201st Division remains on the Tajik-Afghan border in a new capacity

Among the lakes, rocky mountains, the division stands

And she is the only one who will have to make peace.

Kurgan-Tyube, Kulyab and Dushanbe...

Calm there you will not be anywhere

From the song about 201 msd

It is not true that the fate of the world is decided in the quiet of the offices of politicians, general staffs and special services residencies. In different parts of the world, it is "typeset" on the ground by ordinary guys. They have a different skin color and eye shape, but they are not only related to camouflage uniforms and good physical condition. In the midst of all the big and small wars, they almost always deny that they are pawns in someone else's games, that they are the ones who pull chestnuts out of the fire. But even so, what is this dubious truth compared to the cherished goal of any soldier, whose name is Victory? Whatever one may say, fighting serves one of the greatest values on earth - peace. And he knows better than others its true value. You can't buy something that's expensive on the cheap.

..On 16 September, Dushanbe saw off generals and officers of the disbanded Directorate of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces (KMS) in Tajikistan. Speaking at a solemn meeting at the Ministry of Defense, President of the Republic Emomali Rahmonov stressed that the creation of the CIS CMC in Tajikistan "was a forced, but, as time has shown, quite justified measure."

According to him, during the internecine armed conflicts in Tajikistan, 157,000 people were killed, 55,000 children were orphaned, and the country suffered economic damage estimated at $7 billion.

"Until the Afghan problem is solved, there will be no security not only in the Central Asian region, but also in the Caucasus and Europe," Emomali Rahmonov said. He noted that taking into account the military-political situation and in the conditions when the collective peacekeeping forces have completed their mission in Tajikistan, "we have taken and continue to take concrete and effective steps to ensure national security and accelerate the process of creating our own armed forces." And then he stressed: "Guided by Article 51 of the UN Charter, our country decided to give its military-technical relations with the Russian Federation a qualitatively new character by signing an agreement with it on the creation of a Russian military base on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan at the expense of the 201st motorized rifle division."

Emomali Rahmonov described relations with Russia as a strategic partnership and alliance, noting that they "will continue to occupy a priority place in our international relations in the future."

Since September 24, 1993, when the CIS CMC was established in the Republic of Tatarstan, more than a hundred peacekeepers have been killed. By military personnel

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About 650 tons of humanitarian cargo were transported to the KMS. Mostly-in hard-to-reach areas of Pripamirye and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. Sappers cleared more than a hundred minefields and obstacles. About 140 thousand explosive objects were found and neutralized. The peacekeepers took part in escorting columns of refugees and detachments of the Tajik opposition.

On September 14, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the building where the peacekeeping forces command was located, with the inscription: "They came to stop the war. They leave, leaving the world behind."

"Our troops will remain in Tajikistan as long as the situation requires it and as long as the Russian and Tajik leaders agree to it," Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Maxim Peshkov said in response to a question from our correspondent. He noted that prior to the entry into force of the treaty on the establishment of a Russian military base in the Republic of Tajikistan, 201 med stationed here will operate within the framework of those 17 treaties and agreements that regulate the stay of the Russian military contingent in the republic.

..On September 24, the Afghan problem materialized in Tajikistan, even for those who had very vague ideas about it: on Sunday, the Taliban captured Sherkhan.

When two days earlier we had peered at the port facilities of this settlement through the gray haze of dust raised by the night "Afghan", it was believed that Sherkhan was controlled by the people of Ahmad Shah Massoud. However, according to the deputy commander of the third battalion of the motorized rifle regiment of the 201st motorized rifle Division, Major Sergey Makarov (his subordinates in the company tactical group serve in the area of responsibility of the 48th Panj border detachment), 35 people stationed in the area of the Afghan port of Sherkhan are considered a unit of the border troops of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Equipped with two "boxes" - BRDM and BMP, they control cargo and passenger transportation on the route Sherkhan-Nizhny Panj. A kind of monopolists, since the legal exchange of goods between the two countries takes place only here. In addition, there is a road to Kunduz from Sherkhan. The ability to have, as they say, a sure piece of bread and butter, and perhaps even higher - order reasons, make the guards of the main Afghan port be loyal to any ruler-be it Rabbani, Dostum, Ahmadshah Masud or the Taliban leadership.

