I always remembered that my fighters had a mother waiting at home.

Information: Valery Ivanovich Grinchak was born on June 21, 1957. In 1978 he graduated from the Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command Twice Red Banner School named after M.V. Frunze. He served in the Far East, in the former Czechoslovakia, and Ukraine.
In October 1983, he was appointed commander of the reconnaissance company of the 285th tank regiment in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (in March 1984, the regiment was reorganized into the 682nd motorized rifle regiment).
On May 19, 1984, he was appointed chief of staff of the 781st ORB of the 108th MRD.
On July 14, 1984, he was seriously wounded in battle, as a result of which he lost both legs.
On February 18, 1985, Valery Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Valery Ivanovich, how did you choose the military profession? Did your parents want this or was it an independent choice, perhaps a childhood dream?

I dreamed of becoming a military man from early childhood. I just couldn’t decide in what form or branch of the military to serve: I wanted to be a sailor, or a pilot. But fate always sent some signs. The test pilot in our family was my mother’s cousin’s husband; he died in the line of duty while testing an aircraft. Of course, after this my possible profession as a pilot would immediately become a psychological burden for my parents. And the fact that I was ordered to serve in the Marine Fleet became clear after one incident. Once, while relaxing at sea, I decided to go on a boat ride, and I got seasick. Therefore, after completing 10 classes, it was decided to enter the Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command School. I studied well (there were only 2 B's in the certificate, the rest - A's), I played a lot of sports at school: athletics, I independently studied sambo, karate from books that I could find then, so I didn’t doubt myself and didn’t worry. My mother was skeptical about my choice. From our village (the village of Chemerpil, Gaivoronsky district, Kirovograd region) and even from the region, rarely anyone managed to enroll in a military school. And even in Kyiv! And I did. The first time.

You were sent to serve with a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan in 1983. Please tell us how a 26-year-old guy feels when he finds himself in a real, real war?

The information policy of the Soviet Union regarding the war in Afghanistan at that time was reflected in newspapers that wrote that “our military is called upon to ensure the peaceful life of the friendly Afghan people.” In fact, from the conversations of the guys who returned from Afghanistan, I already had an idea of ​​what I would actually have to do.

At first, after arriving in Kabul, the real situation was guessed by external, visible signs: at the airport there was an ambulance plane into which the wounded were carried on stretchers, and in some places along the route there was blown up military equipment.

In Kabul, at the airfield, there was a so-called transfer point, and there, from those who were returning to their homeland (who were replacing, some on vacation), I already learned where exactly and on what scale the fighting was taking place. Here I was informed that the division in which, according to the order, I arrived for subsequent service, was the most “belligerent” of all the Soviet divisions on the territory of Afghanistan.

In general, to be honest, it was difficult morally. Imagine: the country lives a peaceful life, you are a young guy who just wants to live, work, love. And here one time - and one out of ten conscripts or those who serve in the army ends up in a war, and even in a foreign country. It took time to stop asking yourself philosophical questions and simply come to terms with the fact that you must fulfill your international duty.

Before Afghanistan, you served as commander of a reconnaissance company in the former Czechoslovakia. In Afghanistan, you were also appointed commander of a reconnaissance company. How did this activity differ in peacetime and wartime? Didn’t you feel any difficulties at first, a lack of certain skills or experience?

Of course, there were differences. But it helped that, firstly, the terrain was very similar, and I had already performed similar tasks in the Far East.

Another thing is that the involvement in combat missions happened somehow quickly. After arriving in Afghanistan, for 5 days I accepted the position of commander of the reconnaissance company of the 285th tank regiment of the 108th motorized rifle division. On the 6th day, we already received the task of providing security for the division commander, who also assumed the position at that moment. He needed to learn the state of affairs in the division's area of ​​responsibility. Our area of ​​responsibility ran for 300 km - from the city of Jalalabad (by the way, during the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, this area was considered one of the most tense) to the settlement of Dashi. The Salang pass was also in our zone. We covered this distance in a week, visiting 5 posts every day.

Thus, I arrived in Afghanistan on October 23, accepted a position on October 28, and on November 14, with my company, I took part in a large-scale military operation (with shelling of militants and the use of artillery). And here we already had to remember everything that we were taught in classes at the school. Even study tables popped up in my memory. In general, in extreme conditions, everything that you once learned, and everything new that can help you, is remembered and absorbed very quickly. For example: as a rule, during combat operations, reconnaissance officers are given an artilleryman and an aircraft controller to correctly determine the coordinates of the target, adjust artillery fire and air strikes taking into account the terrain. So on the second day of the operation, I already knew how to do it myself.

What was the hardest decision for you as a commander in Afghanistan?

