Murghab skies. Murghab skies 35 border detachment

ABROSIMOV Igor Vyacheslavovich
BELYAKOV Sergey Mikhailovich
BURAVTSEV Pavel Anatolievich
VALIEV Albert Mirzakhanovich
GUNDIENKOV Andrey Valentinovich
ZHUROVICH Oleg Vladimirovich
KALASHNIKOV Vladimir Fedorovich
KOSTYLEV Andrey Vladimirovich
KRAVTSOV Alexander Alexandrovich
KUCHINSKIS Virgilius Lyaonovich
NAUMOV Anatoly Alexandrovich
ROSLOV Vladimir Nikolaevich
SEMIOHIN Vladimir Anatolievich
TARASENKO Sergey Ivanovich
Usachev Evgeny Anatolievich
FILIPPOV Nikolay Valerievich
CHEMERKIN Gennady Viktorovich
SHALGUMBAEV Batyrzhan Shalmanovich
Rafkat Sharypov

It looks like the place of those tragic events from space

From the memoirs of Vladimir Naumenko (in 1984-86 gunner AGS-17, 3rd PZ MMG-1 of the Murghab border detachment):

The gang shown in the picture is part of the one that shot the "Panfilovites" on November 22, 1985.
They appeared on Zardev, in the Tarvaza area, it seems in January 1986 I don't remember exactly.
First, there was information that this was a detachment that had come from another gorge to deal with the locals. Allegedly, there were some of their own grievances and disagreements (discrepancies in the Koran, blood feud, etc., etc.).
The scout who lived on Tarvaza at that time "bought it". And Gulkhana gave the go-ahead not to interfere in the local squabbles, they say we will have less work afterwards.
But the guys went there, here past the garrison and showed no activity towards the locals. In addition, the "spirit" who voluntarily surrendered to us at the beginning of the Zardevo operation spoke for them.
I don’t remember his name either. He was a guy of 30-35 years old, height 176-180 cm, with a black beard.
He also wore a corduroy vest, and she was wearing our soldier's badge. When he gave up, he brought AKM with him and gave it away, than he bought everyone.
How he gave up is another story. In general, when this whole story began to drag on, Gulkhana gave the command to call them, as if for a propaganda conversation and, if they came, to disarm them.
And so they did. They summoned them, surrounded them with machine guns and offered to surrender.
Then they were transported by board to Gulkhana. There, during the search, some of them found soldiers' belts and other uniforms, as usual signed. Punching the names and numbers of military cards - 5 minutes.
It was then that it became clear that they had participated in the execution.
When they realized that they were in trouble, they surrendered the "defector" too.
It turned out that it was not known for whom he worked more, and in that massacre he commanded a combat group. For some time they were still kept on Gulkhan in the pillbox, which stood on the right when leaving the garrison in the direction of the helipad. Then they handed it over to the local authorities. A month or more later, I heard a conversation between the crews of two turntables flying past Tarvaza. One reminded the other how they took the "spirits" out of here and asked where they were now. The second replied that they are in "Allah's air division" ...

From the memoirs of Pavel Dementyevich Ushkalov, June 1983 - April 1985. Chief of Staff DShMG KVPO

In the second half of September 1985, the operation in Warfad came to an abrupt end. DSh was transferred to Khorog, from there to Ishkashim. We learned that an operation to capture the Zardev gorge begins in a week.

Background: the Zardev gorge begins in the upper reaches, almost at our border with Afgan along the Pyanj River. Further descending down to the south, after 70-80 kilometers it reaches Baharak. There was an SA battalion. In Baharak, the Zardev River merges with the Varduj River, goes to Faizabad and further north to the Panj River. It should be noted that at that time, from 1980-1985. not a single operation was carried out in the Zardev gorge, there was not a single garrison of ours. This gorge was bombed only by SA aircraft. On the Zardev River, on one side and the other, and in numerous side gorges, there were dozens of villages. It was a separate appanage principality, with its own laws, which did not obey anyone. The leader of all the numerous detachments of the Mujahideen in this gorge was Mavlavi-Jalil.

DSh, as always, had to act in 3 combat groups. In the 20th of September, from Ishkashim, on almost 30 sides, the DS was lifted into the air and flew to Zardev, but I don't know why they circled around and everyone came back, something was not agreed. It was thought that on the second sortie the enemy would be waiting for us. But nothing, a few days later, after apparently all the clarifications, DSh safely landed in the very upper reaches of the Zardev gorge. A week later, without encountering much resistance, on one and the other side of the Zardev River, we advanced 15-20 km. They told us to stop and set up 2 garrisons (Tarvaza and Izvan). In Izvan and Tarvaz they found a suitable structure and became garrisons. After 5-7 days, assembled outposts from the frontier detachments of the Eastern District flew to the garrisons to replace us.

Reference: due to the lack of personnel operating in Afghanistan, in the units of the Eastern District, freelance border outposts were urgently formed, armed and sent to Afghanistan. They had no experience. All, regardless of the length of service, were inexperienced heifers, including the officers. Their task was to stand in the garrisons, to guard them. They could go in ambushes, only in conjunction with experienced fighters. As we will see further, ignoring this rule led to such dire consequences for the team of the outpost of the Panfilov frontier detachment of the Eastern District.

In early October, the DSh on the sides was thrown another 15-20 km deep into the Zardev gap. Here already heavy skirmishes with the spirits began. The second combat group of the DSh landed on a certain hill above Zardev. The fighters of this group sat down on the stronghold of the Basmachi, a heavy battle ensued. I know that in that battle, Sergeant Major Solopov killed the leader of the Zardevskaya gap, Mavlavi-Jalil. This was confirmed by the district intelligence, which worked on this operation, and local residents, who, approaching the corpse for identification, fell on their knees in front of it. We did not hear more of this name in the Zardevskaya gap. I also remember that during the landing, a helicopter was shot down, which began to slide into the gorge where it fell, exploded and burned down. Until then I remember how it burned, this black smoke. The helicopter pilots escaped, threw back the upper part of the helicopter cockpit, and managed to jump out. One, however, only blew off the scalp, which was then sewn. But the mortar crew, in my opinion the Osh MMG, 3 people, together with their Vasilek mortar, the ammunition load of mines, burned down. I know that then they collected half of the soldier's duffel bag of charred bones, put them in three zinc coffins and sent them home.

So, with battles, we advanced south for another 10-15 km. Every day there are hassles, hassles. In one of these skirmishes on October 17, 1985, on a comb in a battle with Yunus's gang, a private of the first outpost N.F. Goreglyad was killed. The leader Yunus was wounded in the battle, but he managed to escape. It's a pity ... During the operation, there were some wounded in the Zardevskaya gap, but they were immediately sent to the hospital.

Finally, 15-20 kilometers from Baharak, they said to stop. Here, at the entrance to the narrow mouth of the gorge, Zardev was placed on the hill in the second half of October as a temporary garrison the outpost of the Panfilov detachment, numbering 50 people. And DSh at the beginning of November all flew to Gulkhana, on Gulkhana DSh was not more than a year. We settled on Gulkhana in tents. Here came the order to appoint the chief of the 3rd outpost Mitashok N.N., the chief of staff of the DSh, instead of the wounded Sergei Myasnikov. I would also like to say that in October, at the end of the Zardevo operation, General Neverovsky E.N. was appointed commander of the Border District to Kamchatka. I believe that if he had stayed, then there would have been no tragedy with the outpost of the Panfilov detachment.