According to Sergey Makarov, in the districts of the 5th, 6th, and 7th outposts of the 48th border detachment in the direction of Nizhny Panj-Dusti, the situation has recently remained tense due to the actions of drug couriers. Huge drug stocks are concentrated in the adjacent territory. The deadly potion is the main source of funding for extreme Islamic movements. Moreover, the size of super-profits is directly proportional to the distance from the center of international terrorism - Afghanistan, which, according to some estimates, ranked first in the world in the production of drugs, including "heavy" ones. First of all, heroin. One kilogram of top-quality heroin (999) costs up to $150 thousand on the" black market " in Moscow.

Now here is a new "headache" - the Taliban, who came to the border with Tajikistan. However, although Russian border guards and motorized infantry units are already observing clashes within the line of sight, according to the commander of 201 med, Major General Valentin Orlov, expressed in an interview with our correspondent, the greatest concern is not the Taliban themselves, but the possible exodus of refugees from the northern provinces of Afghanistan to neighboring states due to the intensification of hostilities.

Valentin Orlov believed that already in October, with the onset of cold weather, we can expect a decrease in the activity of the Taliban in the regions of Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan.

Some observers do not rule out that closer to March, even before the opening of the mountain passes, the troops controlled by Ahmadshah Masood will be able to recapture the strategically important city of Talikan from the Taliban.

According to Major General Valentin Orlov, the situation in Tajikistan is so stable that even the withdrawal of 201 meds would not contribute to the aggravation of the situation in the region. He notes that the priority task of the unit is still to help border guards in creating a barrier on the way of drug transportation from Afghanistan to Tajikistan. The division's area of responsibility is 420 km of the state border of the Republic of Tatarstan. Every day, as part of the company's tactical groups, brought to an increased degree of combat readiness today, about 700 servicemen of 201 msd serve here.

...From Kulyab to the location of the company tactical group of the motorized rifle regiment 201 msd about four hours

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hours of non-boring driving on KAMAZ. Here is the base camp of the company tactical group hiding in a hollow. We are getting acquainted with the senior in the direction. Major Evgeny M., Deputy commander of one of the MSP battalions 201 med. The officer has reasons not to give his last name. He fought in the Caucasus, spent six months languishing in zindans with thugs with "world names", was released during a special operation. He survived by a miracle.

"The task of the RTG," says Evgeny, " is to directly support the 9th, 10th, and 11th outposts of the Moscow border Detachment of the FPS, prevent their capture and destruction, and prevent the enemy from passing through the state border of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The unequal battle of the personnel of the legendary 12th outpost of the Moscow border Detachment with superior enemy forces, which happened here several years ago, filled these words with a special meaning.

However, even before the Taliban reached the Afghan-Tajik border, there was enough work to do. This mountainous section of the border was considered difficult and difficult to control even in Soviet times.

Over the past two months, the Federal Security Service units have detained 26 infiltrators who entered Tajikistan from Afghanistan. In the area of responsibility of the Moscow border detachment, the largest batch of drugs this year was seized - about 700 kg of raw opium.

According to visual intelligence, in the Afghan territory, in the area of responsibility of the company tactical group at the junctions of the 48th and 117th border units, cases of flanking movements of groups of people armed with both small arms and group weapons have become more frequent. Apparently, supporters of the anti-Taliban coalition continue to control the settlement on the other side of Panj. Recently, a dozen and a half well-armed people left the village. Recently, three new firing positions have been equipped here, and several more are being prepared.

The company tactical group is not idle either. Every day in the base camp there are training sessions for the actions of RTG personnel. Today, artillery units have been assigned to it. Close cooperation is carried out with the FPS units, including when destroying enemy air targets (the border guards are assigned a ZU - 23 and a mortar battery).