Probably the most difficult thing was deciding who to send on this or that combat mission. There is a rule that the commander does not have the right to go first during the dismounted advance of a reconnaissance unit. And here the success of the operation depends on how competently the commander selects the composition of the patrol squad. You can’t send only newcomers, but at the same time, newcomers need to be trained, therefore, there should be one newcomer in the patrol department. The commander must clearly know the abilities and level of experience of each of those who are sent on a mission, and in accordance with these characteristics, set individual tasks. At first, decisions about calling fire or air force on populated areas from where the Mujahideen were firing were difficult. But life has proven the necessity of this to preserve the lives of their subordinates.

How did Afghan civilians treat our contingent?

Every citizen has his own task, both in peacetime and in wartime. A civilian during a war is faced with the task of surviving. And therefore, the civilians of Afghanistan leaned towards the one who had the power at a certain moment. There were cases when residents of villages located near our division, trying to thank us for humanitarian assistance (we sometimes supplied them with electricity and fuel), informed us about actions planned by the Mujahideen, mined areas, and the like. As for the residents of remote villages and mountain gorges, which were under the control of Islamic parties, for them we have always been enemies and foreigners.

Under what circumstances did those events occur that, without exaggeration, radically changed your life and tested your character? I mean serious injury and the awarding of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to you.

On the 20th of June 1984, a reinforced reconnaissance detachment under my command began independent reconnaissance and search operations. Two days later, a group of Mujahideen were destroyed in an ambush, and the commander was captured. According to his testimony, verified with radio interception data, two more battalions arrived in our mountains, and we fought our way into the so-called “base area” of the Mujahideen group. There, warehouses with ammunition, food and material assets were captured and destroyed.

On July 14, 1984, we were returning from a successfully completed combat mission when a well-camouflaged high-explosive mine exploded under my feet. I did not lose consciousness, but in the first seconds I did not realize what had happened. When I realized, I shouted for everyone to stay in their places, and a sapper carefully approached me (there are cases when comrades rush to someone who has been blown up by a mine and also explode on nearby mines). A medical instructor came up behind the sapper, then the rest, and I gave instructions on what they needed to do (call a helicopter, how to transport me, and so on). Every second was important, since the mine immediately tore off one of my legs, and severely damaged the second (amputated in the hospital): the joint was shattered into pieces, blood vessels were torn, and my face was severely cut by bone fragments. But the guys worked quickly and harmoniously and did not allow me to die from blood loss.

And then there was a series of hospitals, operations, and rehabilitations. Resuscitation in the Bagram medical battalion, hospitals in Kabul, Tashkent, hospital named after. Burdenko in Moscow, where my main operations were performed. From November 1984 to May 1985 - Central Research Institute of Prosthetics named after. Semashko, where, in fact, the prostheses were installed. Here I was caught by the news about the nomination for the highest state award. I remember at that moment it occurred to me: “Well, even if I die, now it won’t be so offensive.”

In the decision to submit for the rank, not only my injury played a role, but also the fact that during the year of my command activity, out of 56 subordinates, we had only three killed and 12 wounded, and this turned out to be the smallest loss rate. Actually, I consider this to be my main merit, because it is impossible to carry out any combat operations without losses, the commander’s task is to organize the execution of the combat mission in such a way as to reduce the number of these losses to a minimum. When sending guys on combat missions, I always remembered that each of them had a mother waiting at home.

Did any of your comrades become your friend for life? Do you often meet with your fighting friends, and what does the date February 15 mean to you?

First of all, February 15 is, of course, a day of remembrance. The day when my colleagues and I meet and remember our fallen comrades.

We keep in touch with many people, but after Afghanistan we communicate most closely with Yura Ismagilov. He was a platoon commander, and after I was wounded he became a company commander. He continued his military career, now retired. We often call each other on the phone and meet once or twice a year. From time to time I see the sergeants and soldiers of the company - Romanik Alexander, Peresunko Leonid, Dolgiy Nikolai, Taran Sergei, the medical instructor who bandaged my wounds.

Any stage in a person’s life leaves behind both bad and good memories. Did serving in Afghanistan leave something good in your soul?

I can say with confidence that in Afghanistan for the first time I saw and realized the essence of true male friendship. I understand that this sounds corny, but it's true. War is like a litmus test for identifying a person’s real traits - both noble and insignificant.

Today it is fashionable to debate whether the war in Afghanistan was necessary. What do you think about it?

A soldier on the battlefield should have one thought - to complete the combat mission and at the same time try to stay alive. If we, the fighting officers and soldiers, had thought about this question at that time, I think many of us would have gone crazy in the literal sense of the word. We fulfilled our civil and military duty and remained faithful to the military oath. As for today’s view of that war, I will say this. Half of the Americans who fought in Vietnam believe that the war was unjust, and the other half sincerely believe that they defended the ideals of democracy. According to my personal impressions, most of the participants in the Afghan war of 1979-1989 are inclined to the point of view that we fought against Islamic terrorism, which was only gaining strength at that time. I consider myself to be among the minority who believe that neither the Afghan people nor the peoples of the USSR needed that war. We, on the one hand, fought against this terrorism, and, on the other, through our actions we multiplied and increased it to modern proportions. I also doubt the need to further expand the presence of Ukrainian military personnel and specialists in today's Afghanistan. Unlike other places, there is no peacekeeping mission under the auspices of the UN, but an “anti-terrorist operation under the auspices of NATO,” and Ukraine is not a member of this bloc.