And so, the DS on Gulkhan, prepares for the Warduj operation. In the spring, the entire grouping of troops in Afghanistan from the Eastern PO was united into a separate unit - the KVPO Operational Force Group. This immediately became noticeable, at least for the provision of food, weapons, ammunition, clothing. In October, Moscow appointed Lieutenant Colonel A.V. Gurnak as the commander of our Operational Troop Group.

What was going on in the Zardevskaya gap in the first half of November 1985, I knew a little, according to the intelligence officers. There began the process (after the death of their leader Mavlavi-Jalil) of unification, restoration of losses among the spirits. According to intelligence, the outpost of the Panfilov detachment, which was sitting above the main road along Zardev, was bypassed by spirits at night, along paths on the opposite bank of the river. There, on the other side of the river, there was a hill through which several paths passed. DSh went about her business on Gulkhan, the leadership of all garrisons, MMG, DSh was carried out by the commander of the operational-military group A.V. Gurnak.

And so, on November 22, in the afternoon, passing through the garrison of Gulkhan, I noticed the running warrant officers of communications (from the communications center to the commander's "Hilton" and back). When asked what happened, they just waved their hands off. Then, through his officer - the chief of communications of the DSh, I learned that a group of border guards of the Panfilov outpost in Zardev had disappeared. Already in the evening I learned from the scouts that the chief of the outpost of the Panfilov detachment, Captain Roslov V.N. the task was set on November 22, in the morning with a group of 25 people, to cross the Zardev River, occupy a hill on the other bank, organize an ambush to block the paths along which the Basmachi walked at night. Such a group of border guards of 25 people left in the morning on the hill, the outpost was divided. 25 people remained on one bank, and the second part, led by the chief of the outpost, dressed in quilted jackets, with sleeping bags, backpacks, moving heavily, went to the other side of the river. It should be noted that this outpost, not yet a month has passed since it arrived from the Union, it did not know the area, did not have any combat experience, the officers arrived in Afghanistan for the first time. Having gone down to the river and not finding a ford to cross the river, the group went up the river in search of a bridge or a ford to cross to the other side. So with halts, the group, walking along the river, slowly moved for several hours. In short, the spirits had enough time to get together and set up an ambush in an advantageous place. This group communicated via the VHF R-392 radio station with the main part of the outpost, and that via the HF radio station with Gulkhana. And so, after lunch, through the rest of the outpost, the first reports arrived that communications with the head of the outpost V.N. no. Boards immediately flew to that area, they flew over this area, called for communication, but no one answered them where the group had disappeared, no one knew either. So darkness fell, an alarming night passed. The next morning, in the Zardev area, scouts, special officers and other officers of the unit flew to our garrisons. On this day, November 23, the sides began to fly to Gulkhana, for the operation, officers of the district arrived. In the afternoon, the commander of the operational-military group Gurnak was removed from office, the chief of staff Belov temporarily became the command of the operational-military group. It must be said that Colonel Belov, who had been to Afghanistan several times, knew the situation. Calling me to his place, he gave the order tomorrow, November 24, as part of 3 groups, the entire DSh, to fly to Zardev and find the missing group. All night long the DSh was preparing to take off, receiving ammunition and everything else. In the evening, upon the arrival of the scouts from Zardev, I learned that out of 25 people, in the morning 4 soldiers came running to the outpost, safe and sound, and by dawn, a bloody sergeant came in just his underwear. According to his story, their group was ambushed after dinner, almost all of them died. Captured, wounded border guards, the spirits were stripped to their underwear and put against the wall and shot. During the shooting, the sergeant was hit in the left shoulder. At night he woke up, no one was there, he only heard a groan, crawled towards the sound, it was a private moaning, who was stitched in the groin at the foot during the execution. The sergeant could go, the private could not. Pulling the private to the ditch, which flowed across the road, the sergeant hid the soldier under the stone bridge, telling him that if I reach my own people, they will come for you, and if not, then do not judge. So the sergeant reached his own by dawn, a group of border guards was sent out, who brought the wounded private. By the end of the day, intelligence officers reported that several captured border guards were being taken to Pakistan by spirits.

So, having this information, on November 24, the DSh in the morning in full force in 3 groups, flew to Zardev. They landed in the places designated together with the officers of the district, Colonel Belov. Since the soldiers who survived did not know where they were ambushed, a large area was chosen for the cleaning, more than a dozen villages, on one and the other side of the river. Gradually, narrowing the search area, gathering the entire male population from 15-40 years old, by lunchtime they found the place of death of our soldiers and officers. A garden (walnuts and other fruit trees grew in Zardev), stones, boulders, several buildings. This place was near the village of Yarim. We found a place where they finished off our wounded, and they began to drag all the corpses there. There should have been 19 dead, because 25 turned out, 6 survived. For a long time they could not find 2 dead, finally, after lunch, all 19 killed were laid out. All were stripped to their underwear, without weapons, documents, generally almost naked, disfigured beyond recognition, frozen in various unnatural positions. On the HF radio station, I reported to Colonel Belov that all the dead had been found. He sighed as much, because Moscow constantly reminded him of not allowing the withdrawal of our soldiers to Pakistan. As I understand it, for Moscow it is better to be killed than prisoners who are taken to Pakistan.

They began to think about how to bring the dead to the place where the outpost of the Panfilov detachment was stationed. And this is 10-12 kilometers. We decided to dismantle the roofs near the lying houses, take out suitable poles, tie them to 2 poles over the corpse and carry them to ours. The Afghans were forced to bear the dead - 4 people are carrying, 4 to replace them. And so 19 dead, 8 people of Afghans carried each corpse. The rest of the Afghans were driven in front, because we gathered more than 200 of them. They also decided, in the village of Yarim, to leave an ambush, because at night the spirits, who were probably watching us from the mountains, would descend into the village to find out what happened here, because houses were burning, there was a lot of shooting, Afghans who resisted were killed. But they decided to leave the ambush unnoticed. I reported my intentions on the radio to Colonel Belov, he just said, you know better on the spot, go ahead. All the volunteers remained in an ambush (although everyone wanted to stay), almost all of whom had to quit, there were 70-80 people. The ambush was commanded by the chief of staff of the DSh Mitashok N.N.

