Dedicated to Airborne Forces Day.
On the night of Friday to Saturday June 11, 1999, two hundred Russian paratroopers entered Kosovo. Two companies of our guys took control of Pristina airport. The bridgehead for the landing of the main forces was secured.
Subsequently, the number of our paratroopers was increased to a battalion “as planned.” The Airborne Forces confused all NATO plans. In those days, the press service of the NATO joint command in the Macedonian capital Skopje reported that “a calm dialogue is taking place between the leadership of the Russian airborne battalion and British officers.” And “there is no confrontation.” It is reported that the British parachute brigade was withdrawn from the airport to the urban areas of Pristina at night.
The honor of making the decision to march was then disputed by many Russian politicians. However, both the State Duma and the Federation Council made the decision to send Russian troops into Kosovo retroactively. No one expected Russia, crushed by economic and political problems, to awaken its sovereign ambitions. They have just begun to recover from the 1998 default. And then suddenly there was an attempt to take an active part in the new redistribution of the Balkans.
NATO aggression against Yugoslavia began after the government of Slobodan Milosevic was accused of “atrocities against the Albanian population.” No evidence of this has been found to this day. However, the accusation is not the real reason. The US also accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction. And the reason for the war is the desire to control the most important geostrategic region. Kosovo, which had the status of an autonomous region in the FRY, came under the control of NATO troops after the 76-day bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.
The forced march of our paratroopers to Pristina took even our own command by surprise. The 51st Tula Parachute Regiment, where the headquarters of the Kosovo peacekeeping mission was then located, took the decision to increase the size of the Russian group by surprise. The brigade at that moment was only two-thirds complete; additional recruitment had to be announced through the military registration and enlistment offices. The selection was very strict - only specialists were required: driver mechanics and machine gunners for anti-aircraft units. However, staffing is not the only problem. It’s not enough to call people, they also need to be trained. During the Great Patriotic War (1943 - 1945), the newly formed division underwent combat coordination for 6 - 8 months. And here there weren’t even enough state flags. In Kosovo, each post, and there were less than a hundred of them, required a flag. And they had to be updated in a month, or at best in two. They fade very quickly in the sun. And besides, flags with the symbols of the Airborne Forces were also needed. In the end, the flags of the “victorious democracy” were purchased from one funeral agency at a price of 150 rubles.
The advance detachment of the Airborne Forces in armored personnel carriers and vehicles moved towards the border of Bosnia and Yugoslavia. The Russian Airborne Forces column crossed the border without difficulty. Until this moment, the NATO command did not have information about the start of the forced march of Russian paratroopers to Pristina.
On the night of June 11-12, 1999, the advance detachment of the Airborne Forces in armored personnel carriers and vehicles moved towards the border of Bosnia and Yugoslavia. The Russian Airborne Forces column crossed the border without difficulty. Until this moment, the NATO command did not have information about the start of the forced march of Russian paratroopers to Pristina.
Even before crossing the border, the markings of Russian military and transport equipment were changed from “SFOR” to “KFOR”. The personnel were given the task of covering more than 600 kilometers in the shortest possible time and capturing the Slatina airfield before the arrival of NATO forces. Russian flags were hung on armored personnel carriers and vehicles. While passing through the territory of Serbia, including the territory of Kosovo, the local population joyfully greeted Russian soldiers, throwing flowers at the equipment, passing on food and drinks. In this regard, the movement of the column slowed down slightly. A column of Russian paratroopers arrived in Pristina at approximately 2 a.m. on June 12, 1999. The population of the city took to the streets to greet the column, using firecrackers, flares, and machine gun fire in some places. The column passed through Pristina in 1.5 hours. Immediately after Pristina, the airborne convoy entered Kosovo Field, where it stopped for a short time to clarify tasks and receive information from intelligence.
As the column advanced, it encountered numerous retreating units of the Serbian army. The paratroopers quickly captured all the premises of the Slatina airport, took up a perimeter defense, set up checkpoints and prepared for the appearance of the first NATO columns, which were already on their way. The task of capturing Slatina was completed by 7 a.m. on June 12, 1999. The CNN television company broadcast live about the entry of the Russian battalion into Pristina
At approximately 11:00 a.m., an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft appeared in the sky above the airfield, then from the checkpoint at the entrance to Slatina airport, the battalion command received a message about the arrival of the first column of NATO forces. These were British jeeps. On the other hand, British tanks were approaching the airfield.
Both columns stopped in front of Russian checkpoints. Landing helicopters appeared in the sky. British helicopter pilots made several attempts to land at the airfield, but these attempts were thwarted by the crews of Russian armored personnel carriers. As soon as the helicopter came in to land, an armored personnel carrier immediately rushed towards it, thus preventing its maneuver. Having failed, the British pilots flew away.
General Michael Jackson, the commander of the NATO forces in the Balkans, came out in front of the tank column and, turning his back to the Russian soldiers, began to gesture to the tanks forward, moving with his back to the checkpoint. One of the officers at the checkpoint asked General Jackson not to do this, under threat of gunfire. At the same time, Russian soldiers took aim at British tanks with hand-held grenade launchers. Thus, the seriousness of the intentions of the Russian soldiers was shown. British tanks remained in their positions, stopping attempts to break into the territory of the Slatina airport.
Although the commander of NATO forces in Europe, American General Wesley Clark ordered British General Michael Jackson to capture the airfield before the Russians, the British replied that he had no intention of starting World War III.
Subsequently, the famous British singer James Blunt, who served in the NATO group in 1999, testified about General Clark’s order to recapture the airfield from Russian paratroopers. Blunt said that he would not shoot at the Russians even under the threat of a court martial. In addition, Blunt said:
“About 200 Russians were stationed at the airfield... General Wesley Clark's direct order was to "put them down." Clark used expressions that were unusual for us. For example - “destroy”. There were political reasons for the seizure of the airfield. But the practical consequence would be an attack on the Russians.”
In the end, the commander of the British group in the Balkans, Michael Jackson, said that he “would not allow his soldiers to start the Third World War.” He gave the command “instead of attacking, surround the airfield.”
According to the operation plan, after the capture of the Slatina airport, military transport planes of the Russian Air Force were to land there soon, with which at least two airborne regiments and heavy military equipment were to be transferred. However, Hungary (a NATO member) and Bulgaria (a NATO ally) refused to provide Russia with an air corridor, as a result of which 200 paratroopers were practically left alone for several days with all the arriving NATO forces.