Would you like to wish anything to the young men who are choosing a career in the military today?

If you choose a military profession, you must fully devote yourself to this business, as, in principle, to any other. You need to be able to make decisions, be responsible for your actions and think not only about yourself, but also about your surroundings, about the people who, to one degree or another, depend on you.

At a meeting with students
Kyiv gymnasium No. 19,
2011

PEAS

YAROSLAV PAVLOVICH

Company commander, captain. Born on October 4, 1957 in Ukraine, in the Ternopil region, in the family of a teacher. In 1981 he graduated from the Khmelnytsky Higher Military Command Artillery School. From September 1981 to November 1983, he participated in combat operations in Afghanistan: he was the commander of a mortar platoon and an air assault company.
In 1986, he was sent on a second deployment to the Afghan war. In a battle on October 31, 1987, at the head of a special forces group, he received an order to come to the aid of a group of senior lieutenant O.P. Onishchuk surrounded by the enemy.

...At dawn we received a radio transmission: “We are waiting for reinforcements. We are being attacked from all sides." The village of Duri did not let us through. The Zelenka near him was spitting shells like crazy. The helicopters “evaded” the salvos at a minimum altitude, changing course and speed. And yet, once again, they retreated. But Yaroslav Goroshko thought about those below.

That battle near the village of Duri will go down in military history. Twelve attacks by more than two hundred dushmans were repelled by a small group of senior lieutenant Onischuk. Everyone will know how he did it, with a grenade in one hand, a knife in the other, shouting: “Let’s show the bastards how Russians die!” - rushed at the enemies.

But then, on the approach to Duri, Goroshko did not know all this. He was bringing Oleg Onischuk five letters from his parents and wife. Yaroslav knew what it was like to run into an ambush. He himself was shell-shocked a week before, but led the company to the bitter end.

As he approached, he saw the slope of a high-rise building strewn with the corpses of dushmans. Onischuk's group was not visible. But there was hope.

- Comrade captain, isn’t it ours? – a machine gunner sitting by the open door touched him on the shoulder.

Now Goroshko noticed a dense chain of people dressed in paratrooper jackets, hurrying towards the dushmans with suspicious openness. I noticed... and was burned by a guess: the bastards took off the uniform from the dead.

- Grenades for battle! Fix bayonets!

With this command from Captain Goroshko, the count of time for his subordinates went down to seconds. The grenade explosions in the ravine where the rebels had taken refuge had not yet subsided, and the guys were already jumping from the helicopter on the move. Toward hand-to-hand combat.

The battle, in which Senior Lieutenant Onishchuk died a heroic death, nevertheless ended in complete victory, which brought the glory of the Hero to his friend, Captain Goroshko.

The most difficult thing in this war was still ahead for the captain. The first thing he was going to do when he returned to his homeland was to visit his friend’s wife. And his little daughters...

Upon returning from Afghanistan, Goroshko Y.P. became a student at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze, who served as commander of a special forces battalion, was at the forefront of the creation of military intelligence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Lieutenant Colonel Yaroslav Goroshko died on June 8, 1994 during a training swim in the Dnieper (according to the official version, he drowned as a result of cardiac arrest). Both sons, Ivan and Pavel, followed in their father’s footsteps and became officers.

PEAS Y.P.		GRINCHAK V.I.

GRINCHAK

VALERY IVANOVYCH

Commander of the reconnaissance company of the 285th tank regiment, chief of staff, captain. Born in 1957 in the Kirovograd region of Ukraine, in a peasant family. In 1978 he graduated from the Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command School, specializing in command and tactical motorized rifle forces. He served in various command positions in the Airborne Forces in the Far Eastern Military District, in Czechoslovakia. In 1983 he was sent to Afghanistan.

On July 19, 1984, Captain V.I. Grinchak was appointed chief of staff of the regiment, but did not manage to accept the position. On July 14, 1984, he took part in a battle with a gang of rebels that outnumbered his company. During the fierce battle, which lasted several hours, the officer was in the chain of the company, showing courage and composure. Having received serious injuries to both legs and overcoming severe pain, he independently provided medical assistance. Showing an example of courage and bravery, he did not leave the battlefield and continued to control the actions of the company. The personnel, shocked by the heroism of their commander, took all measures to achieve victory. And it happened.

But the battle did not end with the last shots for the commander, Captain Grinchak. The wounds turned out to be too serious. The doctors warned: “You will live, but amputation of your legs is necessary.” The painful days of treatment dragged on. First in a medical battalion, then in a military hospital. But neither the doctors nor the nurses ever heard any groans or complaints from him. The thought that tormented Valery more than the pain was: how to live on? Yes, he admired the feat of Alexei Maresyev at school. But can he be like Maresyev - as strong, stubborn, as unbending?

