Yuri Smirnov: When I was appointed to Afghanistan I was only 22. That is the age of my junior son now

February 15, 2010 // Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Public Affairs Service

The Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan twenty one years ago. The limited contingent of the Soviet troops has lost more than fifteen thousand of its manpower during ten years in the country. A third of them were Ukrainians… Deputy Director of the Veteran Department - Head of the Regional Division of the State Veteran Committee of Ukraine, Colonel (RTD) Yuri Smirnov shared with us his reminiscences about fate of a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan.

Reference note: Yuri Smirnov, Colonel (RTD), took up military service in reconnaissance units and intelligence HQ. He also trained reconnaissance cadets in the famous M. Frunze High Combined Arms Commanding College. In 1981-1983 Yuri Smirnov served in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He was awarded an Order of the Red Star. After the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence Yuri Smirnov was one of the pioneers to found the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

- Yuri Ivanovich, how did you get to Afghanistan?

I had served in the 6th armored division deployed in a small town of Grodno in Belarus before I came to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) in June 1981. There, in the DRA, I was appointed an assistant head of the intelligence section of the 201st infantry division. The division headquartered in the city of Kunduz then. I served in the 201st infantry division till December 1982. Then I got the position of the intelligence section officer of the intelligence unit HQ of the 40th Combined Arms Army in Kabul.  

- How did your family take your appointment to Afghanistan?

I was 22 then. I was married and had two little daughters. The elder daughter was one year and a half, and the junior one was barely four months. My wife took it really hard, of course, but as a real officer’s wife she managed to bear all the service rigors and hardships with dignity. By the way, just after my return from Afghanistan, when I was studying at the Academy in Moscow my son was born. Now he is 22, the same age when I was going to Afghanistan. My daughters have already grown up. They are married and gave birth to my grandchildren. I have already become a fourfold grandpa!

- What were your first impressions on arrival to Afghanistan?

What can be said about my first impressions? Just after my arrival I started to grow into the situation. The situation in the division's area of responsibility was rather complicated. At that time, the area of responsibility of the 201st infantry division was among the biggest ones in the DRA. It actually covered the north and the west of the country. Every day, the intelligence section received a lot of reports needed to be immediately analyzed and properly responded. Besides, there were frequent visits to the division units and reconnaissance sections in order to assist and control the realization of the obtained intelligence.

- How can you assess the efficiency of the division's intelligence activity?

I am deeply convinced that stationing of the Soviet contingent in Afghanistan represents both tragic and heroic pages of our history. And the activity of the reconnaissance men in Afghanistan is not an exception. Before my arrival in the DRA the reconnaissance detachment of the reconnaissance battalion had been sent to destroy an armed gang operating in the area of kishlak Kyshym. While on the move, the detachment got into the well organized ambush of mujahedeen and suffered significant casualties. In general, the division reconnaissance men operated competently and conscientiously, showing real courage and heroism. The absence or lack of modern technical reconnaissance equipment, radio transceivers, etc. had a negative impact on the reconnaissance activity. The procurement of such equipment increased the operation efficiency.

- Do you consider yourself a lucky intelligence man?

I think that everyone who took the war can speak of luck or "stroke of luck" as the modern saying goes. In fact a war is a total combination of good and bad luck. There were cases when a person had not suffered even a scratch for the whole term of his service in Afghanistan before he left. But just before the takeoff he would get under fire right on the runway. And that was the end of the soldier.

I personally consider myself a lucky man. I was ambushed by mujahedeen five times and I was blown-up in the combat vehicles twice, but I survived. 

- What moments from that period of time do you remember most of all?

You know, I remember everything - as if it happened yesterday. Speaking about what I remember the most…I would like to tell you a story in continuation of my answer to the previous question concerning the so-called luck.

At the end of 1981, I took part in the reconnaissance company mission to destroy a gang operated in the area of kishlak Muhamedad. According to our informers, the strength of the gang was about twenty persons. But the information turned out to be false. There were more than eighty mujahedeen instead of twenty. For the operation was conducted at night, we managed to baffle the pursuit and call over the battle helicopters which annihilated the gang. 

 

- Combat missions were left behind after your transfer to the Army HQ, weren’t they?

No, they were not. I rarely stayed in Kabul. I spent most of my time in the army units and formations, which conducted operations.

- What would you recommend the younger generation of the intelligence officers?

I think that an intelligence officer should be a professional, comprehensively trained and educated. Besides, such an officer should be a man of high morals.

- What does the "Afghan friendship" mean to you?

A lot of my comrades-in-arms – Afghan veterans - live in Kiev. We meet annually to remember those times and our fallen comrades. We are always ready to help each other as we did there, in Afghanistan.