For several days, negotiations between Russia and NATO (represented by the United States) at the level of foreign and defense ministers took place in Helsinki (Finland). All this time, Russian and British troops in the area of the Slatina airport were in no way inferior to each other, although a small delegation led by General Michael Jackson was allowed into the airport.
During complex negotiations, the parties agreed to deploy a Russian military peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo within areas controlled by Germany, France and the United States. Russia was not allocated a special sector for fear on the part of NATO that this would lead to the actual division of the region. At the same time, the Slatina airport was under the control of the Russian contingent, but was also supposed to be used by NATO forces for the transfer of their armed forces and other needs.
During June-July 1999, several Il-76 military transport aircraft with the Russian peacekeeping contingent (Airborne Forces), military equipment and equipment arrived in Kosovo from airfields in Ivanovo, Pskov and Ryazan. However, a larger number of Russian military personnel entered Kosovo by sea, landing on the Greek coast from large landing ships - "Nikolai Filchenkov", "Azov" (BDK-54), Tsezar Kunikov (BDK-64) and "Yamal" (BDK-67) , and subsequently made a forced march to Kosovo through the territory of Macedonia.
Starting from October 15, 1999, Slatina Airport began to receive and dispatch international passenger flights, once again receiving the status of an international airport.
The Russian Federation, having control of the only airport in the region, was able to dictate its position to NATO, which ultimately led to NATO allocating areas of responsibility to the Russian peacekeeping forces, including the Slatina airport itself remaining under Russian control.
On June 12, 2011, that is, exactly twelve years after the start of the famous forced march, a book by one of the participants in this unique operation was published. The book, called “KOSOVO99”, was posted on the website of the same name (www.kosovo99.ru). The author of the book, Alexander Lobantsev, was one of the two hundred paratroopers participating in the operation. The book is entirely based on real events and is a story about what he saw in Kosovo in those days. In addition, small fragments concerning the life of the Russian army of those years, its foreign “allies” in peacekeeping activities, as well as the local population are successfully woven into the main plot of the book. In addition, the book draws parallels between the situation in the former Yugoslavia and what is happening in modern Russia. The work is positioned by the author as an adventure book with meaning. It is noteworthy that Alexander Lobantsev’s story is somewhat different from the well-known, “official” version of what happened.
Participants in the “Throw to Pristina” and those involved in its preparation were awarded a specially established medal “Participant in the forced march on June 12, 1999 Bosnia-Kosovo.”
Illustration copyright Reuters Image caption Russian soldiers from the 98th division have the status of “detainees” rather than “prisoners,” which could speed up their extradition
“They arrived at the Matveev Kurgan station and began to settle down with tents... “Mom, everything is fine with us, we are unloading and setting up tents,” such an optimistic text message. And he immediately warned: “They are taking away our phones, there will be no connection, how will it be?” opportunity, I’ll get in touch,” a woman who contacted the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers in Kostroma tells the BBC Russian Service.
She says that in a video of allegedly captured Russian soldiers, which was distributed by the Security Service of Ukraine, she saw her son, Yegor Pochtoev. She still has no contact with him.
For a week now in Russia, journalists and bloggers have been investigating reports that Russian paratroopers allegedly ended up in a combat zone in Ukraine, some even died or were captured. We are talking about servicemen of two airborne divisions - the 98th Svirskaya, stationed in Ivanovo, and the 76th Pskovskaya.
The Russian military denies the involvement of paratroopers in hostilities, recognizing only the possibility that individual groups of military personnel could get lost on the border and end up on the territory of a neighboring state.
At the same time, journalists who try to investigate the death of paratroopers face threats against them.
Documents in BMD
The story of the Russian paratroopers, who, according to the Ukrainians, fought in the Donetsk region and carried out an unsuccessful military operation there, began a week ago - on August 21.
Then the Ukrainian authorities announced that during the battle they received a BMD-2, allegedly belonging to the Russian Airborne Forces with tactical insignia painted over.
Personal documents were found in it, including an evening verification log containing the names of the soldiers and the unit number - Military Unit 74268 of the first parachute company of the Pskov Airborne Division of Russia, stated Inter TV channel journalist Roman Bochkala, who published photographs of these documents.
The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, said that such documents are no longer used in the Russian army for about five years, and the BMD-2 is in service with the Ukrainian army.
Many military experts also doubted that the evening check log could end up in a combat vehicle on the front line, since it is usually not taken out of the barracks.
Social network pages
Then bloggers began looking for pages on social networks of people whose names were in the magazine.
It quickly became clear that many on the list owned accounts on VKontakte.
Many of these pages had one thing in common - their owners last visited them on August 15-16.
In addition, many had their “walls” closed - a section where anyone could leave a message.
Several pages were subsequently removed. But some other owners visited in the following days.
Funerals and attacks
On August 22, on the page belonging to Leonid Kichatkin, information was published about his death and burial in a cemetery in the town of Vybuty near Pskov. The message was signed by his wife.
It was subsequently deleted, and an announcement appeared on his wife’s page that Leonid Kichatkin was alive.
Journalists from several Russian publications were able to reach her by phone, but on the phone a female voice also allegedly said that the officer was alive.
Moreover, according to their reports, the woman handed the phone to a certain man who called himself Leonid Kichatkin and said that he was completely healthy.
However, on August 25, a funeral was held in Vybuty - the local newspaper "Pskov Province", the online publication "Elephant" and the TV channel "Dozhd" reported on it.
Unmarked graves
The very next day, August 26, there were reports of threats to journalists who came to Pskov to seek information about the dead.
A Dozhd correspondent spoke about the attempted arrest at the cemetery. According to him, threats were received against journalists from Russian Planet, Fontanka.Ru and Novaya Gazeta.
At the same time, some acquaintances of those paratroopers whose names were in the verification log and whose pages were discovered on social networks refused to talk to journalists by phone, fearing, in their words, wiretapping.
On the afternoon of August 27, the Dozhd TV channel reported that, according to its information, signs had been removed from the crosses on the graves of Osipov and Kichatkin.