When the wounds healed, Valery Grinchak was transported to the Central Research Institute of Prosthetics and Prosthetics. At the first examination, the leading specialist assured:

- You will, commander, walk! But a lot depends on you.

Grinchak was looking forward to this day. And when I got out of bed for the first time, acute pain pierced my whole body again. But he took a step, then a second. The officer, familiar with military discipline, did not deviate in any way from the treatment prescribed by the professor. He fell, but again found the strength to rise. And he walked again. He walked forward as if on an attack. And when he felt that it had happened, that it was not victory that had come, but that he had come to victory, he took a blank sheet of paper from the nurse and wrote: “To the Minister of Defense of the USSR,” and a little lower: “Report.” He outlined his short biography and asked to remain in the Armed Forces. I didn’t believe in success, but I really hoped.

Now he is back in the army - Hero of the Soviet Union, Captain Valery Ivanovich Grinchak, teacher of military history at the Kyiv Higher Combined Arms Command School. In the 90s, he received a second specialty - jurisprudence, state legal specialization.

Prepared Evgeniy POLEVOY

Source: website “Heroes of the Country” (http://www.warheroes.ru)

To be continued

Cossack dictionary-reference book

Continuation. See the beginning in No. 1 (1).

LINEERS(ending). In 1841, the Labinsky regiment was formed from the villages of Labinskaya, Chamlykskaya, Voznesenskaya and Urupskaya with a number of retired soldiers of the Caucasian army. In 1858, the Urup brigade was formed at the fortification of Maykop, which included the villages of Spokoinaya, Podgornaya, Udobnaya, Peredovaya, Ispravnaya and Storozhevaya. They formed the New Line, which now stretches along the Labe River. As on the Old Line, the Lineians settled here in small villages, surrounded by a turf fence, a ditch and thickets of thorny thorns. They lived in constant combat readiness, posting “deposits” at intermediate batteries, posts, tickets between the villages, and sending out patrols. On the New Line, the life of local villagers was especially alarming. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides and had no rest from attacks either day or night.

In 1860, most of the Linear Army became part of the newly formed Kuban Cossack Army, but the Cossacks here also retained their former name of lineists, which also extended to all other villages located in the Kuban region away from the yurts of the Black Sea Cossacks, regardless of their composition . In the Terek Army, with which the Volga and Pyatigorsk people merged, they ceased to be called Linears.

LIENZ is a small town in Austria, located in a deep Alpine valley on the low-lying left bank of the Drava mountain river.

In the summer of 1945, residents of Lienz witnessed another Cossack tragedy.

After the October coup, the Bolshevik government of Russia began a policy of de-Cossackization, which resulted in mass executions and imprisonment of Cossacks in concentration camps. All these measures had the main goal of either subduing the rebellious or destroying them physically. Some Cossacks recognized the objective impossibility of fighting against Soviet power at that time and began to show prudent loyalty to it. And the emigrants and a small part of the Cossacks who remained in Russia continued the fight. And when Hitler’s troops entered Russia, this small handful immediately began to form their own military units, which joined the ranks of Hitler’s fascists. Cossack emigrants also joined them. This is how Cossack regiments and battalions appeared in the German army, which over time grew into divisions and corps. They were guided by the principle: “Even with the devil, only against the Reds,” and this was their mistake.

Meanwhile, the Cossacks were not the most oppressed class in Soviet Russia. The Orthodox clergy and believers of the Russian Orthodox Church suffered most from the Bolsheviks. But, despite this, when the war began, the new Russian martyrs and confessors forgot personal grievances and stood up in defense of their Motherland. Many elders prayed for the victory of the Soviet army. For example, St. Seraphim Vyritsky prayed on a stone for 1000 nights, asking the Lord to grant Russia victory over Nazi fascism. Saint Luke of Crimea at that time worked in the hospital, healing Soviet soldiers from the wounds. Also, most of the Cossacks who remained in Russia joined the nationwide feat of fighting the fascist invaders. Cavalry units were formed from them.

But for many emigrants and a small group of Cossack collaborators, such an attitude towards the Motherland and their people turned out to be unacceptable. They linked their fate with Hitler's fascism, which was making plans to exterminate the Slavic population in the occupied territories...

To be continued.

Affiliation

USSR USSR→ Ukraine Ukraine

Type of army Years of service Rank Commanded Battles/wars Awards and prizes

Valery Ivanovich Grninchak(b.) - Soviet and Ukrainian military leader. Hero of the Soviet Union (1985) - participant in the Afghan War.

Biography

1993-1998 - studied at the Faculty of Law at KSU named after T. G. Shevchenko, where he received a specialty in jurisprudence, state legal specialization.

1995-2006 - Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of JSC Heliotrope - Ukrainian Union of Afghanistan Veterans.

