Photos Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989

[RisingStar]

Interior of a Soviet Hind gunship, notably with a female paramedic to the right, flying above Afghanistan

 

[uktabber]

Those two in that photo are about to engage in a parachute jump, those are static lines to pull the chute out when they jump......

 

[SamWell]

Afghan commando soldier(man from left wearing a captured american jacket)discusses the upcoming assault on enemy positions with soviet mortarmen

 

[SamWell]

 

[Newtonk]

Interior of a Soviet Hind gunship, notably with a female paramedic to the right, flying above Afghanistan

It's a Hip, the pothole windows give it away, the Hind has square windows. Plus, they are facing along the fuselage, ie to exit out the rear where the Hip has a ramp, the Hind exits out the side, where it would be particularly dangerous to jump with the stub wings to the back of the door.

 

[RisingStar]

Lyudmila Kotikova of the Soviet Union's 201st Motorized Rifle Division in Afghanistan, picking wildflowers during off-duty time near Kunduz (1985-1987)

Lyudmila Vladimirovna Kotikova (born June 5, 1958) was a Soviet servicewoman who served in Afghanistan from July 1985 to 1987. Originally from the Krasnoyarsk Territory, she later lived in the Smolensk region and worked in cultural institutions before entering military service in 1983 with the USSR Air Defense Forces, where she helped monitor the Baltic airspace.

At age 27, she was reassigned to Afghanistan and served primarily in Kunduz with the 201st Motorized Rifle Division, working in the administration of the 370th Anti-Tank Artillery Division. Her official role involved processing visas and foreign passports, but in practice she frequently traveled with logistics convoys as a senior vehicle escort, accompanying fuel, food, and ammunition deliveries to cities such as Faizabad, Pul-e Khumri, and Mazar-i-Sharif. Although many convoys avoided contact, she experienced her first enemy fire during her initial mission.

Kotikova later recalled that she understood where she was going and followed her orders without hesitation, noting that fear felt distant at a young age and that reality in Afghanistan differed sharply from expectations formed back in the USSR. This photograph shows her picking flowers in the Afghan countryside in a quiet, human moment of escapism during an otherwise dangerous and demanding deployment.

 

[SamWell]

A group photo of children killed during the opening of a school on the outskirts of Kabul. It was one of the schools built by Soviet specialists. It taught according to the soviet curriculum, for both boys and girls.Islamists considered the latter to be sinful.Late 80s.

 

[SamWell]

Soviet officer speaks with UN representatives.1989

 

[SamWell]

UN representative and soviet soldiers at the outskirts of Kunduz

 

[SamWell]

 

[SamWell]

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Soviet officer speaks with UN representatives.1989
View attachment 549272

Irish Defence Force Commandant (later Lt-Col) Harry Quirke center, serving as an U.N. Observer.

 

[RisingStar]

Afghan girls wave to a Soviet convoy of BMPs in Kabul (October 17, 1986)

 

[SamWell]

 

[SamWell]

 

[TIGREDELAIRE]

The TOS-1!
In its first live appearances, from what I can see.

 

[SamWell]

 

[SamWell]

 

[SamWell]

 

[SamWell]