Soldiers' mothers
On August 25, Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Geletey published an appeal on his Facebook page to the relatives of Russian soldiers who, according to him, were captured on Ukrainian territory.
Illustration copyright UKRAINIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Image caption Video footage shown by the SBUHe said that “many Russian military personnel” were captured, although they were officially on training exercises. The minister invited the relatives to pick up the military from Ukraine themselves, without, however, explaining how to do this.
Meanwhile, people who believed that their relatives serving in the Russian army could become involved in the Ukrainian conflict began to contact the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia.
On the afternoon of August 26, the head of the Saratov branch of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers held a press conference with the mother of paratrooper Ilya Maksimov, who served in the Pskov airborne division.
On the same day, she told the BBC Russian Service that the political officer of the unit in which her son served told her that he was on training in the Rostov region and would stay there for another two to three weeks, adding that there was no communication there .
“He called dad, he didn’t call from his phone. The bell rang, they turned it on and said: “Your son will talk to you now.” He said: “Everything is fine. I am on an exercise in the Rostov region. The conversation lasted literally for a minute and a half. At 11:43, that's the time. Dad asked him: “How are you?” He says: “Everything is fine, everything is fine, I can’t talk for a long time, because the phone is not mine, dear connection,” she said.
Ivanovo paratroopers
The families of the Kostroma paratroopers (the 331st regiment of the Svir 98th Airborne Division is located in Kostroma, although the division itself is stationed in Ivanovo), who appeared in the SBU video, met with the command of the unit, which actually admitted the fact that its military personnel were on the territory of Ukraine.
“The deputy commander said that there was a transfer from training ground to training ground and the two cars that were the last to go got lost, because there was no border as such - there was no marking, no navigator, there was nothing, they got lost. They are in the Rostov region walked, and then, when they began to fire, they realized that they had entered Ukrainian soil, entered the territory, and two cars were hit,” Lyudmila Khokhlova from the Kostroma committee of “Soldiers’ Mothers”, who participated, told the BBC in a meeting.
“While our guys were going out and figuring out where they had ended up, they were taken prisoner by the SBU, the Security Service. Ten people were captured. There was no resistance there, there was no battle there, and there was no armed resistance there. The boys just didn’t understand, where they ended up. And they were taken prisoner,” reported the words of officer Khokhlova.
Relatives ask to return the paratroopers home.
Overcrowded hospitals
On August 27, it became known that the Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights appealed to the Investigative Committee with a request to verify information about the death of nine contract soldiers from the 18th Shali Motorized Rifle Brigade.
Information about the death of nine servicemen was received two weeks ago.
According to the Human Rights Council, among the dead there are natives of Dagestan.
In addition, as Council member Ella Polyakova told the BBC, according to her data, there are currently many wounded in hospitals in southern Russia.
REN TV: Elena Manikhina
“The blue spilled, splashed, spilled over the vests and onto the berets.” Blue berets, vests, parachutes and blue skies - these are all irreplaceable attributes of the fighters of the already elite troops - the airborne troops.
On August 2, Airborne Forces Day is celebrated throughout Russia. This year the airborne troops are celebrating their 85th anniversary. Festive events will be held in all Russian cities on Airborne Forces Day.
In Moscow, the main action will take place in Gorky Park: concerts, exhibitions, a field kitchen, meetings of former colleagues and, of course, military equipment of the landing force. The festive events will begin with the divine liturgy in the Church of Elijah the Prophet at the headquarters of the Airborne Forces and the laying of flowers at the memorials.
On this day, thousands of men of different ages in blue berets, vests and turquoise flags will bathe in fountains and remember their army years with their colleagues, and we will remember the immortal exploits of Russian paratroopers.
Battle of Pskov paratroopers in the Argun Gorge
Speaking about the exploits of the Russian landing force, it is impossible not to recall the incredibly tragic and equally heroic battle of the Pskov paratroopers in the Argun Gorge in Chechnya. February 29 - March 1, 2000, soldiers of the 6th company of the 2nd battalion of the 104th Guards Parachute Regiment of the Pskov Division fought a heavy battle with militants under the command of Khattab at Hill 776 in the vicinity of the city of Argun in central Chechnya. Two and a half thousand militants were opposed by 90 paratroopers, 84 of whom died heroically in battle. Six soldiers survived. The company blocked the path of Chechen militants who were trying to break out of the Argun Gorge into Dagestan. Information about the death of an entire company was kept secret for a long time.
One can only guess what the servicemen had to endure in this terrible battle. The fighters blew themselves up, already wounded, they rushed at the militants, not wanting to surrender. “It’s better to die than to surrender,” said the company soldiers.
This follows from the protocol notes: “When the ammunition ran out, the paratroopers went into hand-to-hand combat and blew themselves up with grenades in a crowd of militants.”
One such example is senior lieutenant Alexei Vorobyov, who destroyed the field commander Idris. Vorobyov's legs were broken by mine fragments, one bullet hit him in the stomach, another in the chest, but he fought to the last. It is known that when the 1st company broke through to the heights on the morning of March 2, the lieutenant’s body was still warm.
Our guys paid a heavy price for the victory, but they managed to stop the enemy, who was never able to escape from the gorge. Of the 2,500 militants, only 500 survived
22 company soldiers received the title of Hero of Russia, 21 of them posthumously, the rest became holders of the Order of Courage.
Mozhaisk landing
An example of the greatest courage and valor of the Russian landing force is the feat of the Siberian soldiers who died in 1941 near Mozhaisk in an unequal battle with fascist troops.
It was the cold winter of 1941. A Soviet pilot on a reconnaissance flight saw that a column of enemy armored vehicles was moving towards Moscow, and there were no barrier detachments or anti-tank weapons on its way. The Soviet command decided to drop troops in front of the tanks.
When the commander came to the airborne company of Siberians, who were brought to the nearest airfield, they were asked to jump from planes directly into the snow. Moreover, it was necessary to jump without parachutes at low level flight. It is noteworthy that this was not an order, but a request, but all the servicemen took a step forward.
The German soldiers were unpleasantly surprised to see low-flying planes, and then completely succumbed to panic when people in white sheepskin coats fell out of them one after another. And there was no end to this flow. When it seemed that the Germans had already destroyed everyone, new planes with new fighters appeared.