From 1999 to the present, V. I. Grinchak has been in public work - a consultant to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on the Affairs of Pensioners, Veterans and Disabled People, and since 2002, he has also been the chairman of the control and audit commission of the National Assembly of Disabled Persons of Ukraine. Lives in the hero city of Kyiv.

Feat

From the award sheet for conferring the title Hero of the Soviet Union:

On July 14, 1984, he took part in a battle in which he was seriously wounded in both legs, but independently provided first aid to himself, overcoming the pain, maintaining restraint and composure, did not leave the battlefield, but continued to skillfully lead the company’s actions...

Despite the amputation of his legs, he achieved his return to the army.

Excerpt characterizing Grinchak, Valery Ivanovich

Nikolushka and his upbringing, Andre and religion were the consolations and joys of Princess Marya; but in addition, since every person needs his own personal hopes, Princess Marya had in the deepest secret of her soul a hidden dream and hope, which gave her the main consolation in her life. This comforting dream and hope was given to her by God's people - holy fools and wanderers, who visited her secretly from the prince. The more Princess Marya lived, the more she experienced life and observed it, the more she was surprised by the short-sightedness of people seeking pleasure and happiness here on earth; workers, suffering, fighting and doing evil to each other, to achieve this impossible, illusory and vicious happiness. “Prince Andrei loved his wife, she died, this is not enough for him, he wants to connect his happiness with another woman. The father does not want this because he wants a more noble and rich marriage for Andrei. And they all fight and suffer, and torment, and spoil their soul, their eternal soul, in order to achieve benefits for which the term is an instant. Not only do we ourselves know this, but Christ, the Son of God, came down to earth and told us that this life is an instant life, a test, and we still hold on to it and think of finding happiness in it. How did no one understand this? - thought Princess Marya. No one except these despicable people of God who, with bags on their shoulders, come to me from the back porch, afraid of catching the prince’s eye, and not so as not to suffer from him, but so as not to lead him into sin. Leave family, homeland, all worries about worldly goods in order to, without clinging to anything, walk in rags, under someone else’s name from place to place, without harming people, and praying for them, praying for those who persecute , and for those who patronize: there is no truth and life higher than this truth and life!”
There was one wanderer, Fedosyushka, a 50-year-old, small, quiet, pockmarked woman who had been walking barefoot and wearing chains for more than 30 years. Princess Marya especially loved her. One day, when in a dark room, by the light of one lamp, Fedosyushka was talking about her life, the thought suddenly came to Princess Marya with such force that Fedosyushka alone had found the right path of life, that she decided to go wandering herself. When Fedosyushka went to bed, Princess Marya thought about it for a long time and finally decided that, strange as it was, she had to go wandering. She confided her intention to only one confessor, the monk, Father Akinfiy, and the confessor approved her intention. Under the pretext of a gift to the pilgrims, Princess Marya stocked up for herself the complete wanderer's attire: a shirt, bast shoes, a caftan and a black scarf. Often approaching the treasured chest of drawers, Princess Marya stopped in indecision about whether the time had already come to carry out her intentions.
Often listening to the stories of the wanderers, she was excited by their simple, mechanical speeches for them, but full of deep meaning for her, so that several times she was ready to drop everything and run away from home. In her imagination, she already saw herself with Fedosyushka in rough rags, walking with a stick and a wallet along a dusty road, directing her journey without envy, without human love, without desires from saint to saint, and in the end, to where there is no sadness , not a sigh, but eternal joy and bliss.
“I will come to one place and pray; If I don’t have time to get used to it and fall in love, I’ll move on. And I will walk until my legs give way, and I will lie down and die somewhere, and I will finally come to that eternal, quiet haven, where there is no sadness or sighing!...” thought Princess Marya.
But then, seeing her father and especially little Coco, she weakened in her intention, slowly cried and felt that she was a sinner: she loved her father and nephew more than God.

Biblical tradition says that the absence of work - idleness was a condition for the bliss of the first man before his fall. The love for idleness remained the same in fallen man, but the curse still weighs on man, and not only because we must earn our bread by the sweat of our brow, but because, due to our moral properties, we cannot be idle and calm. A secret voice says that we must be guilty of being idle. If a person could find a state in which, being idle, he would feel useful and fulfilling his duty, he would find one side of primitive bliss. And this state of obligatory and impeccable idleness is enjoyed by a whole class - the military class. This obligatory and impeccable idleness was and will be the main attraction of military service.
Nikolai Rostov fully experienced this bliss, after 1807 he continued to serve in the Pavlograd regiment, in which he already commanded a squadron received from Denisov.
Rostov became a hardened, kind fellow, whom Moscow acquaintances would have found somewhat mauvais genre [bad taste], but who was loved and respected by his comrades, subordinates and superiors, and who was satisfied with his life. Lately, in 1809, he more often found his mother complaining in letters from home that things were getting worse and worse, and that it was time for him to come home, please and reassure his old parents.

Valery Ivanovich Grninchak(born 1957) - Soviet and Ukrainian military leader. Hero of the Soviet Union (1985) - participant in the Afghan War.