Having lined up a column, having put out the front, from the sides, behind the combat outposts, the DSh demonstratively left the village of Yarim. Then behind the kishlak, behind one of the hillocks, so that it would not be visible from the mountains, Major Mitashka's group, unnoticed along the irrigation ditch, returned to the Yarim kishlak, where they organized 4-5 ambushes on the trails leading to the kishlak. Night had already fallen, it was dark, it was a terrible night. DSh slowly but surely, with all the dead, a bunch of Afghans, walked forward. Everything that in the slightest degree was dangerous was first destroyed and burned. We looked so that we ourselves would not be ambushed by the Basmachi. So gradually, moving forward, at about one or two in the morning, they climbed the hill, where the Panfilov detachment was outpost. Upon arrival, they laid out all the corpses, the scouts of the unit, the districts who were here, began to work with the Afghans. I reported my arrival to Gulkhana. They gave the command in the afternoon, all the dead and the remnants of the outpost of the Panfilov detachment, sent aboard to the Union. Among the personnel of the outpost of the Panfilov detachment there were 2 twin brothers, one died (we brought him), the second alive (he did not go to that ill-fated ambush), I remember how he lamented over his killed brother all night, saying that he would not fly anywhere, what will he tell his parents, etc. After all, both of them had ended their service lives, and I also remembered that these brothers were Tula. Why did you remember that they were Tula? Because my wife is from Venev, Tula region. There lived a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, a bunch of relatives, there I spent every year on vacation, mowing hay, fishing, my son was born there. Among the dead Panfilov's men were 4 Tula (private Abrosimov N.K .; private Usachov E.A.; private Filippov N.V.; corporal Chemerkin G.V.). One of them had a brother who was fired and took his brother home.

At night, I contacted the NSh DSh Mitashko N.N. He said that in the evening, at nightfall, several groups of spirits came out to our ambushes. They took 50-60 people prisoner. When the last group was captured, shooting turned out and no one went to the village. The captured spirits were armed, in hats and jackets of our dead soldiers. He said that in the morning, when it was light, they would film and come to us. By 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the group of Mitashka N.N. came and brought about 10 prisoners, the rest were killed while trying to escape. They brought part of the weapons, hats of the killed Panfilovites. In the afternoon, all 19 people killed and the remnants of the outpost were sent on board to the Union. And then for another 7-10 days we went to the foresters, set up ambushes. I was in an ambush and on that unfortunate hill, on the other bank of the Zardev River (where Panfilov's men were going), took a group of Basmachi there. There were other skirmishes with the spirits, but during the entire operation, the DS did not have any killed or wounded. All were collected to the utmost. During this operation during the day we were constantly supported from the air by the boards, changing over Zardev. When an enemy was detected, they immediately called the sides, indicated the target and immediately applied a BSHU (bomb attack). The interaction was well organized.

So November ended, December 1985 began. Somewhere on December 5-10, an order was received to move to the ill-fated village of Yarim, choose a place and set up a permanent garrison. Upon arrival in the village, we chose a place at the top of the village, near the broken school. Before that, several years ago, it was bombed by SA aircraft. There was no roof, the walls were dilapidated, and there were several other destroyed buildings nearby. The work had to be huge, for the entire personnel to build barracks, a dining room, warehouses, reconnaissance, a medical center, a bathhouse, clear the helicopter pad from stones, also build firing points around the garrison, gouge trenches and trenches. They thought about it and decided to involve the locals, through the sarbozes he gathered 19 elders of the nearby villages, appointed an officer, a warrant officer for each object. He fixed which kishlak and which should be built. He told the elders that 15-20 people would be sent to work every day and that among them there would be at least 5 experienced builders, and not just boys. I must say that at the beginning the elders did not really understand this. After one day I was informed that there was no brigade from the Afrij kishlak, I aimed aviation, my 82-mm mortar platoon and the battery of 120-mm mortars of the Makanchinsky detachment attached to us, at a high-rise near this kishlak. After the application of the BSHU and the salvo of mortars, the observers reported that they saw a highly raised stick with a red rag. An hour later, a team from the Afrij village was already working at their facility. The work was in full swing. After 2 weeks, the units already had a roof over their heads and could wash themselves in the bathhouse. I must say that during the construction, there was an attempt on the part of the Afghans to lay a mine on the path to the signalmen, where the communication with Gulkhana was located. But on this mine another Afghan was blown up, his foot was blown off. He gathered all the Afghans, said that it was not good to do this, that God sees everything and punished them for this evil. On the 20th of December, the Yarim garrison was already standing, when the Yarim garrison was built, the Tarvaz garrison was removed in the upper reaches of the Zardev Gorge. After December 25, he flew off on another vacation, the entire DS remained in the Yarim garrison. In Kurchum, I got to my family just in time for the New Year 1986. More in the Zardevskaya gap did not happen.

Eternal memory to you guys.

Red Banner Eastern Border District
35th Murghab frontier detachment, military unit 9820

MMG-1, "Bazai-Gumbad"

MMG-2, "Murghab"

MMG-3, "Sarhad"

MMG, "Lyangar" (1980)

The history of MMG-2 begins in 1974. On the basis of the order of the Chairman of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 00114 of 24.09.74 No. , a medical station. In total, the MMG staff included 211 people. Captain Pashkov became the first head of MMG-2. In a short time, MMG-2 became one of the best divisions of the Murghab PO.

From the historical form 35 VP:
- February 1975 - MMG-2 was checked by a commission headed by the head of the Union troops, Colonel-General Matrosov. The actions of MMG-2 were rated "good"
- July 1975 - a commission headed by the NSh KVPO, Major General Vlasov, conducted a live-fire exercise: "the action of the MMG, reinforced by the MB to repel an armed provocation at the border." The performance was rated “good”.
- July 1976 - a commission headed by the NSh KVPO, Major General Vlasov, conducted an exercise with MMG-2: "MMG action on the offensive." The performance was rated “good”.
This is a far from complete list of all the checks that MMG-2 successfully passed in the second half of the 70s.
- 1976 - the only unit in the Murghab detachment that achieved the title of excellent was PTV MMG-2
- 1977 - according to the detachment, 2 PZ MMG-2 and PTV were recognized as the best units.
In the same year, according to the results of the socialist competition in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, 2 PZ MMG-2 became the best. A report sent to the Central Committee of the Komsomol in honor of V.O.S.R. from 35 PO was signed by the Komsomol MMG-2 Junior Sergeant Ivlev, Ryad Starsev.

Summer and autumn 1979... armed intervention from outside in the DRA took on a threatening character, created a real threat of Afghanistan losing its independence, turning it into an imperialist bridgehead on the southern border of our country. The USSR, in accordance with the request of the legitimate government of the DRA, introduced its limited military contingent into its territory. The conditions for the temporary stay of this contingent on the territory of the DRA are determined by a special treaty ratified by both countries in April 1980.

1 and 2 PZ were parachuted from helicopters, 3 PZ moved in a column from Lyangar. Due to the fact that the road had not yet been laid, the 76 km path was covered in 13 days. The personnel of the MMG with skillful actions earned high marks from the leadership of the KGB. Many participants in this operation, code-named "Roof", were awarded high government awards. A new page has begun in the combat chronicle of our unit - the fulfillment of an international duty in the DRA. MMG-2 was on Sarhad until November 1980. On November 25, 1980, she was replaced by MMG-3 35 PO, MMG-2 starred in Murghab, where she stayed until September 1981.