- All this allows us to perform high-quality tasks set by the command in the protection and defense of this section of the border, - sums up our acquaintance with RTG Major Evgeny M.

According to the 201 med command, there has not been a mass use of weapons on the Tajik-Afghan border since 1995. Artillery was used only sparsely until 1997-mainly on islands in Tajik territory, at the request of border guards, when intelligence confirmed the presence of gangs or warehouses with weapons or drugs there.

- Who is our opponent today? Eugene asks again. - Formations that are engaged in drug transit. As some unfriendly politicians say about their plans for the CIS: we will kill these countries not with weapons, but with the "white death". Each of the soldiers and officers present here probably didn't see so much flour in the warehouse during their service, how many drugs they saw... We jump in the car and hit the road.

- Today they are fighting in 50-70 kilometers from our positions, and tomorrow they can move up to 3-4, - the deputy commander took a drag on cigarette smoke. Then he exhaled a thin, bluish trickle, looked at his watch, peered into the haze over Pyanj, and added matter-of-factly::

"Maybe even up to three hundred meters." It can turn into anything...

The Major stared into the water. A few days ago, the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border was different. But, as then, the command of the 201st Motorized Rifle Division remains convinced that the complication of the situation at the junctions of the 48th and 117th border units of the Russian Federal Border Service will not lead to destabilization of the situation inside Tajikistan. In particular, the commander of the SMP, Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Minenkov, explains this by the close contact of the division command with the security forces of the republic at various levels. According to the officer, once a month scheduled exercises are held.

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classes on the organization of interaction between Russian troops and units of the military department, divisions of the Ministry of Security of Tajikistan. Joint training sessions are regularly held with the republic's Interior Ministry and local authorities to repel a sudden enemy attack. Joint exercises of units and subunits of the 201st Medical Academy and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Tatarstan are planned once every six months.

The main tasks of the SMP are to strengthen the border areas at the junctions of 48 and 117 PO, protect and defend vital objects in the area of responsibility of the unit, prevent terrorist acts against Russian servicemen, destroy stocks of materiel and armored vehicles.

...A few days earlier, Major General Valentin Orlov, commander of 201 med, told us in Dushanbe:

"I'm in my twenty-ninth year in the Armed Forces, and I don't know of any other division where I can better reveal myself as an officer and commander. The conditions for professional growth are ideal. Take my second-in-command. After Afghanistan, he rose from intelligence battalion commander to deputy division commander. Four battle orders. Or the chief of staff. I joined the division as a battalion commander. After graduating from the General Staff Academy, he is going to return back. Let's take Lieutenant Colonel Minenkov. He began his service in the compound as a company officer. From the position of deputy regiment commander, he went to the academy. He returned this year, didn't even go on vacation, and is commanding a regiment. And how he commands! Needless to say, the soul of people stick to the division. Many officers served here for 10-15 years.

In each set - from 3 to 5 soldiers, who, having retired to the reserve, return back. There are contract soldiers going to get even for their fathers and brothers who died in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Tajikistan.

Since 1992, 298 people have died in the compound.

When Major-General Valentin Orlov says that his division is special, that there were no such units in Russia and they will not be found soon, one can argue with him. But the fact remains: 201 med is the only unit in the country that is 100 percent staffed by contract soldiers. The age of soldiers varies between 20 and 45 years. Many passed through Afghanistan, Karabakh, Transdniestria, and other "hot spots" of the post-Soviet space caught in the fire of fratricidal war. The vast majority of them, according to the division commander, up to 95 percent, are people who can be trusted with any business.

The division commander rules out the possibility of a Taliban breakthrough in Tajikistan.

"I don't think it will come to large - scale military operations, especially with the involvement of Russian troops," says Valentin Orlov. "Diplomacy and common sense will prevail before any attempt is made to make such a decision.

Nevertheless, the division commander is convinced that the concept of "combat readiness" for a military person has always been and will always be in the first place, regardless of the political situation and the vicissitudes of the current moment.

Nizhny Panj-Kurgan-Tube - Kulyab-Dushanbe-Moscow

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