Biography

Born on June 21, 1957 in the village of Chemerpol (now Gaivoronsky district, Kirovograd region, Ukraine) in a peasant family. Ukrainian. In 1972 he graduated from the Chemerpol eight-year school, and in 1974 from the Sabatinovskaya secondary school in the Ulyanovsk district of the Kirovograd region. After graduating from school in 1974, he entered the Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command School, the Faculty of Intelligence. In 1977 he joined the ranks of the CPSU. In 1978 he graduated from college. 1978-1982 - commander of an air assault platoon; assistant battalion chief of staff; commander of the air assault company of the 620th separate air assault battalion of the 13th separate air assault brigade of the Far Eastern Military District, in the village. Magdagachi, Amur region, RSFSR. 1982-1983 - commander of the 3rd reconnaissance airborne company of the 20th separate reconnaissance battalion of the 30th motorized rifle division of the Central Group of Forces, in Zvolen, Czechoslovakia. In 1983, Valery Grinchak was sent to the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan as commander of the reconnaissance company of the 285th Tank Regiment of the 108th Motorized Rifle Division, with a deployment in Bagram. In March 1984, the 285th Tank Regiment was reorganized into the 682nd Motorized Rifle Regiment and redeployed by the end of May to the village. Rukha in the Panjshir Gorge. On July 19, 1984, Captain Grinchak was appointed chief of staff of the 781st separate reconnaissance battalion of the 108th motorized rifle division, but did not have time to take office due to a serious injury received during the Panjshir operation of 1984. After completing treatment in the hospital, V.I. Grinchak, despite the amputation of both legs, finds the strength to return to military service. 1985-1992 - Grinchak serves as assistant department head and teacher of military history at the Kyiv Higher Combined Arms Command School.

Since 1992 - pensioner of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

1993-1998 - studied at the Faculty of Law at KSU named after T. G. Shevchenko, where he received a specialty in jurisprudence, state legal specialization.

1995-2006 - Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of JSC Heliotrope - Ukrainian Union of Afghanistan Veterans.

From 1999 to the present, V. I. Grinchak has been in public work - a consultant to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on the Affairs of Pensioners, Veterans and Disabled People, and since 2002, he has also been the chairman of the control and audit commission of the National Assembly of Disabled Persons of Ukraine. Lives in the hero city of Kyiv.

Feat

From the award sheet for conferring the title Hero of the Soviet Union:

On July 14, 1984, he took part in a battle in which he was seriously wounded in both legs, but independently provided first aid to himself, overcoming the pain, maintaining restraint and composure, did not leave the battlefield, but continued to skillfully lead the company’s actions...

Despite the amputation of his legs, he achieved his return to the army.

By decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of February 18, 1985, for the courage and heroism shown in providing international assistance to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Captain Grinchak Valery Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11523).

Awards

• Order of Lenin (18.2.1985);
• Order of the Red Star (13.6.1984);
• medals.

• Order "For Courage" III degree (15.2.1999);
• insignia “Order For Courage” of the Commissioner of the Supreme Council of Ukraine for Human Rights (23.2.2007);
• medals.

Having been blown up by a mine and having lost both legs at the age of 27, the officer did not break down and, contrary to the forecasts of pessimists, returned to the army.

Before serving in Afghanistan, his service record was typical of a Soviet officer. In 1978, Valery Grinchak graduated with honors from the Kiev Higher General Military School, which gave him the right to choose his future place of service. However, Grinchak preferred service in the 13th separate air assault brigade of the Far Eastern Military District to a “cushy” place abroad (in the same GDR or Hungary). And only four years later he was sent to the Central Group of Forces (Czechoslovakia) as commander of a reconnaissance company. And a year later, orders came to the division: one reconnaissance company commander and two reconnaissance platoon commanders were to be sent to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan…

On the eve of the Day of the Disabled, which was celebrated yesterday in Ukraine, a freelance correspondent for FACTS met with Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Grinchak.

“When we collected the bodies of the dead, the Panjshir Valley seemed like a valley of death.”

The commander of the reconnaissance battalion then directly told me: “Valera, I will recommend you - write a report,” recalls Valery Grinchak. -- Why me? At that moment, I had experience in commanding a reconnaissance company, dozens of parachute jumps behind me, and, finally, of the seven reconnaissance company commanders in the division, I was the only bachelor.