On September 6, 1981, MMG-2 was sent to 66 Khorogsky PO KSAPO at the Kalai-Khumb PZ. In early September, Operation Autumn began to sweep the Javai Gorge, in which, together with MMG-2, other units also participated. Overlapped the pass
3 PZ MMG-3, VPBS Murgabsky and Oshsky participated in the excavation of the area. In the area of ​​the Khuji-Bala kishlak, the group was fired upon by the Basmachi. 50 bandits were taken prisoner, the rest of the gang went to the side of Nusai. There were no losses on our side. On October 5, the units participating in the operation withdrew to Kalai-Khumb, where the personnel received a short rest.
Already on October 24, 1981, being in Rogak (1 PZ 66 PO KSAPO), MMG-2 set out for a new Operation Canyon. With the help of helicopters, the l / s landed at the site in the area above the village of Chamsh-Dara, which lies in the Kufab gorge. The Osh VPBS and PTV MMG-2 remained to guard the helicopters on the plateau above the village, the rest of the units were thrown into the field. When approaching Chamsh-Dara, it was discovered that the gang of Abdul-Vakhop was in it. The group was spotted by the Basmachs at a distance of 300 m. The bandits decided to leave the village in the mountains without getting involved in the battle, but soon the bandit group was noticed and fired upon from the PKS and AGS-17. The leader of the gang, Abdul-Wakhop, was wounded, several Basmachi were killed, and many were wounded. At 18.00, a missile and bomb attack by helicopters was launched against the fortifications of the Basmachi in the village. The group of the grocery store was located not far from the village near the upper summer house.
On the morning of October 25, after combing the Chamsh-Dara kite, the group began to move to the Saidan point, where there were two outposts of the Pyanj DShMG.
October 26, 1981... the group of sweepers, having completed the assigned task, set off on their way back. Despite the great physical exertion, the l / s MMG-2 behaved courageously and staunchly. Before they reached Chekhor's summer officer, they noticed the processed positions of the Basmachi. The border guards assumed that the remnants of the gang spent the night here. The operation was to be completed the next day. After passing the village of Chatniv and moving 2.5 km away from it towards the village of Sari-Pool, the head patrol heard fire, barely having time to report this to the group's core, the patrol was surrounded by Basmachi and fired on from small arms and RPG-2. Soon the core of the group was fired upon.

View on a larger map

With the onset of darkness, the lead patrol went down the river to the main forces. After the battle, it turned out that the Basmachi had lost 35 people, of which 30 were wounded. But there were also serious losses on our part.
Killed:
military counterintelligence officer of the Special Department of the 66th Khorog Border Detachment Captain GRIGORIEV Sergey Vladimirovich;
and nine border guards MMG-2 of the 35th Murghab border detachment:
deputy. the head of the MMG for political affairs, the captain;
head of the frontier post Art. lieutenant;
head of the radio station of the communications platoon ml. sergeant;
squad leader ml. sergeant
privates:
assistant grenade launcher
grenade shooter
machine gunner
Art. radiotelegraph operator
machine gunner

14 border guards were wounded, including the head of the 2nd PZ MMG-2. Many participants in the operation, including all those killed,.

November 8, 1 981 - MMG-2 was transferred to the Moskovsky, then to the Pyanj detachment of the KSAPO. The November-79 draft, which had come to retire, together with the officers returned to Murghab through Tashkent. A smaller part of the l / s, which consisted of other conscriptions, was transferred to the disposal of the Pyanj detachment.

In March 1982, a new formation of MMG-2 was launched in Murghab.

In 1980-83. on Gulkhan
the first Osh MMG was stationed from the 66th Khorog Pogo.

June 19, 1983 - Osh MMG was replaced, re-formed in the summer of 1982, "Murgab" MMG-2, which with outposts DShMG, MB, ISV, platoon squad PKP was deployed in SBO "Gulkhana", post "Rabati-Chekhilton", "Bandar -fast". 1st PZ and 2nd PZ MMG-2 until December 10, 1984 were located in Gulkhan, 2nd PZ from December 10, 1984 - in Tergiran; 3rd PZ - in Rabati-Chekhilton. Head of the SBO on Gulkhan in 1984-85. was Major Serenkin (in 1983-84 - chief of staff). From the first days of carrying out tasks in the area of ​​responsibility of the SBO "Gulkhana" l / s MMG-2 assisted the Afghan ambassadors in repelling an armed attack. At that time, the area in this area was literally swarming with fighting groups of dushmans. Numerous mountain paths passed here, along which endless caravans with weapons stretched from Pakistan. Therefore, the border guards, introduced to Gulkhana in 1983, had to step by step expand their zone of influence, systematically blocking the caravan routes and pushing the dushmans further and further to the Pakistani border.

View on a larger map

August 83

Ambush in the Rithwa gorge.

August 23, 1983 - an ambush was set up in the area of ​​the Rithva gorge 2 PZ MMG-2 in the amount of 35 people. He led the ambush.
August 25, 1983 - a patrol from an Afghan post of three people 2.5 km from the ambush collided with a gang of more than 100 people who were moving towards the ambush. Two of the patrol were captured by the bandits, the third managed to escape. A persecution was organized behind him. Hearing the shooting, Major Serenkin decided to move forward with a group of 16 people. At 11.30 on 25 August, the group entered the battle. In the battle, 12 bandits were destroyed and 1 was taken prisoner. A group of st.l-nta Aleshkin, row. Leontyev, row Zaykina, junior s-nta Masnova was sent to destroy the bandit hiding in the stones. Short fight, the bandit is destroyed. But he was wounded in the leg of Jr. s-nt Masnov. With the use of the boards, a blow was struck at the main group of bandits, who was hurrying to help. As a result of the battle, the following were captured: AKS-74 - three, BUR-303 - two, RPG-2 - one. In the battle, 50 bandits were destroyed and 1 was captured.
In battle, distinguished themselves: political commander 2 PZ Art. l-nt Chastkin, senior officer of the intelligence department of military unit 2058 st. l-nt Aleshkin, Jr. s-nt Masnov, row. Leontiev, Volokhov, Noskov, Zaikin, Kartsev, Saidov, Vyalikov.
On August 26, after reconnaissance and combing the area in the area of ​​the Rithwa gap, the ambush team found a gang of about 30 people at 13:45. After applying fire with a simultaneous air strike by 4 helicopters at 14.07, the bandits threw out a white flag. At 14.15 a reception was organized for the bandits. Seized 2 bags of ammunition. As a result of the fighting on August 26, 20 bandits were captured, 5 were killed, 1698 - 7.62 ps were seized, cartridges for
DShK - 169 pcs., For BUR-303 - 96 pcs. There were no losses on our side.
August 27, 1983 operations continued to sweep the terrain in the combat area. During the combing in the caches, the following were found and seized: cartridges for DShK - 1067 pcs., BUR-303 - 1.267 pcs., For AKM - 7.62 ps - 8.060 pcs., RPG grenades - 9 pcs., Powder charge for RPGs - 10 pcs. ., mines - 5 pcs.

December 83

Iskatul operation

This operation began with a clash in December 1983 in the Sanglech direction.
It was carried out by the forces of the small garrison Gulkhan (MMG-2 military unit 9820) against a significant
(by an order of magnitude) superior enemy forces. The surprise and clear coordination on interaction with the attached aviation, the mobility of the regrouping of forces and assets ensured complete success and the absence of combat losses.
As a result of the operation, large caravans with weapons were defeated and destroyed, more than 100 people were taken prisoner. The weapons and ammunition lost by the militants could provide the armament of large gangs and consisted of hundreds of barrels.