The author of the novel "Prince's Island" Yuri Sergeev describes these events as follows. “The Russians were not visible in the snow, they seemed to grow out of the ground itself: fearless, furious and holy in their retribution, unstoppable by any weapon. The battle seethed and bubbled on the highway. The Germans killed almost everyone and were already rejoicing in victory when they saw a new column of tanks catching up with them and motorized infantry, when again a wave of planes crawled out of the forest and a white waterfall of fresh soldiers poured out of them, hitting the enemy while still falling...
The German columns were destroyed, only a few armored cars and cars escaped from this hell and rushed back, carrying mortal horror and mystical fear of the fearlessness, will and spirit of the Russian soldier. It later turned out that only twelve percent of the landing party died when they fell into the snow.
The rest took an unequal battle."
There is no documentary evidence of this story. Many believe that for some reason it is still classified, while others consider it a beautiful legend about the feat of the paratroopers. However, when skeptics asked the famous Soviet intelligence officer and paratrooper, the record holder for the number of parachute jumps, Ivan Starchak, about this story, he did not question the reality of this story. The fact is that he himself and his fighters also landed in Moscow to stop a motorized column of opponents.
On October 5, 1941, our Soviet intelligence discovered a 25-kilometer German motorized column, which was moving at full speed along the Warsaw Highway in the direction of Yukhnov. 200 tanks, 20 thousand infantry in vehicles, accompanied by aviation and artillery, posed a mortal threat to Moscow, which was 198 kilometers away. There were no Soviet troops on this route. Only in Podolsk there were two military schools: infantry and artillery.
In order to give them time to take up defensive positions, a small airborne force was dropped under the command of Captain Starchak. Of the 430 people, only 80 were experienced paratroopers, another 200 were from front-line air units and 150 were newly arrived Komsomol members, and all without guns, machine guns or tanks.
The paratroopers took up defensive positions on the Ugra River, mined and blew up the road surface and bridges along the German route, setting up ambushes. There is a known case when one of the groups attacked an airfield captured by the Germans, burned two TB-3 aircraft, and took the third to Moscow. It was led by paratrooper Pyotr Balashov, who had never flown such aircraft before. He landed safely in Moscow on the fifth attempt.
But the forces were not equal, reinforcements came to the Germans. Three days later, out of 430 people, only 29 remained alive, including Ivan Starchak. Later, help came to the Soviet military. Almost everyone died, but did not allow the Nazis to break through to Moscow. Everyone was presented with the Order of the Red Banner, and Starchak with the Order of Lenin. Budyonny, the front commander, called Starchak a “desperate commander.”
Then Starchak repeatedly entered into battle during the Great Patriotic War, was wounded several times, but remained alive.
When one of his British colleagues asked him why Russians do not give up even in the face of death, although sometimes it is easier, he replied:
"In your opinion, this is fanaticism, but in our opinion, it is love for the land on which he grew up and which he exalted with his work. Love for the country where you are the complete master. And the fact that Soviet soldiers fight for their Motherland to the last bullet, to the last drop of blood, we consider the highest military and civil valor."
Later, Starchak wrote an autobiographical story “From the Sky to Battle,” in which he spoke about these events. Starchak died in 1981 at the age of 76, leaving behind an immortal feat worthy of legends.
Better death than captivity
Another famous episode in the history of Soviet and Russian landings is the battle in the Old City of Herat during the war in Afghanistan. When a Soviet armored personnel carrier hit a mine on July 11, 1985, only four people survived, led by junior sergeant V. Shimansky. They took up a perimeter defense and decided under no circumstances to surrender, while the enemy wanted to capture Soviet soldiers.
The surrounded soldiers took on an unequal battle. They had already run out of ammunition, the enemy was squeezing them into a tight ring, and there was still no reinforcement. Then, in order not to fall into the hands of enemies, the commander ordered the soldiers to shoot themselves.
They gathered under a burning armored personnel carrier, hugged, said goodbye, and then each shot himself with a machine gun. The commander was the last to shoot. When Soviet reinforcements arrived, four dead soldiers lay next to an armored personnel carrier, where the enemy had dragged them. The surprise of the Soviet soldiers was great when they saw that one of them was alive. For machine gunner Teplyuk, four bullets passed several centimeters above his heart. It was he who later spoke about the last minutes of the life of the heroic crew.
Death of the Maravar company
The death of the so-called Maravar company during the war in Afghanistan on April 21, 1985 is another tragic and heroic episode in the history of the Russian landing force.
The 1st company of Soviet special forces under the command of Captain Tsebruk was surrounded in the Maravar Gorge in Kunar province and was destroyed by the enemy.
It is known that the company carried out a training trip to the village of Sangam, located at the beginning of the Maravar Gorge. There was no enemy in the village, but Mujahideen were spotted deep in the gorge. When the company's soldiers began to pursue the enemy, they were ambushed. The company divided into four groups and began to go deeper into the gorge.
The dushmans, who saw the enemy, entered the rear of the 1st company and blocked the fighters’ path to Daridam, where the 2nd and 3rd companies were located, they set up posts armed with DShK heavy machine guns. The forces were not equal, and the ammunition that the special forces took with them on the training mission was only enough for a few minutes of battle.
At the same time, a detachment was hastily formed in Asadabad, which went to help the company that was ambushed. The detachment, reinforced with armored vehicles, was unable to quickly cross the river and had to go around, which took additional time. Three kilometers on the map turned into 23 on Afghan soil filled with mines. Of the entire armored group, only one vehicle broke through towards Maravar. This did not help the 1st company, but saved the 2nd and 3rd companies, which repelled the attacks of the Mujahideen.
In the afternoon of April 21, when the combined company and armored group entered the Maravar Gorge, the surviving soldiers walked towards them, leading out and carrying out their wounded comrades. They talked about the terrible reprisal of those who remained on the battlefield, enraged by the furious rebuff of the enemies: their stomachs were ripped open, their eyes were gouged out, and they were burned alive.
The bodies of the dead soldiers were collected for two days. Many had to be identified by tattoos and clothing details. Some bodies had to be transported along with wicker couches on which the soldiers were tortured. 31 Soviet servicemen were killed in the battle in the Maravara Gorge.
12-hour battle of the 9th company
The feat of Russian paratroopers, immortalized not only by history, but also by cinema, was the battle of the 9th company of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment for the dominant height 3234 in the city of Khost during the war in Afghanistan.