Upon arrival in Afghanistan, I spent the first night in Kabul. They showed a movie about the “movement” for our soldiers, and for some reason I very well remembered the phrase said by the German general: “The civil war can go on forever.” But by the way, we already understood perfectly well: Afghanistan is for a long time. So, soon I was appointed to the position of commander of the reconnaissance company of the 285th tank regiment of the 108th motorized rifle division (one of the most combative ones in the 40th Army). During the entire winter (and it was 1983), we spent one and a half to two weeks at the base. The rest of the time - in the mountains. They accompanied convoys, conducted reconnaissance and the so-called implementation of intelligence data ("cleaning up" of villages cordoned off), organized ambushes, for which they received their first military award - the Order of the Red Star. Then I managed to outwit the dushmans by creating the illusion that a convoy of Soviet vehicles had set off without proper escort. And the dushmans took this hook…

The Mujahideen successfully took advantage of our miscalculations, especially when people who had no experience in fighting in the mountains were involved in the operations. How, for example, can we not remember the tragedy that took place in the Panjshir Valley on the night of April 30 to May 1, 1984? Then the battalion of our regiment suffered huge losses - 52 killed and 58 wounded (many later died from their wounds in hospitals). Of course, there were some organizational conclusions then - the regiment commander and division commander were removed from their positions. Although the lion's share of the blame lies on the conscience of the battalion commander Only in the morning, when my subordinates and I finished evacuating the wounded and removing the bodies of the dead from the mountain gorges, a terrible picture opened before my eyes: the Panjshir Valley seemed to me like a valley of death!..

What were the losses of your company?

Three killed and 12 wounded. And this was during the year that I commanded the reconnaissance company!.. By the way, this fact played an important role when I was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union…

“Taking a look at what was left of my legs, I thought: “Well, that’s it. He fought back. »

At the end of June 1984, we went out on alert for the next combat mission, successfully completed it, and when we were returning This happened on July 14th. I remember very well that moment when the earth shook under my feet and fire blazed in my face. I still managed to shout to my subordinates: “Everyone, go back! Sapper, come to me! Fortunately, there were no more mines. I called the medical instructor, and he injected me with a portion of promedol, relieving the pain shock. I glanced at my legs, or rather at what was left of them, and the thought flashed through my head: “Well, that’s it, I’ve fought back.” The blast wave tore off his right leg and crushed his left leg. (Later, due to a highly progressed Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, which put Valery’s life on the brink of life and death, doctors were forced to amputate his left leg. - Author). In addition, the explosion damaged my face very badly: it was cut up by fragments of the bones of my legs. And only in a completely inexplicable way did I not lose my sight: during the explosion my right eye was severely damaged, and hitherto undetectable gunpowder dust was “imprinted” under my left eyebrow.

The regiment commander was immediately informed about my injury by radio, and he immediately sent a helicopter to pick me up. If the take-off plane had been delayed for at least half an hour, the doctors would no longer have faced the question of whether I would survive or not. While we were flying to Bagram, I lost consciousness several times. I don’t remember how I was taken to the local medical battalion, how they operated on me (the operation lasted the whole day!). He finally regained consciousness in the intensive care unit.

The next day after the operation, the platoon commander visited me and brought boiled chicken with him. I don’t know where he got it. But I devoured that chicken that same day. The surgeon who operated on me was amazed: they say, how many years have I been in medicine, but I have never seen anything like this in my practice.

… For the rest of my life I remembered the face of the nurse from the sanitary reception area of ​​the Tashkent district hospital. Cutting my head (my hair with clotted blood had gathered into a tangle, and there was nothing else left to do but just cut it off), she suddenly leaned over and whispered in my ear: “Son, are there any receipts?...” It was easy to read from her face: now you don't need them. Upon returning from Afghanistan, these were the first words that I heard in my homeland True, trying not to show my indignation, I only squeezed out: “Don’t rush to bury me The checks will come in handy for me.” For those who don’t know what checks are, I’ll explain: We received one third of our monthly officer salary in foreign currency. On average, this amount was 230-250 checks, which was equivalent to 500 Soviet rubles. So, I really got my money. True, already in Moscow. My colleagues gave them to me. They often came to visit me and supported me in every possible way. And both officers and generals. In particular, the head of the political department of the 40th Army, Nikolai Remez.

And one of the first who supported me was my regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Adam Chykal (by the way, now he is the deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of Ukraine Committee on Defense and National Security. - Author). Having violated the regulations, Adam Vasilyevich left Bagram for Kabul, where the army hospital was located, and for a long time begged the doctors to save my life. Having achieved a date with me, he said: “Valera, hold on! You'll be back in action! I believe in you!".

Later, my mother told me that exactly a week before I was blown up by a mine, she had a dream. As if a helicopter had come from nowhere, it circled over our hut for a long time, then, like a huge dragonfly, it hovered over it and just as quickly disappeared. Who knows, maybe that night she dreamed of exactly the helicopter in which I, wounded, was taken to the Bagram medical battalion For a long time I did not dare to write to her about what happened. And the first of my relatives who learned about the tragedy was my brother.

“Lev Yashin came to congratulate me on this high award”

When did you become aware of the awarding of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union?

Already in Moscow, in the hospital named after. Burdenko. I remember I also thought: “Well, if I die, then at least it won’t be so offensive.” Although at first I didn’t really believe that the decree on my award would be signed. (During the entire Afghan campaign, only 86 people were awarded the highest award of the Motherland in the USSR, 27 of them posthumously. - Author). However, on February 18, 1985, Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee Konstantin Chernenko signed the decree. He soon died, and the award ceremony was moved to April 8, 1985. Fate seemed to give me a reprieve so that I could learn to walk on prosthetics.