From the memoirs of Pavel Dementyevich Ushkalov, June 1983 - April 1985. Chief of Staff DShMG KVPO:

The 2nd outpost DSh in June 1983 sat on Bandar-Post and began to settle down ...
After the defeat of the caravan on Lake Dyufferen in September, the Bandar Post garrison decided to reinforce the next Osh MMG. More than 100 reinforcement people arrived in helicopters. And we began to set up 5 ambushes of 40-50 people in all possible directions. There were more than 300 people at Bandar Post. People ambushed in circles. Changed - came to the garrison - washed in the bathhouse - rested for a day, slept off - and go ahead to change another ambush. So they walked in a circle, and along with this there was a construction, expansion of the garrison. There were no more than 50 people permanently in the garrison at Bandar Post, the rest in ambushes. The soldiers of the DSh went into ambushes together with the personnel of the Osh MMG. But all ambushes were led by officers of the DS. Osh were only part of the ambushes. September-October passed in such a rhythm.

And on November 20, an ambush led by intelligence officer Cherednichenko in the Harb gap, this is in the direction of Pakistan from the Sanglich village on the Varduj River downstream of Bandar Post, captured 22 armed Afghans who were going from Pakistan deep into Afghanistan. Since they were captured in remote mountains, and the boards could not be removed, an order was given from Gulkhana to escort this group and deliver them on foot to Gulkhana. These captured spirits gave information that a caravan of 150-200 people would travel along this route. It must be said that the operational headquarters under the command of General E.N. Neverovsky, the officers of the district, the OVG of the city of Frunze was constantly located in Gulkhan. Through this headquarters, all the leadership of a large group of KVPO border guards in Afghan Badakhshan was carried out. When General Neverovsky E.N. descended to the city of Frunze or Alma-Ata, the group was commanded by one of the senior officers of the district, the OVG. During this period, the group was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Myachin, a senior officer of the OVG in Frunze. Since 15-17 people left the ambush for escorting, no more than 30 people remained there. On November 30, 1983, from an ambush in the Harb gap, a radio station received a message that from the Pakistani side through the pass, an altitude of about 5000 thousand meters, starting in the evening, a chain of lanterns was continuously going to Afghan territory. After a report to Gulkhana that a caravan was descending from the mountains into the Harb gap, an order was given to immediately gather as many people as possible and go to the aid of an ambush in the Harb gap. Even cooks were gathered throughout the garrison, all who could hold weapons, it turned out a little more than 30 people. Lieutenant Colonel Myachin ordered me to go to the rescue with this group. Rakimov R.F. remained in command of all ambushes at Bandar Post. I will remember this night for the rest of my life. Because December 1 is my son's birthday, and because we went to the rescue all night, crossing the Warduj River and the rest of the mountain streams that were on our way up to the waist in water. Somewhere around 9 am we met with an ambush in the Harb gap. They asked about the situation, the enemy was not yet visible, he was still descending from the pass. The sides flew up, in one of them there was Lieutenant Colonel Myachin, contacted him by VHF radio, gave the command to approach the enemy. Somewhere in the afternoon we entered into combat contact with the enemy. We were supported by changing constantly 2 boards. I will not describe the whole battle, how they threw bundles of new fur coats, zinc with ammunition, food from the sides. But, not a single zinc, not a single fur coat came to us, everything remained to lie in the stones of Afgan. They bombed, fired from the sides of the Basmachi, it happened that they flew at us. But here, and in the mountains, and even at this time (December 1), it gets dark quickly, Myachin gave the command to take up defensive positions and not let the enemy go any further. He gathered the whole group, took one prisoner, and he told us that there were more than 600 Basmachi people. And as soon as the boards fly away, they will surround us and kill everyone, because there are too many of them. Since we had very little ammunition left, and there was a real danger for everyone to die, we decided to immediately go down and go to the hill where there was an ambush. There were 6 people left, a group weapon, a lot of ammunition. When retreating, cover was carried out by a group of the strongest fighters, led by Warrant Officer Yudin. We just went downstairs, after 10-15 minutes we heard shouts: Alla-Alla, in the place where we had just been. They crossed the stormy stream dozens of times, leaving the Basmachi. Yudin covered, fires a volley at the enemy and overtakes us. It was good that the enemy could not get around us, because the gorge was narrow, on the right and left there were rocks, boulders with a 2-storey building. At about one or two in the morning we reached the fork and began to climb the hill, where our ambush was. When everyone got up, he gave the command to grenade launchers, machine gunners, everyone who could hold a weapon, to open fire down the path on the river. In response, a leaden river poured in our direction, but the spirits were afraid to go to the hill. The battle subsided somewhere only by 6 am. At dawn, I received a report from an observer that 15 people were climbing up to us with a red rag on a stick. He said let them come, they came, it turns out there are sarbozes from the village of Sanglech, with captured Basmachs (5-7 people whom they captured when they came to us). All night these sorboses hid in the stones near the village, and they told us that at dawn a group of Basmachi, about 200 people, quickly passed by the village without stopping. Iskatul crack in the direction of Baharak, Faizabad, Zardev. When dawn finally dawned and the sun rose from the stones, the Basmachi began to crawl out by the river and surrender. I remember that 79 people were taken prisoner on the first day. Immediately at dawn, 2 aircraft flew to us, reported the situation. The first prisoners and two wounded sergeants were sent on board, one of ours from the DSh and one from the Osh MMG.

On this day, the boards did not fly to us anymore, because the operation began to destroy the broken Basmachi in the Iskatul crack. MMG worked there, headed by Major Sirenkin, and they finished off the broken Basmachi. A Every night, by the river itself, on one side and on the other, at the same level, we set up ambushes from ourselves, 10-15 people each with machine gunners. Only darkness fell, groups of Basmachi of 15-20 people tried to break through, but were destroyed by fire to kill. I remember that we had a lot of prisoners, there were many wounded, but no one took them anywhere. They remained in the stones to freeze, there were also many killed by the river. So the operation to destroy the caravan continued until mid-December, we had another wounded man, but no one was killed. The result of the operation according to the intelligence of the district in Gulkhan: a caravan was broken, these are 3 different groups (Vardudzhskaya, Zardevskaya, Faizabadskaya), more than 600 people, 260 people were taken prisoner, 50-60 people broke through and left, 10 of them returned to Pakistan. The rest were destroyed in the gaps Harb, Iskatul, Warduj. The Izvestia newspaper wrote about this in December 1983, in a short note it was reported that the forces of the Afghan army had defeated a large armed caravan, more than 600 people, coming with weapons from Pakistan.

From the book of V.S. Novikov. "Wings of the Border: Historical and Documentary Sketch". - M .: Granitsa, 2008 .-- 455s .:

Since 1983, in accordance with intelligence data and reports to the GUPV, the crews regularly carried out air strikes on caravans with weapons from heights close to the practical ceiling, about 4500-5500 m, trying to provoke landslides and avalanches above the caravan. And they constantly succeeded.

