ...

In 1986, many Soviet reconnaissance vehicles abroad were ordered to obtain a sample of the latest American portable anti-aircraft missile system(MANPADS) "Stinger". The Mujahideen began to actively apply this effective weapon against our helicopters and planes. Aviation of the 40th Army suffered serious losses. If in 1981 only one car was shot down with the help of the Stinger MANPADS, then in 1986 there were already 23 of them. It was necessary to find an “antidote”. Alas, no matter how hard our residencies fought, the task turned out to be impossible. Then she was assigned to special forces, for which, as you know, there are no impossible tasks.

The command of the Soviet troops received information that the CIA plans to supply about 500 Stinger MANPADS to the territory of Afghanistan. Undoubtedly, complete dominance Soviet aviation in the air, if so many missiles hit the combat zone, it would be highly doubtful.

Therefore, at the beginning of 1986, a telegram signed by the Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union S. L. Sokolov, was circularly sent to all units of the special forces operating on the territory of the DRA. The telegram announced the upcoming delivery, as well as the fact that the one who captured the first "Stinger" was waiting for a high award - the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

On January 5, 1987, an inspection team under the command of Major E. Sergeev flew out along the route he had planned in order to reconnoiter the area for the upcoming ambush operations. Having entered at an extremely low altitude by two helicopters into the Meltanai Gorge, where the spooks felt at home, because. soviet soldiers appeared there extremely rarely, they suddenly collided with three motorcyclists who began to flee into the green. Sergeev, who was sitting in the place of the onboard gunner, opened fire, and the helicopter commander launched rockets and went to land.

Broken motorcycles and corpses were found on the ground, one of which was tied to a strange pipe wrapped in a blanket. One of the Mujahideen ran away from the special forces, but was destroyed by machine gun fire. Next to the dead dushman lay the same strange incomprehensible pipe and a diplomat, in which, as it turned out later in the helicopter, there were instructions for using the Stinger.

Thus, the American Stinger MANPADS, which were hunted Soviet intelligence officers various departments, the first to take the Soviet special forces of the GRU and personally Major Evgeny Georgievich Sergeev with his subordinates.

From the memories of the participants in the operation

Vladimir Kovtun, for 1987, deputy commander of the 2nd company of the 7th special forces detachment of the GRU:

In January 1987, I was going to go out again to the junction of the zones of responsibility with the Kandahar detachment (the 173rd GRU special forces detachment was located in Kandahar). On the way to Kandahar, not far from Kalat, in the area of ​​the village of Jilavur, there is a solid greenery. Almost perpendicular to the road, the Meltanai Gorge ran to the southeast. It was too far for us and the Kandaharites to fly there. Taking advantage of this, the spirits felt quite at ease in this area. Sergeev conceived another adventure - to work there. The plan was this. Choose a place for an ambush, work out and for several weeks no longer appear in the area at all, so that the spirits calm down. Then work again and again for a while the abyss. So pinch slowly.

Under the guise of search operations, we flew to reconnoiter the area. The inspection group was commanded by Vasya Cheboksarov. Sergeyev and I flew to choose a place for an ambush, landing and day camp.

Evgeny Sergeev, in 1987, deputy commander of the 7th special forces detachment, who planned the operation:

That is exactly what happened. Kovtun and I flew in the lead helicopter. There were two or three other fighters with us. I was sitting behind a machine gun in the place of the gunner. Lieutenant V. Cheboksarov and his fighters were flying in a slave helicopter.

Vladimir Kovtun:

First, they flew southwest along the concrete road. Then we turned left and entered the gorge. Suddenly, three motorcyclists were found on the road. Seeing our turntables, they quickly dismounted and opened fire from small arms, and also made two quick launches from MANPADS. But at first we mistook these launches for RPG shots.

This was a period when the coherence of the actions of the helicopter crews and special forces groups was close to ideal. The pilots immediately made a sharp turn and sat down. Already when they left the board, the commander managed to shout to us: “They are shooting from a grenade launcher.” Twenty-fours (MI-24 helicopters) covered us from the air, and we, having landed, started a fight on the ground.