A company of paratroopers consisting of 39 people entered the battle, trying to prevent the Mujahideen from entering their positions on January 7, 1988. The enemy (according to various sources, 200-400 people) intended to knock down the outpost from a commanding height and open access to the Gardez-Khost road.
The enemies opened fire on the positions of the Soviet troops from recoilless rifles, mortars, small arms and grenade launchers. In just one day before three o'clock in the morning, the Mujahideen launched 12 attacks, the last of which was critical. The enemy managed to get as close as possible, but at that time a reconnaissance platoon of the 3rd parachute battalion made its way to help the 9th company and delivered ammunition. This decided the outcome of the battle; the Mujahideen, suffering serious losses, began to retreat. As a result of the twelve-hour battle, it was not possible to capture the height.
In the 9th company, 6 soldiers were killed and 28 were injured.
This story formed the basis of Fyodor Bondarchuk’s famous film “9th Company,” which tells the story of the valor of Soviet soldiers.
Vyazma operation of the Soviet landing
Every year in Russia they remember the feat of Soviet front-line paratroopers. Among them is the so-called Vyazma airborne operation. This is an operation of the Red Army to land troops behind German troops during the Rzhev-Vyazemsk offensive operation, which was carried out from January 18 to February 28, 1942 with the aim of assisting the troops of the Kalinin and Western fronts surrounded by part of the forces of the German Army Group Center.
No one had carried out airborne operations of this scale during the Great Patriotic War. For this purpose, the 4th Airborne Corps, numbering more than 10 thousand people, was landed near Vyazma. The corps was commanded by Major General A.F. Levashov.
On January 27, an advanced landing detachment under the command of Captain M.Ya. Karnaukhov was dropped behind the front line on dozens of planes. Then, over the next six days, the 8th Airborne Brigade with a total strength of about 2,100 people was landed behind enemy lines.
However, the general stop at the front was difficult for the Soviet troops. Some of the landing paratroopers merged with the active units, and the landing of the remaining soldiers was postponed.
A few weeks later, the 4th battalion of the 8th airborne brigade, as well as units of the 9th and 214th brigades, landed behind enemy lines. In total, in January-February 1942, over 10 thousand people, 320 mortars, 541 machine guns, and 300 anti-tank rifles were landed on Smolensk soil. All this happened during an acute shortage of transport aircraft, in difficult climatic and weather conditions, and with strong enemy opposition.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to solve the tasks assigned to the paratroopers, since the enemy was very strong.
The soldiers of the 4th Airborne Corps, who had only light weapons and a minimum of food and ammunition, had to fight behind enemy lines for five long months.
After the war, former Nazi officer A. Gove in the book “Attention, paratroopers!” was forced to admit: “The landed Russian paratroopers held the forest in their hands for many days and, lying in 38-degree frost on pine branches laid directly on the snow, repulsed all German attacks, which at first were improvised in nature. Only with the support of those who arrived from Vyazma German self-propelled guns and dive bombers managed to clear the road from the Russians."
These are just a few examples of the exploits of Russian and Soviet paratroopers, which not only evoke pride among their compatriots, but also the respect of their enemies, who bow to the courage of “these Russians in vests.”
The night from June 11 to 12 in Russia falls on the eve of the holiday. 15 years ago, citizens, as always, rested peacefully, not knowing that the country was suddenly on the brink of war.
Many historians consider the “throw on Pristina” to be the most dangerous aggravation of relations between Moscow and the West since the Caribbean crisis. As it turned out later, there were generals on both sides who were not afraid of the conflict.
For a moment it seemed like the spring of 1945 had returned, when Russians and Americans raced across Europe in tanks, competing to see who could capture the most cities.
Russia's loud military demonstration did not, and could not, give anything but moral satisfaction.
From the very beginning of the bombing of Yugoslavia, the Russian Federation tried to resist NATO countries in a political way.
On June 3, after 78 days of NATO bombing, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, without informing Russia, accepted the alliance's demand to withdraw its troops and police from Kosovo.
Operation Allied Force officially ended on June 10. On the 12th, the entry of international forces into Kosovo from the south, from Macedonia, was planned.
Russia insisted on providing it with a separate sector of responsibility, as in post-war Germany and Austria. Moreover, it demanded the north of Kosovo, where there was a significant Serbian population. If this plan were implemented, the matter would most likely end with the dismemberment of the region and the Russian zone coming under the control of Belgrade.
When the West rejected this idea, Moscow decided to act unilaterally.
After the expansion of NATO and the bombing of Serbia, resentment reigned in the political and military leadership of Russia: they don’t take us into account in anything, enough patience!
The idea was to get to Kosovo before NATO and take control of the Slatina airport, 15 kilometers southeast of the regional capital Pristina - the only one in Kosovo capable of receiving heavy military transport aircraft.
North of Kosovo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the area of the town of Ugljevik, a Russian airborne brigade was stationed since 1995, part of a peacekeeping division headed by an American general.
On June 10, brigade commander Colonel Nikolai Ignatov received an order, secretly from his partners, to prepare a combined battalion of 200 people and “with lightning speed, secretly and unexpectedly for NATO” to make a 600-kilometer march to Slatina.
According to NATO, the Russians deceived the joint command and left their place of duty without permission.
The personnel assigned to participate in the forced march did not know until the last moment where and why they were preparing to go.
To get to Kosovo, the battalion had to pass through Serbian territory. It is not known whether Moscow warned the Belgrade authorities, but most analysts believe that preliminary discussions took place - most likely through the Serbian ambassador to Russia, the brother of President Borislav Milosevic.
According to available data, even before the main forces arrived at the airfield, 18 Russian special forces arrived at the airfield, led by the current president of Ingushetia, and then airborne officer Yunus-bek Evkurov. The details of the operation have not been disclosed to this day.
On the night of June 11-12, 1999, the advance detachment of the Airborne Forces in armored personnel carriers and vehicles moved towards the border of Bosnia and Yugoslavia. The Russian Airborne Forces column crossed the border without difficulty. Until this moment, the NATO command did not have information about the start of the forced march of Russian paratroopers to Pristina.
