Soviet military

Over half a million Soviet troops served in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989. Among the first deployed was Rustam Khodzhayev, seen posing here (front row, first from the left) with his special operations unit in 1981.

World News

We Asked Vets Of The Soviet-Afghan War To Judge The U.S. Exit. Here's What They Said

6:45pm September 30, 2021

by Charles Maynes

Veterans of the Soviet Union's decade-long war in Afghanistan see parallels — and stark contrasts — with the U.S. experience and exit after two decades there.

Artificial flowers decorate barbed wire fence as Soviet army troops stop in Kabul, Afghanistan, in May 1988. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 to shore up the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.

World News

Many Russians Today Take Pride In Afghan War That Foretold Soviet Demise

3:24pm February 21, 2019

by Lucian Kim

Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union withdrew from a disastrous nine-year war in Afghanistan. "Those who fought are being looked up to again," says one Russian veteran.

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Hazmat suits hang next to the canal that leads from Balaklava Bay to the heart of the underground base.

World News

Now A Museum, This USSR Submarine Base Was Built To Endure U.S. Nukes — And Retaliate

12:43pm July 21, 2018

by Lucian Kim

A once-secret underground naval base in Crimea designed to preserve Soviet submarines in case of a nuclear attack is now a museum with an anti-American message.

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