Evgeny Sergeev:

As soon as they saw the motorcyclists, they immediately opened fire. Motorcyclists in Afghanistan are definitely spirits. I press the trigger of the machine gun. The commander of the helicopter detachment was Sobol. He manages to work out with NURSs and immediately leaves for landing. And then it feels like a shot from an RPG was fired at us. I managed to “fill up” the shooter. They sat only on the leading side. While still in the air, I noticed a strange pipe from one of the motorcyclists. On the ground, I heard on the radio that one of the “twenty-fours” was also fired from a grenade launcher. On the radio, I give the command to the led "eight" to remain in the air. The dynamics of the battle is high, and there are not so many spirits. I decided that while the follower would sit down, time will pass and everything will be over. In the air, his fire was more necessary for us. In the event that the situation somehow becomes more complicated, I will be able to land troops in the place where I will need them at that moment. On earth we are divided. I ran along the road with one fighter. Volodya with two scouts ran to the right. The spirits were beaten almost point-blank. There are motorcycles on the ground. A pipe wrapped in a blanket is attached to one of them. An inner voice calmly says: “This is a MANPADS.” Here I look, V. Kovtun is riding a motorcycle back.

Is there a result!

Vladimir Kovtun:

In that battle, we “filled up” sixteen people. Apparently, a group of Mujahideen, who had come earlier from the village, was sitting on a high-rise. They couldn't all come on three motorcycles. Perhaps they were trying to organize an air defense ambush with ground cover and at the same time try out the recently received Stingers.

One of the spirits, who had some kind of pipe and a “diplomat” type case in his hands, was chased by me and two fighters. He interested me, first of all, because of the “diplomat”. Still not assuming that the pipe is an empty container from the Stinger, I immediately felt that there might be interesting documents there. The spirit was from us meters in a hundred - a hundred and fifty. "Twenty-fours" took him "in a circle", firing from quadruple machine guns, and did not let him leave.

On the run, I shout into “Daisy”: “Men! Just don't miss it!" The spirit, apparently realized that they did not want to kill him, and began to run away firing back. When he was already two hundred meters away, I remembered that I was a master of sports in shooting. No, I don't think I'll miss you. He took a full breath, sat down on his knee and “caught up” with him in the back of his head.

When I ran up, a strange pipe caught my eye. Obviously not a grenade launcher. MANPADS, even ours, even the enemy, have many similarities. And, despite the fact that the antenna was not deployed, a hunch flashed: “Maybe “Stinger?” By the way, they did not hit us, although they shot twice, precisely because they did not have time to prepare the complex and the antenna was never deployed. In fact, they hit like a grenade launcher, offhand.

But there was no time to especially consider the trophies. Bullets whistled. He grabbed a machine gun, a pipe, a “diplomat” and to the turntables. I run up to Sergeyev. He asks: "What?"

I answer: "MANPADS". He, despite the fact that we recently had a great fight, broke into a smile and climbed up to shake hands. Shouts: "Volodya!" The rest of the emotions without words.

Evgeny Sergeev:

The joy, of course, was great. And not because we practically earned ourselves hero stars. Nobody thought about it then. The main thing is that there is a result, and it seems not bad. Despite my emotions, I saw three spirits depart. He gave the command to the wingman to sit down and take them prisoner. The inspection team landed, but could not take the spirits. Destroyed.

The entire fight lasted no more than ten minutes. The wounded spirit was injected with promedol and loaded into a helicopter. The place was dangerous, so there was no reason to linger there.

Vladimir Kovtun:

The fight took no more than twenty minutes. They gave the order to leave. The soldiers brought two more pipes. One empty and one unused. The spinner took off and took the opposite course. In the cabin, I opened a diplomat, and there is complete documentation on the Stinger. Starting from the addresses of suppliers in the States and ending with detailed instructions for using the complex. At this point, we were overjoyed. Everyone knew what a stir the Army command created around the purchase of Stingers by the Mujahideen. They also knew that the one who takes the first, at least one sample, will be awarded the star of the Hero.