Even before crossing the border, the markings of Russian military and transport equipment were changed from “SFOR” to “KFOR”. The personnel were given the task of covering more than 600 kilometers in the shortest possible time and capturing the Slatina airfield before the arrival of NATO forces. Russian flags were hung on armored personnel carriers and vehicles. While passing through the territory of Serbia, including the territory of Kosovo, the local population joyfully greeted Russian soldiers, throwing flowers at the equipment, passing on food and drinks. In this regard, the movement of the column slowed down slightly. A column of Russian paratroopers arrived in Pristina at approximately 2 a.m. on June 12, 1999. The population of the city took to the streets to greet the column, using firecrackers, flares, and machine gun fire in some places. The column passed through Pristina in 1.5 hours. Immediately after Pristina, the airborne convoy entered Kosovo Field, where it stopped for a short time to clarify tasks and receive information from intelligence.
As the column advanced, it encountered numerous retreating units of the Serbian army. The paratroopers quickly captured all the premises of the Slatina airport, took up a perimeter defense, set up checkpoints and prepared for the appearance of the first NATO columns, which were already on their way. The task of capturing Slatina was completed by 7 a.m. on June 12, 1999.
Arrival of British armored column
At about 11 am, the advanced British units appeared, entering Kosovo from the territory of Macedonia - two companies consisting of 250 people. 350 troops of the French battalion were approaching.
An unmanned reconnaissance aircraft appeared in the sky above the airfield, then from the checkpoint at the entrance to Slatina airport the battalion command received a message about the arrival of the first column of NATO forces. These were British jeeps. On the other hand, British tanks were approaching the airfield.
Both columns stopped in front of Russian checkpoints. Landing helicopters appeared in the sky. British helicopter pilots made several attempts to land at the airfield, but these attempts were thwarted by the crews of Russian armored personnel carriers. As soon as the helicopter came in to land, an armored personnel carrier immediately rushed towards it, thus preventing its maneuver. Having failed, the British pilots flew away.
General Michael Jackson, the commander of the NATO forces in the Balkans, came out in front of the tank column and, turning his back to the Russian soldiers, began to gesture to the tanks forward, moving with his back to the checkpoint. One of the officers at the checkpoint demanded that General Jackson not do this, under threat of gunfire. At the same time, Russian soldiers took aim at British tanks with hand-held grenade launchers. Thus, the seriousness of the intentions of the Russian soldiers was shown. British tanks remained in their positions, stopping attempts to break into the territory of the Slatina airport.
Although the commander of NATO forces in Europe, American General Wesley Clark ordered British General Michael Jackson to capture the airfield before the Russians, the British replied that he had no intention of starting World War III.
Subsequently, the famous British singer James Blunt, who served in the NATO group in 1999, testified about General Clark’s order to recapture the airfield from Russian paratroopers. Blunt said that he would not shoot at the Russians even under the threat of a court martial. In addition, Blunt said:
“About 200 Russians were stationed at the airfield... General Wesley Clark's direct order was to "put them down." Clark used expressions that were unusual for us. For example - “destroy”. There were political reasons for the seizure of the airfield. But the practical consequence would be an attack on the Russians.”
In the end, the commander of the British group in the Balkans, Michael Jackson, said that he “would not allow his soldiers to start the Third World War.” He gave the command “instead of attacking, surround the airfield.”
Having completed a forced march, the Russian battalion was left without supplies, hoping to receive it by air by plane. In the first days, when Russian soldiers had problems with water, NATO members came to the rescue with mineral water. Finding themselves surrounded, the Russians, according to the same Blunt, said a couple of days later: “Listen, we have no food or water left. Maybe we can share the airfield?
After capture
According to the operation plan, after the capture of the Slatina airport, military transport planes of the Russian Air Force were to land there soon, with which at least two airborne regiments and heavy military equipment were to be transferred. However, Hungary (a NATO member) and Bulgaria (a NATO ally) refused to provide Russia with an air corridor, as a result of which 200 paratroopers were practically left alone for several days with all the arriving NATO forces.
Negotiations and consensus
For several days, negotiations between Russia and NATO (represented by the United States) at the level of foreign and defense ministers took place in Helsinki (Finland). All this time, Russian and British troops in the area of the Slatina airport were in no way inferior to each other, although a small delegation led by General Michael Jackson was allowed into the airport.
During complex negotiations, the parties agreed to deploy a Russian military peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo within areas controlled by Germany, France and the United States. Russia was not allocated a special sector for fear on the part of NATO that this would lead to the actual division of the region. At the same time, the Slatina airport was under the control of the Russian contingent, but was also supposed to be used by NATO forces for the transfer of their armed forces and other needs.
During June-July 1999, several Il-76 military transport aircraft with the Russian peacekeeping contingent (Airborne Forces), military equipment and equipment arrived in Kosovo from airfields in Ivanovo, Pskov and Ryazan. However, a larger number of Russian military personnel entered Kosovo along the sea route, disembarking in the Greek port of Thessaloniki from large landing ships - "Nikolai Filchenkov", "Azov" (BDK-54), Tsezar Kunikov (BDK-64) and "Yamal" (BDK- 67), and subsequently made a forced march to Kosovo through the territory of Macedonia.
Starting from October 15, 1999, Slatina Airport began to receive and dispatch international passenger flights, once again receiving the status of an international airport.
The Russian Federation, having control of the only airport in the region, was able to dictate its position to NATO, which ultimately led to NATO allocating areas of responsibility to the Russian peacekeeping forces, including the Slatina airport itself remaining under Russian control.
Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State at the time, believed it was possible that Milosevic had made a deal with the Russian military (perhaps through his brother, who was Yugoslavia's ambassador to Moscow) to achieve the de facto fragmentation of Kosovo. After seizing the bridgehead, six Russian Air Force transport planes were supposed to deliver serious reinforcements to the region for the small contingent holding Pristina airport. And if the airspace for them had not been promptly blocked, then “the brewing crisis could have resulted in something that the Cold War did not know - a direct clash between NATO troops and Russian troops.”
“It all ended with NATO forces feeding the food-starved Russians at Pristina airport,” wrote Madeleine Albright. “President Yeltsin called President Clinton and suggested that the two of us take refuge on “a ship, a submarine or some island where no one will disturb us” in order to calmly solve the problem.”