For example, on December 4, 1983, a pair of helicopters (crew commanders: deputy squadron commander for flight training Major P. Chindin and helicopter flight commander Captain K. Shoshnev) in the area of ​​the Mochan pass (the height of the pass is 5000 m) delivered a successful missile and bomb strike on the slope the mountains are higher than the caravan and caused a snowfall and a powerful avalanche. Under everything sweeping away in its path a huge mass of snow rushing down at high speed perished, as it turned out later, that part of the caravan with weapons, numbering up to 50 dushmans and over 50 pack animals, which tried to return back to Pakistan. At the same time, as a result of this powerful avalanche, the way back to another, larger part of the caravan was cut off.

Many years later, Colonel P. Chindin recalled this, one of the very first, large and effective caravan operations, which lasted five days, after the closure of the Pakistani Mochan Pass: a large caravan with weapons was discovered, as it was later found out, with a total number of about 600 people and about 130 pack animals, which had already passed through the Mochan Pass from Pakistan to Afghanistan. It happened like this: first, we found traces at the site of the last night of the caravan because of the large black spots against the background of white snow, since they burned bonfires at night. When flying over the caravan, they lay between stones and boulders, and skillfully camouflaged themselves with large blankets under the surrounding landscape. In the process of searching for bandits at one suspicious place, I fired a control gun from a machine gun, in response the latter opened fire on helicopters from small arms, thereby finally revealing themselves. The first missile and bomb attack we inflicted on unmasked bandits on a narrow path. And the narrow road was destroyed due to rockfall. By radio communication with the starting command post of Gulkhan, I called in a couple of Shoshnev-Kozlov helicopters with the head of the operation on board.

On that first day, the spooks were hit by several more missile and bomb strikes, and they were blocked in the "bag". At this time, a detached group of about 50 people on horses and camels tried to leave again through the pass to Pakistan. As a result of the use of aerial bombs on the slope of the mountain above the pass, it was covered with an avalanche of snow. And as it was later found out, this powerful avalanche not only swept this group into the abyss, but at the same time destroyed the only narrow road for everyone else back.

In the following days, border units were landed on the commanding heights and all kinds of paths around the caravan, which fought with the surrounded bandits. The aviation group, with a constant change of pairs of helicopters on the spot, carried out their fire support, redeployment of landing units to tactically advantageous heights, aerial reconnaissance of suspicious areas, and transportation of captured bandits and weapons.

As a result of the entire operation, in addition to those killed in the snow and killed as a result of resistance, 220 bandits were captured during their arrest, a large number of weapons and ammunition, including MANPADS and DShK. The crews of Chindin, Kuzmin, Shoshnev, Kozlov took part in the operation, and in the last two days, the chief of aviation in this operation, the chief of aviation of the district, Colonel A. Timofeev. "

December 84

Tergiran operation.... after her the Tergiran garrison was formed ...

Since May 1985 Gulkhana became
the main base of the OVG of the Eastern Border District of military unit 9878.
up to two MMGs, since 1984
before the withdrawal of troops, the air group of the Eastern PO was based, Gulkhana also
became the base of the Eastern DShMG. This was the largest base of border guards in
the territory of Afghanistan.

Operational Troop Group KVPO, military unit 9878 (Since May 1985)
MMG-1, Yarim
MMG-2, Tergiran
MMG-3, Gulkhana
MMG-4, Umol, Izvan
MMG-5, Bondar-Post

February 15, 1989 Gulkhan garrison
without loss, one consolidated column entered the territory of the USSR.

Murghab is a small village (6 thousand inhabitants) at an altitude of 3600 meters above sea level, two hundred kilometers (or 7 hours of travel) from the Pamir highway to Osh. I came here, however, by another, more complicated and beautiful road from the Wakhan Valley. In Murghab, the feeling that you find yourself somewhere in the Far North during the winter season does not leave. Only here is not the Far North, but the Far Upper, and it is still unknown where life is harsher.

There are several inexpensive guest houses in Murghab with Spartan conditions, but a "collective taxi" from Lyangar brought me to the central hotel. However, small and cozy - shoes are left in the lobby, and the Kyrgyz administrator at the counter communicates as with an old acquaintance. At the local buffet, they greeted me with the question "Oh, have you already reached the Pamirs?" - a pretty Russian girl in the company of a big driver turned out to be a guide from Dushanbe and had already seen me where she was taking a group of Austrians. The most colorful guest, however, was a tall Israeli in a waist-length dress, short shorts and a grandiose black beard. Entering, he turned to the Kyrgyz barmaid: "Senyoritta! Klep! Klep!" In response, the Kyrgyz woman called the price of bread (flatbread), which seemed inadequate even to me, and the guest thoughtfully uttered "Oooou, to exspensive!" and left the buffet. There were several bunk beds in the room, but I settled there alone, and although the guide from Dushanbe told me that the group would go to Osh at 6 a.m. and they had free space, I realized that I would not get up by 6 a.m. - and it was even not that I wanted to see Murghab, but that my head ached more and more - mountain sickness began.

The yurts outside the hotel are already closed, and in summer they are filled with kumis and shirchoy (boiled tea with milk, butter, salt and spices). In mid-September, summer was already over here. With a sore head and a feeling of brokenness, in the early morning I went out onto the porch of the hotel, trying to figure out where I had got to:

Cold, piercing wind embraced by eternal snows, dazzling sun, like in films about the world after the atomic war; the almost complete absence of vegetation, rough clay houses, smoking dung haze over their roofs - it all looked piercing and gloomy:

Yes, the empty Pamir highway, on which there are much more pedestrians than cars:

They say that precisely because of its severity, which is not compatible with the life of a white man, the Pamirs never became a British colony: the British penetrated here half a century earlier than the Russians, but did not set up posts and garrisons in the highlands. With the fall of Kokand in 1876, the Pamir mountain principalities, all of these familiar from the past, or, lost, albeit a purely nominal, but still a patron, and the neighbors became interested in them. About all the troubles of the then running around on the Roof of the World, well, I will retell them quite briefly. In fact, not without the help of the British, for almost 20 years the Pamirs were divided among themselves by the Afghans, who climbed the river valleys to Alichur itself, to the Yashilkul lake mentioned in the previous part, and the Chinese, who quietly passed on the deserted plateau, set up their posts there, obediently stumbling at the sight Russian detachments, and returning just as quietly, should have settled their dust. In 1891, the British delegation opened a consulate in Kashgar, but it was clear to Russian intelligence that the British were preparing the ground for the official division of the Pamirs between Afghanistan and China. In the summer of 1892, Colonel Mikhail Ionov, having risen from Fergana, defeated the Afghans near Yashilkul, and returning back to Fergana, left a small detachment for the winter in a mountain tract with the Chinese name Shajan. The wintering was successful, and a year later, the Cossacks and soldiers under the leadership of the military engineer Andriyan Serebryakov began the construction of the Pamir post - this is how the Russians settled on the Roof of the World, and according to the recollections of the Swedish traveler Sven Gedin, the Pamir post resembled a lonely ship surrounded by an alien element. The names Pamir post and Shadjan appeared in parallel, and only recently the expedition found that this is not the same thing: the Pamir post was located on the site of the Koni-Kurgan village, 8 kilometers from Murghab, later the center of the Pamir border detachment moved to de jure Bukhara Khorog , well, the name Shajan was last mentioned in documents for 1911, giving way to the Persian Murghab. The tsarist border detachment was replaced by the Soviet, the Soviet - by the international (in fact, Russian), and only in 2004 - by the Tajik, but let's face it - further along the trail of the Russian presence in the Pamirs, much more remained than in Murghab, which grew in the 1930s-40s as a base Pamir tract and geological parties.