Evgeny Sergeev:

We have enough experience so far. I knew that after the battle, the spirits would definitely come to pick up theirs. Bury something before sunset. Therefore, in an hour and a half or two, you can safely visit the same place and have a second result.

Taki did. Only this time they flew into the gorge from the south. I raised two eights and four twenty-fours. He took more people. True, no one else was found at the battlefield. The gorge was combed again. They searched for an identification station “friend or foe”, but to no avail.

Then they delivered all the captured and wounded spirit to Kandahar. That spirit lay in the hospital, first in Kandahar, then in Kabul. As they said, he suddenly died there, although he practically recovered in Kandahar.

After this operation, Major Yevgeny Sergeev was sent to Kabul, where he personally reported to the commander of the 40th Army, General Boris Gromov, on the progress of the combat mission and the capture of MANPADS.

After listening carefully to the major, B. Gromov warmly thanked him and other servicemen for the successful operation and gave the command to prepare presentations for the award, even despite the presence of a party penalty. The submission to the Golden Star was sent to four people, but ... none of them received it. All - by different reasons. E. Sergeev - precisely because he had that very unremoved party penalty. In addition, when in Kabul Yevgeny Georgievich talked about how the Stingers were captured, some high officials in surprise began to object to him that everything was painfully simple.

After “processing” Major E. Sergeev’s story, the version of the capture of American MANPADS began to look different: our agents detected the loading of a batch of Stingers in the United States, tracked its unloading in Pakistan, and then led it all the way to Afghanistan. As soon as the MANPADS hit the DRA, the special forces were alerted - and this is the result.

Evgeny Georgievich himself, during his lifetime, recalling this incident, called it "a fairy tale of the Vienna Woods." Although, I must say, it was for her that a lot of people were awarded - and orders and medals are by no means fabulous. And those who really risked their lives and achieved the result did not receive anything.

Major E. Sergeev also delivered the Stingers to Moscow. At the Chkalovsky airfield, he was met by "people in civilian clothes", took away the trophies, documentation and, having loaded everything into the car, drove away. And the special forces hero remained standing on the field of the airfield in a burnt-out field uniform, without a penny of money in his pocket ...

They didn't become heroes.

Vladimir Kovtun:

There was a lot of noise around this. The commander of the brigade, Colonel Gerasimov, arrived. They decided to introduce me, Sergeyev, Sobol, the commander of the board on which we flew, and one sergeant from the inspection group to the Hero. For registration of the submission to the Hero, it is necessary to photograph the candidate. The four of us were photographed and...

In the end, they didn't give anything. In my opinion, the “Banner” was given to Sgt. Zhenya had a party penalty that had not been lifted, and a criminal case was opened against me. Why they didn’t give the Hero the helicopter pilot, I still don’t know. Probably, he, too, was in disgrace with his command.

Although, in my opinion, we didn’t do anything particularly heroic then, but the fact remains. We took the first Stinger.

Evgeny Sergeev:

As it turned out later from the documents captured by V. Kovtun, these Stingers were the first of a batch of 3,000 pieces that the Mujahideen bought in the States. Of course, one of the main reasons that served as such a stir around the Stingers was the need to obtain material evidence of the active support of the Dushmans by the Americans. The captured documents clearly testified to this.

When in Kabul I told how it really turned out, the high officials objected to me in surprise that everything was too simple. After that, they began to process and complicate me. As a result, it turned out that our agents detected the loading of a batch of MANPADS in the States, tracked its unloading in Pakistan, and so on “herded” it all the way to Afghanistan. As soon as the "Stingers" got into Afghanistan, the Kandahar and our detachments were alerted. They were waiting for the spirits with the Stingers to be within reach. And as soon as they got there, we quickly took off and worked. But these are all “tales of the Vienna Woods”. Although a lot of people were awarded for fairy tales to “the very top”.

True, it is always tougher and simpler. It all happened at about nine - half past ten in the morning. At this time, there is usually no movement of the spirits. We are just lucky, but the spirits are not.