However, information about the lack of food is refuted by Russian sources and direct participants in the events on the Russian side, since the paratroopers had a five-day supply of food with them. In addition, the Serbs left them the contents of a food warehouse, and even local residents helped the soldiers. The Serbs left the contents of a clothing warehouse, half bombed by NATO, to the paratroopers. Russian peacekeepers were in Kosovo until 2003 and were eventually withdrawn. In April 2003, Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin remarked: “We have no strategic interests left in the Balkans, and by withdrawing the peacekeepers we will save twenty-five million dollars a year.”
Photo archive
British tank blocked by Russian airborne troops
Call home
Airport building
The same commander of the British group, Michael Jackson (only he was not black before)
Night duty with a case of beer
Serbian warriors. Judging by their age and appearance, these are representatives of the technical personnel servicing the underground facility.
Serbian teenagers and a slightly drunk Russian. The photo was taken from the side hatch of the armored personnel carrier, the so-called “ramp”.
French wheeled tank. The legionnaires willingly showed off their weapons and equipment.
Six o'clock in the morning. On the territory of the Slatina airfield.
Famous British singer James Blunt told the BBC in an interview how he refused to attack the Russian military at the head of a detachment of paratroopers when he served in Kosovo in 1999. But American General Wesley Clark ordered his subordinates from the NATO contingent to “destroy the Russians at any cost.”
Today, Blunt is known as an extremely peaceful person - and became famous for his hit "You're beautiful."
Who ordered?
There was no written order to prepare a combined battalion and move to Pristina.
Colonel Ignatov received an oral instruction by telephone from Moscow from the Chief of Staff of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant General Nikolai Staskov, who made it clear that it was necessary to confront not only NATO members with a fait accompli, but also Moscow.
There is a widespread version according to which the whole matter was almost single-handedly started and carried out by the head of the international cooperation department of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, who allegedly subjugated the weak-willed minister Igor Sergeev.
A former assistant to Dmitry Yazov, Ivashov was really eager to fight, and, unlike many, he did not maneuver and did not hide his views. Representing the Ministry of Defense as part of the Russian delegation headed by Viktor Chernomyrdin in negotiations with the West during Operation Allied Force, he more than once made harsh statements, walked out of the hall in protest and refused to sign documents. Chernomyrdin ironically called him “Comrade Commissar.”
However, most researchers are confident that a figure of Ivashov’s level could not make such a decision completely independently if he knew that his superiors were categorically against it. And if he had shown arbitrariness of this magnitude, he would have been fired immediately, which, as we know, did not happen.
As Ivashov himself later claimed, the plan was previously discussed with Sergeev, and with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, and with Boris Yeltsin. Another thing is that pronouncing some theses hypothetically is one thing, but a specific team is another.
Probably, in a certain sense, the situation was repeated on the eve of the August 1991 coup, when Mikhail Gorbachev told future GKAC members that it was possible, if necessary, to introduce a state of emergency, but did not give the immediate go-ahead.
What can be stated with a high degree of certainty is that the Chief of the General Staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, was not informed. Having learned about what was happening, he contacted General Zavarzin and ordered the column to be deployed.
Zavarzin, instead of following the order, began to call Ivashov, who assured him: everything had been agreed upon, so “no turns or stops, just forward!” And he advised the general to turn off his mobile phone.
Kvashnin tried to contact Yeltsin. The head of the Kremlin administration, Alexander Voloshin, said that the president was sleeping, and on his own behalf gave the go-ahead for the march to continue.
According to observers who know political mores, it was not a matter of Yeltsin's sound sleep. Voloshin covered for his patron so that he could, if there was any embarrassment, declare that he learned about what happened from television news, as Gorbachev did after the Tbilisi and Vilnius events.
Forced confession
US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott completed negotiations in Moscow on Friday, June 11, and flew home. The plane was over Belarus when Bill Clinton's national security aide Sandy Berger called, told about the attack on Pristina, and told him to return.
Talbott's aerial turn is often compared to Yevgeny Primakov's famous “turn over the Atlantic.” However, as historian Leonid Mlechin notes, the difference was significant: the Russian prime minister turned around not to talk to the Americans, Talbott - to try to come to an agreement.
In Moscow, the diplomat found complete confusion. When he entered the office of Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, he was talking on the phone with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, assuring that there had been a misunderstanding and there was no attack on Pristina: he had just called the Ministry of Defense.
For the Americans, the only question was who was lying: Ivanov to them, or the Russian military to Ivanov.
Ivanov and Talbott went to the Ministry of Defense. According to the memoirs of the Deputy Secretary of State, Igor Sergeev felt clearly out of place, whispered all the time with Kvashnin and Ivashov, and said that the Russian paratroopers did not cross the border, but were only ready to enter Kosovo synchronously with NATO.
Ivashov’s deputy, General Mazurkevich, came in and said something in the minister’s ear (as it turned out later, he reported that CNN was reporting live from Pristina).
The Russian representatives apologized and went into the next room. Through the closed door, Talbott could hear the sounds of a conversation in raised voices and, allegedly, even “the roar of objects being thrown at the wall.”
Finally Ivanov returned to the office.
“I regret to inform you that a column of Russian troops accidentally crossed the border and entered Kosovo. The Minister of Defense and I regret this development,” he said.
Talbott was subsequently told in confidence that Igor Sergeev was allegedly “furious that he had been lied to by his own people” and was awkward because he “couldn’t look his partners in the eye.” Whether this is so is difficult to say.
Conversation with Putin
A few hours before the events began, on June 11, Talbott met in Moscow with the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Vladimir Putin, for the first time in his life.
Talbott said that of all the Russian officials, Putin made the best impression on him. He clearly thoroughly prepared for the conversation, expressed satisfaction that the armed conflict in the Balkans had finally ended, and by the way noted that he himself had made a contribution to this.
When Talbott complained about Ivashov, Putin asked: “Who is this Ivashov?”
Once on the plane, Talbott offered one of his employees a bet that Ivashov would be removed from his post before they reached Washington.
As you know, it happened differently. It is unknown whether Putin really did not know about the upcoming action, or whether he was lulling the vigilance of the Americans.
Thunder of victory, ring out!
“In the morning I realized what kind of scam I was in,” recalled General Staskov. - No one gave written orders. A commission from the General Staff was already on its way to the Airborne Forces headquarters to sort things out. But then Boris Nikolaevich wakes up, and he liked everything. In a word, we won.”