Kyrgyz and Pamirians live here approximately equally. The former simply settled in the settlement from the nomads in the surrounding steppes, the latter came in Soviet times as officials and appointees. On the road east of the hotel there is a monument to Tajik-Kyrgyz friendship:

To the west, a red star is shining over Murghab, perhaps on the grave of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the civil war, and the cemetery itself, quite possibly, appeared even during the border guard detachment:

Near the tract there is a memorial of the Great Patriotic War, although looking at the bas-reliefs, I would rather think of Manas:

The memorial stands between the border guard detachment, that is, the military unit on the site of that very Shadzhan wintering, and the administration building. The Murghab region with an area of ​​38 thousand square kilometers occupies the entire Eastern Pamir, more than half of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, and significantly exceeds any of the western regions of Tajikistan. At the same time, 14 thousand people live here (and they are mainly in Murghab and the surrounding area), that is, the desertion of the Eastern Pamirs is quite polar.
Below the administration ("akimiyat" should I call it here, by the way, or is it still "hukumat"?) - as it should be, Ilyich. On the squares, I saw them in Tajikistan only three times - here, in the hydropower and nuclear, and one more somewhere in the backyards of Khorog. But Murghab Ilyich is the most tidy, freshly whitewashed:

Ilyich looks at the pedestrian boulevard parallel to the Pamir Highway, and in some places there are even trees on this boulevard, already completely yellow in mid-September. I saw them the same way somewhere near Vorkuta, but winters here are no better than those in Vorkuta: -40 - in the order of things, -53 - as a record, and all this with winds and almost no snow. They say that responsible people know every tree here by sight and literally take care of it like a child.

On the boulevard there are squat public buildings dating back to the construction of the Pamir Highway and another military obelisk:

A "ladder" of several huge steps is located not only monuments, but the city itself. The panoramas of Murghab are gloomy:

However, Murghab evokes no less associations than with the Far North with other dreary ones. The Far Top is worse than the Far North in that it is only cold in the North, but at least fill up with water and at least overeat berries, mushrooms, fish and game. Here is a waterless salty desert, and the Murghab wells are striking in their capital - it seems as if they go to incredible depth, to the very roots of the Pamirs:

Alleyways between blank walls and fences:

Old cars in fair condition:

In general, Murghab is large, from end to end, and with a general feeling of altitude sickness, I would not walk it. The status of the city is still conditional, and Murghab gives the impression of a small town rather than a large village. Below is the floodplain of the Murghab River (not to be confused with the namesake in Turkmenistan!) With a lonely mosque in the middle of the pastures:

Mosques in Murghab are quite visible, especially after the Pamirs, where the Ismailis did not build mosques. There is probably an Ismaili jamaatkhana here, but there is no Russian church for sure, and there are only a few Russians themselves at best.

Here I was most surprised by the flag - where did the blue stripe come from? Does this mean something, or has it just faded to blue under the "nuclear" sun?

Of course, you cannot avoid the bazaar itself with many shops arranged right in containers:

And a couple of old pavilions in the form of yurts:

I found them empty, but clearly not abandoned:

There are also a couple of canteens in the bazaar that are unpresentable, but quite decent in terms of food quality. You can buy samsa and manti with yak meat in them. In summer it is sold "in real time" in those very yurts near the hotel, but in winter (that is, in mid-September) it is cooked only to order. Let's face it, the Alichur pilaf with fried yak meat turned out to be much tastier, but here, in manti and in samsa, yak meat was unbearably fatty.

And in the store, vodka is sold in glasses, and there is a demand for it ... In general, walking around Murghab in the evening is not very comfortable, especially closer to the highway:

According to my impressions, the arod here is much more severe and gloomy compared to the valleys. The inhabitants of the highlands smile little, they have weathered faces like soldiers. Many people here greet foreigners passing by, but they are not very willing to make further contact:

Strange junkie. I saw the same one in Dushanbe and was sure that it was homemade.

I don’t know how it happened, but the men in my photos are mostly Pamiri, and the women, children and old people are mostly Kyrgyz:

The most characteristic attribute of the Kyrgyz is the felt cap:

In the morning in the east, over the border Sarykol ridge, I saw thick white clouds:

And only by noon he realized that these clouds did not change outlines:

And when I realized that these were not clouds, but mountains, a frost went through my skin from the sensation of their height. This is the Kashgar ridge, or Kongurmuztag, separated by deep valleys from the Pamir and Kunlun. As a result, it is sometimes referred to the first, then to the second, sometimes it is altogether isolated into a separate highland, small - but terribly high: in a row there are three seven-thousandth peaks Kongur (7649m or even 7719m), Muztag-Ata (7546) and Kongurtube ( 7530m). It seems that it is in this order, from left to right, that they are visible here, and it is Muztag-Ata, in translation the Father of the Ice Mountains, which dominates over Murghab, which is a gentle snow-covered dome.

And if this is the Pamir, then from Murghab its highest point is visible - all three seven-thousanders of the Kongurmuztag are higher than any of the three seven-thousanders of the Tajik Pamir. If this is Kunlun, then it turns out that it is possible to see it from the post-Soviet countries. The Kunlun is just above the Pamirs, but just below the Hindu Kush, and the Pamir, which was considered a hundred years ago the highest mountains of the planet, is actually somewhere in the middle of the first ten: above it (with or without Kongur) the Himalayas, Karakorum, Hindu Kush, Kunlun and Sichuan Mountains. Well, if the Kashgar ridge is neither one nor the other, then in any case, behind it is Kashagriya, the terrible Takla-Makan desert, the name of which means "if you leave, you won't return", and the Tarim River, which forms a delta right in the middle of the desert, and all those mysterious Gerais and Tanguts, Tsaidam and Turfan, familiar from Przewalski's travel notes ...
From Murghab to the north along the Pamir Highway, it is not Afghanistan that breathes into the right side, but China.

After wandering around Murghab for two hours, I decided to leave for Osh. But when I got to the nickle at the bazaar, I learned that all the cars had already left, the next ones would go tomorrow. Murghab-Osh is the most remote section of the entire mountain road from Dushanbe to Bishkek, and in fact, a couple of cars pass through it in the morning to Osh and a couple of cars in the evening from Osh. Departing in the morning, the passengers of the car are recruited on the previous day, that is, I could only leave the next day.

I didn't want to sit in Murghab for an extra day, so I wandered off to the exit from the village:

Trucks often passed me, but they all turned to the right: since 2004, the real Pamir Highway has not been Dushanbe-Osh, but Dushanbe-Kashgar through the Kulma Pass (4362m), and trucks with hieroglyphs and chubby Chinese driving are a familiar part of the Murghab landscape ...