Although it must be admitted that at that time our special services different ways tried to get a sample of the Stinger. As far as I know, the KGB, which at that time was a very powerful organization, also tried to get them through its agents. However, the SOVIET SPETSNAZ did it.

And after returning to the USSR, after some time, Sergeev was summoned to the prosecutor's office in Tashkent to give explanations about the slander that some ensign had scribbled. In Afghanistan, he was convicted of stealing by Sergeyev, dismissed from the army, and by the time of the trial he had drunk himself. But as in the notorious thirty-seventh year, Evgeny Georgievich was offered to justify himself. The case was under control in the Central Committee, ended in nothing, but while it dragged on, the military officer was not given permission to enter the academy.

But be that as it may, after serving in Afghanistan, Major E. Sergeev was sent to further serve in the Transcaucasian Military District, where separatist sentiments were already brewing. Political leaders shied away from taking on any responsibility, and often shifted it to the military and employees law enforcement, after with the ease of the latter and substituting.

Somehow, a crowd of excited people, numbering about six hundred people, skillfully instigated by separatists from the party committee (!) stormed the checkpoint of the unit commanded by E. Sergeev and rushed to the territory of the camp site, where this unit was based. Evgeny Georgievich did not lose his head when he saw an angry crowd and several armed people in it, one of whom had already fired a shot, fired a burst over their heads and opened fire to kill. This was enough for the crowd to immediately disperse, and two corpses remained on the pavement. Thanks to the decisive actions of E. Sergeev and his subordinates, who showed by deed that it was not worth joking with them, no more similar incidents arose in the city, major interethnic conflicts were avoided.

But, of course, these events could not pass without a trace. A criminal case was initiated against Yevgeny Georgievich, which was soon sorted out and closed. The separatists declared a great blow for the officer's head. Soviet times amount - 50,000 rubles. Miraculously, he managed to avoid an assassination attempt, and therefore soon E. Sergeev was transferred to serve in Belarus. But even there he did not have a chance to stay long - the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and Evgeny Georgievich ended up in the famous 16th GRU special forces brigade stationed in the village of Chuchkovo, Ryazan Region.

It would seem that the time has come to calmly engage in combat training, but there it was. Soon a military conflict broke out in the Chechen Republic. The command of the brigade determined that a battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel E. Sergeev was sent to the rebellious republic. According to the memoirs of Yevgeny Georgievich, no one really even knew what to prepare for, what tasks would be set and what exactly should be worked out. As usually happens in such cases, everyone worked out - even what military intelligence and shouldn't be doing it at all. They gave him a month to prepare, and after that, a unit under the command of a special forces officer flew to Mozdok.

As it happened before, Lieutenant Colonel E. Sergeev also showed his talent as an organizer of the highest class in Chechnya. The detachment soon began to perform tasks, where the battalion commander was again ahead. Detachment groups along with Group 45 reconnaissance regiment The Airborne Forces were the first to reach Dudayev's palace, however, as often happens, the high award went to someone else. Nevertheless, Sergeev's unit continued to successfully carry out the tasks assigned to him. However tragic event cut short the glorious combat path of the detachment and the military career of its commander.

On one of the January days of 1995, after completing the assigned task, the fighters returned to their base in Grozny - it was located in the building of the former vocational school. Here it became clear that one of the officers who was part of the group, under the guise of calling for reinforcements, shamefully fled. Sergeev gathered the officers for a meeting in order to decide what to do with this man next. There was a proposal to send him back to Chuchkovo, and deal with him already there. To give the rest of the officers an opportunity to discuss this issue, Lieutenant Colonel Sergeev went out into the street and then felt a strong push of the ground under his feet, fell, and a brick wall collapsed on him. Evgeny Georgievich lost consciousness, and when he woke up and the surviving subordinates pulled him out from under the ruins, he organized the analysis of the rubble and the search for those who remained under the rubble. It turned out that part of the three-story building was destroyed by the explosion. After the main activities for the search and extraction of the injured and the dead from the rubble were completed, Evgeny Georgievich again lost consciousness.