Alexander Voloshin, who knew the president’s mood better than Staskov, was not mistaken.
At 11 am the military leadership gathered.
After listening to Igor Sergeev’s report, Yeltsin said with a characteristic drawling intonation: “Well, finally, I clicked on the nose...”.
Someone chimed in: “You, Boris Nikolayevich, didn’t click—you punched me in the face!”
Yeltsin embraced Sergeev.
Viktor Zavarzin soon received another rank of Colonel General and the star of Hero of Russia. All participants in the operation were awarded a special medal.
Meanwhile, the contingent of 200 people was unable to carry out any tasks independently. It turned out to be technically impossible to supply the battalion by air, much less transport reinforcements, since Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria closed their airspace to Russian transport aircraft.
Leonid Ivashov, in his words, hoped that Slobodan Milosevic, having received at least symbolic support from Russia, would refuse to withdraw troops from Kosovo, and the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance would be involved in ground battles, which, in his words, “they were terribly afraid of,” but from it didn't work out.
The director of the 2004 documentary “Russian Tanks in Kosovo,” Alexey Borzenko, argued that only the West benefited from the march on Pristina: a mass exodus of Serbian refugees from Kosovo was brewing, which would have to be dealt with, but they believed in Russia and stayed.
In 2003, Moscow withdrew its peacekeepers from Kosovo and Bosnia (650 and 320 people, respectively). The last train left for home on July 23.
As Anatoly Kvashnin said at a press conference, Russia has no real interests left in the Balkans, and the $28 million a year spent on maintaining the contingent would be better spent on other needs of the armed forces.
The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made - http://infoglaz.ru/?p=49030
Photo from the site: bksolutions.com.ua
In the Russian army, airborne troops have always been considered the elite of the armed forces. In fact, their level of training and skill has always been worthy of respect, and the heroic exploits performed by Russian paratroopers evoke genuine admiration.
Feat in the Argun Gorge
At the end of winter in 2000, in Chechnya in the Argun Gorge, a large group of militants was surrounded. They numbered 2,500 people, led by Khattab. On February 29, the militants decided to attempt to break through the ring and escape from the encirclement. There is a version according to which Khattab managed to bribe some officers from the headquarters of the federal forces. They agreed to provide the militants with a corridor to escape from the encirclement to Dagestan. Only he failed to come to an agreement with a company of Pskov paratroopers. They decided to fight to the death.
The battle lasted two days. By the morning of March 2, when the 1st company made its way to help the paratroopers, the 6th had already ceased to exist; out of 90 paratroopers, six people remained alive. Thanks to their heroism and perseverance, not a single militant broke out of the encirclement. Of the 2,500 terrorists, 2,000 were killed. The paratroopers repulsed the attacks at the cost of their own lives, the wounded rushed at the enemy, fought hand-to-hand, and blew themselves up along with the militants.
22 paratroopers were awarded the Hero of Russia, the rest were awarded the Order of Courage.
Battle of Mozhaisk
It was in the winter of 1941, when the battles near Moscow were already in full swing, a reconnaissance aircraft discovered an enemy column that was moving towards Moscow, without encountering any obstacles or defensive lines on its way. There was an urgent need to save the situation; the choice fell on the Siberian paratroopers. The task was very difficult, it was necessary to jump from an airplane at low level without a parachute and immediately engage in battle with superior enemy forces, so the commander turned to the paratroopers with a request instead of an order. Every single one of them responded to the request.
The advancing column of German troops saw low-flying planes appear from behind the tops of the forest. But imagine their surprise when Red Army soldiers poured out of them without parachutes and immediately rushed to attack. When the first wave of paratroopers was almost destroyed, the second came to their aid, which was also brought from behind the forest by planes making a second approach.
The Soviet paratroopers fought so fiercely that they not only stopped the enemy, but also put him to flight, covering the capital in the Mozhaisk direction.
Battle in the city of Herat
This happened during the war in Afghanistan. The armored personnel carrier hit a mine. Most were killed, and the four surviving soldiers took up a perimeter defense around the combat vehicle. For a long time they fought desperately, but the forces were not equal, and the ammunition was already running out. To avoid being captured by the Mujahideen, they decide to kill themselves. Gathered under their combat vehicle, they each shot themselves in the heart with a machine gun.
When reinforcements arrived, they were taken out from under the armored personnel carrier. By chance, one of them turned out to be alive, the bullets passed just above the heart, and he told about what happened there.
Death of the 1st company in the Marava Gorge
In 1985, in Afghanistan, the 1st special forces company went on a training mission to a village located at the beginning of the Marava Gorge. Since the exit was limited to training ammunition, we took it to a minimum. Not far from the village they noticed a group of Mujahideen and went to pursue them. When they went deeper into the gorge, the road to retreat was cut off by a group of militants who came to their rear. 31 soldiers died. Many were tortured, burned alive, ripped open, and their heads cut off. It took two days to collect the dead throughout the gorge, and many could be identified only by distinctive features, scars and tattoos.
9th company
39 paratroopers held the position at height 3234. They covered the withdrawal of Soviet troops. A group of Mujahideen decided to block the road for the retreating Soviet troops, and to do this they had to knock out the paratroopers from their position, then the column would be under fire.
A group of militants ranging from 200 to 400 people launched 12 attacks on the position of the 9th company. When they almost managed to capture the heights, a reconnaissance platoon of paratroopers made their way to our aid and delivered ammunition. This was a critical, decisive moment, after which the Mujahideen were repulsed and forced to retreat. The losses of the 9th company were 28 wounded and 6 killed.
Vyazma landing operation
In February 1942, a military operation was launched to encircle part of the German troops. To do this, a landing force of ten thousand people, more than three dozen mortars, more than five hundred machine guns and three hundred anti-tank rifles were dropped into the rear of the German troops.
Due to the acute shortage of airborne transport aircraft and in conditions of strong opposition from the enemy, supplies of ammunition and provisions were taken to a minimum. It was not possible to completely solve the problems and cut off the retreat path of the German troops. But the paratroopers held the forest and the road for a long time until the Germans brought additional forces, heavy equipment and aircraft from Vyazma. Only after this did the German troops manage to clear their way. Subsequently, the Soviet paratroopers fought behind enemy lines for another five long months.