My parents, fellow villagers (I myself come from the Gaivoronsky district of the Kirovograd region), fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, in particular, Hero of the Soviet Union Ruslan Aushev, came to congratulate me on the Hero’s star. But what was especially pleasant for me was the arrival of Lev Yashin. The fact is that when I was transferred to the Central Research Institute of Prosthetics in Moscow, the legendary goalkeeper had already had his right leg amputated, and a rehabilitation course awaited him. Lev Ivanovich endured what happened courageously and did not fall into depression. “Guys, the main thing is to tune in to win,” Yashin liked to repeat. So, Lev Ivanovich responded to the invitation and came to congratulate me on the award. That day, Yashin was, as they say, in full dress (Lev Ivanovich had the military rank of colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but, being a modest man, he rarely put on his uniform). By the way, domestic medical officials were categorically against Yashin mastering an imported prosthesis: they say, why are ours worse? But Lev Ivanovich had the last word, and he still gave preference to a prosthesis made in Finland. What can we say about mere mortals: until the end of the 80s, we carried extremely uncomfortable domestic prostheses.

But this did not stop you from writing a report addressed to the USSR Minister of Defense with a request to leave you in military service, and now you are a reserve colonel…

Yes, my report was satisfied, and in April 1985 I was appointed to the position of senior assistant to the head of the combat department of the Kyiv Higher Combined Arms School, and three years later I was transferred to teaching at the same university. In the 92nd school it was disbanded, and I decided to leave the army and enter the correspondence department of the Faculty of Law of the Kyiv State University. Shevchenko. All these years, with pain in my heart, I thought about the former “Afghans” who, upon returning home, could not find themselves. This, in fact, prompted me and my comrades in misfortune to create the Kyiv Society of Disabled Persons of Local Wars - veterans of military intelligence, combat operations in Afghanistan and other countries.

Sakharov’s “squabble” with Chervonopisky at the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR was provoked by the GlavPUR of the SA and the Navy.”

Today we provide all possible assistance to many of those who need it. From time to time we pay one-time cash benefits to the families of children who died in Afghanistan. We help disabled people with food rations and gasoline Of course, this is very little. True, it’s easier for Kyiv disabled people. Alexander Omelchenko, our mayor (who himself went through Afghanistan), treats the problems of disabled people with understanding. But Kyiv is not all of Ukraine. On the periphery things are much worse. I declare to you as a consultant to the Committee on Pensioners, Veterans and Disabled Persons of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine…

Valery Ivanovich, returning to the topic of the Afghan war, tell me: is it true that our pilots in Afghanistan, as Sakharov claimed, shot their own people so that they would not be captured by dushmans?

I have not seen a single piece of evidence documenting this. The prerequisite for this story, which made a splash throughout the Union, was an interview that Sakharov gave to a foreign publication. Andrei Dmitrievich referred only to the testimony of ordinary soldiers, participants in the Afghan war (There is reason to assert that this “misinformation” was planted on Sakharov at the direction of the leadership of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the SA and the Navy). It was not difficult to imagine how the “Afghans” would react to Sakharov’s statement. The same Chervonopisky - a combat officer, paratrooper You had to be a brilliant provocateur in order to manage to quarrel between the democrats and the “Afghans” in the late 80s and early 90s. With Chervonopisky’s speech at the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR, GlavPUr pursued his own interests: by pitting the democrats against the “Afghans”, he thereby hoped to improve his rather shaken authority among the troops. This is just one example of how much dirt, intrigue and gossip was associated with the war in Afghanistan. Much later, I became aware of how individual scoundrels bought orders and medals for themselves, and I sincerely regretted that I offered so few awards to my subordinates, who really deserved it.

… Having never met his soul mate before serving in Afghanistan, upon returning from there Valery believed that his status as a “convinced bachelor” would remain unchanged. He was forty-two years old when he met Tatyana. By that time, the girl had already graduated from medical school and went to work at the Feofania clinical hospital. Their romance lasted three months, after which Valery proposed to the girl, which Tanya accepted. For Valery, who did not suffer from an inferiority complex, the girl’s consent to marry him still came as a complete surprise.

Valera is a strong personality. Behind him, like behind a stone wall,” Tatyana admitted. “Neither Valeria’s mother nor my parents were against our marriage. On the contrary, his mother now doesn’t call me anything other than “Donka.” Before the wedding, Valera lived in this apartment with his brother, and when I first went to their house, I didn’t know what to expect: they were bachelors, after all. But the cleanliness and order that I found here simply amazed me. Although the absence of a woman’s hand had its effect. We are now setting up our family home; this summer we completed renovations in the apartment.

… Is a new addition expected in the Grinchak family? Tatyana smiled in response: “We are working on it.”