This time he came to his senses already in the hospital, where he learned that as a result of the explosion and the collapse of the building, 47 soldiers and officers of the detachment were killed and another 28 were injured and shell-shocked. It was another very serious blow for the courageous officer of the special forces, much stronger than his own fractures and wounds.

And then accusations of unprofessionalism and almost criminal negligence rained down on E. Sergeev. Allegedly, the commandos did not check the building, but it was mined. Rumors persisted that wires had been found that led from the ruins of the house to the fence. But one must think that such an experienced commander with rich combat experience could not help but understand that there could be surprises in the buildings in the captured city. In addition, only one corner of the building collapsed, and not all of it completely, which indicates the possibility of hitting the building with its own artillery shell. Later, this is exactly what happened with one of the units of the Marine Corps.

But the version of "shooting at friendly people" was immediately rejected by high officials. Finding out whose projectile it was is rather difficult, and the trial will testify to the mess that is happening in Grozny. In the press, both in ours and in foreign ones, a wild noise will immediately rise, that if artillery indiscriminately hits its own, then what is happening with the population is even scary to imagine. And here and so problems through the roof. A small victorious operation to overthrow the Dudayev regime, which, according to high army officials, could have been completed in just 2 hours by the forces of one parachute regiment, turned, in fact, if not into a war, then at least into a major armed conflict on a regional scale .

... A monument to fallen soldiers was opened in the Chuchkovskaya brigade.

Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Georgievich Sergeev retired for health reasons, received a second disability group. And immediately became of no use to anyone. Previously, when organizational talent and the will of the commander were required, Sergeyev was sent ahead and even insisted on his candidacy. When a person suffered while performing his military duty, they forgot about him. His health was deteriorating, but no one except his relatives and close friends cared about this. Evgeny Georgievich did not even manage to come to the meeting dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of graduation from the school - he felt bad before, he lived on injections and pills, practically without getting out of hospitals. There was hope that this strong and courageous person would get out, cope with the disease, because 52 years old - is this the age for a man?

But the disease was not defeated. On April 25, 2008, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Georgievich Sergeev died. At the funeral of a real Hero, for inexplicable reasons, there was no guard of honor, which is due to any senior officer, and the GRU was unable to provide its representative to participate in farewell to a man who devoted his whole life to serving in this department.

The organization of the funeral, which was attended by many colleagues, was taken over by the "Afghan" officers. Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Georgievich Sergeev was buried in the 4th section of the New Cemetery of the city of Ryazan, not far from the Alley of Glory of servicemen who died in the line of their military duty, next to his father, Georgy Ivanovich Sergeev, a colonel, one of the best teachers of the Ryazan airborne school. Their grave is the eighth from the central alley in the last row of 4 sections.

Shortly before his death, special forces veterans supported the initiative of reserve lieutenant colonel Alexander Khudyakov to achieve the title of Hero of Russia for Yevgeny Sergeev. But they didn't.

And concluding the story about this, without exaggeration, a great man, I would like to say the following. If lieutenant colonel Sergeyev lived in the USA and served in american army, then Hollywood would make a blockbuster about his life and exploits, with a multi-million dollar budget and attracting its best movie stars, which would then be rolled with stunning success in cinemas around the world, and book publishers would gladly lay out millions of dollars just for the opportunity to publish his memoirs.

If Lieutenant Colonel Sergeev had accomplished his feat during the Second World War, then, probably, he would have received his Hero of the Star - it happened that even “penalty boxers” were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Perhaps some school, a pioneer squad, or something like that would be named after him.

But Lieutenant Colonel E. Sergeev died in Russia, where not those who defend the country are held in high esteem, but those who sell it wholesale and retail. And for its defenders, the state saved at that time even on the last salute ...

P.S. When writing this article, the materials presented in the articles by Sergei Kozlov “Who took the Stinger” were used? and “Passed through the fire”, published in the journal “Brother”, respectively, in the issues of February 2002 and June 2008, also memoirs of reserve lieutenant colonel Alexander Khudyakov.