But the cars all went to the Murghab settlements, and after standing for two hours and freezing in the wind, I waved my hand. They say that you can still stand a passing car here ... but my friend, for example, waited like this for 7 hours. Returning to the "penny", among the jeeps, I saw white people and heard Russian speech, and immediately got into the conversation. Four tourists, like me, were looking for a car to Osh - a couple of Germans from Dresden and a couple of Ukrainians from Lvov, who, however, spoke Russian very clearly, although as I learned later, the Russian language was useful to them here for the first time in their lives. Drivers to Osh charge 1000 somoni (7500 rubles) for a car, and of course the fifth travel companion for tourists was not superfluous. The Germans were called Simeon and Sabrina, the Ukrainians were called Arsen and Natasha, and I spent the next three days with them. They were going to go to Osh with a stop for the night at the high-mountainous Karakul Lake, and I liked this idea. The car left in the morning, and we went to spend the night in a small guesthouse where the shower was heated by the sun, and when I was offered to pay 20 somoni for washing five things, I realized that they would wash it by hand - both water and electricity are expensive in Murghab .. .. The owner of the guesthouse was a colorful, beardless old man who did not look like either a Pamiri or a Kirghiz - maybe a half-breed? He enthusiastically told me about China, which is changing Tajikistan literally before our eyes, and about the fact that “the Soviet government did nothing for Tajiks”: “There are mines here in the mountains. the Chinese just came and started mining! "

I spoke with the Germans in broken English, with the Ukrainians - in Russian, and the five of us - this way and that way. Simeon and Sabrina made (and, it seems, even made since then) a trip around the world, Arsen and Natasha went through the Caucasus and Iran to Kyrgyzstan, from where they were going to fly by plane to India. The Germans asked me about my travels, I showed them photographs from the Far North on my laptop, so in the end Sabrina said with delight to Simeon: "Next time we are going to Russia!" With no less interest, they listened to me about Donbass and Crimea, and agreed that we must respect someone else's point of view. Conversations with Ukrainians did not go well, but I don’t know whether it was a matter of nationality or not. Most of all, I was impressed by the reaction of the Galicians to my coaming out about visiting ORDilO (as it is called there): complete indifference, no aggression, no interest, as if we were not talking about their country at all. And yet the restrained tension was felt:
-And I already dream of going down to the plain and going along a normal road, and on the sides I will not have an abyss on the right and a wall on the left, but roadsides, fields ...
-Hmm ... It seems to me, living in Russia, it is difficult to scold the roads in other countries.
- Honestly, - I could not restrain myself, - I have not seen roads worse than yours in the Carpathian region.
-Make roads there since then!
In general, Lviv residents were extremely pleased with the changes in their native Galicia: roads are being made, tourists are pounding, festivals every week, in general, life has become better, life has become more fun ...

In the morning a jeep arrived, and having packed up samsa with yak meat, we headed for the Eastern Pamir Highway. First - after refueling, to the delight of the Germans - like this:

Kyrgyz cemetery at the exit from Murghab:

Yes, an old, still Soviet pointer against the background of customs and beckoning China over the mountain:

In the next part, we will continue our journey through the High Pamir - through the Akbaital pass to the Karakul Lake, at a 4-kilometer height.

45.
TAJIKISTAN-2016

Murghab is a village lost among the mountains in the Eastern Pamirs and our final overnight stay on the route along the Pamir Highway before descending to Kyrgyzstan. This is one of the most remote corners of Tajikistan - almost 1000 kilometers from Dushanbe, 225 - from the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan Khorog. Murghab is located in the valley of the river of the same name between the mountains at an altitude of 3612 meters above sea level - it is the highest regional center in the post-Soviet space. The climate here is harsh - in winter up to minus fifty, and in summer - up to plus forty. In early May, when we were here, the weather contrasts are also very significant - during the day it is warm in summer, and at night, severe frosts come to the high-mountain valley, penetrating to the bones even in warm clothes. And the smoke of dozens of wood-burning stoves swirls under the huge Pamir stars, filling the air with a pleasant aroma.

1. First, let's look at the village from above ... The population of Murghab today is about six thousand people.

2. The development of a remote district center is low-rise - mainly the private sector, with small intersperses of two-three-story houses ...

3. Murghab is located surrounded by mountains in a flat valley at the confluence of the Murgab and Ak-Baital rivers (flowing down from the highest pass of the Pamir tract, which we will overcome tomorrow).

4. It is impossible to get here by public transport - you can go to Khorog and Dushanbe by passing jeeps along the Pamir highway, which depart from Murghab several times a week. SUVs run periodically to Kyrgyzstan. In winter, transport is even more difficult - in a red-hot thirty-degree frost, waiting for a passing car, you can get stuck here for several days, or even weeks. There is an airport in the valley in the vicinity of the village, but today it only accepts rare military helicopters.

5. A squat mosque among low adobe buildings.

6. The Murghab river and the bridge over which the road passes. Two routes meet in Murghab - the main Pamir highway from Khorog to Kyrgyz Osh and its important branch to the Kulma pass and further to China. However, today the branch to China is of much greater importance than the historically main highway to Osh - it is the only highway that directly connects Tajikistan and the Celestial Empire; dozens of Tajik trucks go along it to China, providing the country with Chinese goods (we saw them in large quantities on the route ). While very few cars go to Kyrgyzstan from here on.

7. A Soviet military unit operated in Murghab for many years. Until the early 2000s, the Russian military was stationed here. Today they are gone, a small Tajik military contingent is in their place, and most of the barracks are abandoned.

10. It is not far from Murghab to the border with Kyrgyzstan. The population of the village is approximately equal in number between Tajiks and Kyrgyz. As I already wrote, Tajiks and Kyrgyz speak Russian among themselves. In the village, despite its remoteness, there are a lot of children.

12. In Murghab, the road to China leaves the highway, and the Main Pamir Highway, along which we follow, leads further to Kyrgyzstan. Sarytash is the first Kyrgyz settlement after the border. And from here to Osh - 417 kilometers. We will overcome this entire segment (including crossing the state border) tomorrow.

13. And again the cheerful carefree children of the Pamirs. :))

17. Monument to those who fell in the Great Patriotic War.

20. Once upon a time the Eternal Flame burned here. Now it is not burning - but in general, the monuments of the Second World War both in Tajikistan and in Kyrgyzstan are quite well-groomed.

22. The village of Murghab has not changed much since Soviet times - all the same houses, chaotic clay buildings, fences, wooden lampposts ... Maybe only a little dilapidated in some places ...

24. And here, as elsewhere in the Central Asian outback, there is just a wonderful retro-park of Soviet cars. :))

28. The central street of Murghab still bears the name of Lenin.

29. Lenin Street - a local "boulevard".

30. On which the facades of whitish houses go out in an even system.

31. Rare "Muscovites" and "Zhigulyonki" ride along the boulevard, and the boys are dashing about on bicycles.

33. One of the state institutions on Lenin Street.

34. And here Ilyich himself is still in place, as it was many years ago.

35. At the end of Lenin Street there is another monument of the Second World War, with the image of the Stalingrad Motherland.

37. And this is a Tajik family.

38. Many people on the street have their faces covered with handkerchiefs. The wind carries a lot of dust and sand ...

39. A couple more photos of the streets of the village.