9th company where the events take place. “9th Company”: How it was in life. from the 9th Airborne Company

Operation "Highway"

A special place in Operation Magistral was given to the destruction of the Saran base area. The main role in its capture was played by the 345th Guards Separate Order of Suvorov, the Red Banner, named after the 70th anniversary of the Lenin Komsomol parachute regiment (date of formation 12/30/1944), under the command of Hero Soviet Union, Guard Lieutenant Colonel Valery Vostrotin.

Valery Alexandrovich Vostrotin

The 9th company of this regiment, on January 7, 1988, took the battle at a height of 3234, which went down in our history as an unprecedented feat of Soviet soldiers who heroically fulfilled their military duty.

The purpose of the operation was to defeat enemy deployment areas and create conditions for the unimpeded delivery of civilian and military cargo from Gardez to Khost.

Along with the military, this operation also pursued political goals: disruption of the plans of the opposition leadership to secede the Khost district from the Republic of Afghanistan and locate their “government” on its territory.

In addition, it was planned to dispel the myth of the supposed invincibility of the Pashtun Jadran tribe, which blocked this road.

During the operation, air strikes and artillery fire defeated armed opposition units, and motorized rifle units (108th Motorized Rifle Division and 191st Motorized Infantry Regiment) captured the pre-pass area. A decisive contribution to the success of the operation was made by the paratroopers of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division of Pavel Grachev, who captured the Satekundav Pass, called by Western media “an impregnable bastion on which the Russians would break their teeth.”

The route was blocked and the convoy of columns from Gardez to Khost was ensured. In the province of Paktia, the main forces of the Mujahideen and their bases were defeated, a large number of ammunition and military equipment.

This is how I. Pecherskikh described those events:

In December 1987 - January 1988, a major army operation "Magistral" was carried out in Afghanistan to relieve the city of Khost, the administrative center of the province of the same name, which had been surrounded by enemies for eight years.

The operation was personally led by the commander of the 40th Army, Boris Gromov.

Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov

In December, our 345th separate parachute landing regiment under the command of V. Vostrotin received the task of destroying the enemy in the base area of Saran, near the border with Pakistan, gaining a foothold on commanding heights and preventing the “spirits” from breaking through in the direction of the Gardez-Khost road, establishing control over which was the main objective of Operation Magistral. Our 3rd battalion, which included the 8th and 9th parachute companies under the command of Guard Major Nikolai Ivonik, fought on the right flank of the regiment in close proximity to the border. As part of the 3rd battalion, we took 85-90 people into the mountains. The enemy immediately began to put up fierce resistance. Almost all advantageous heights in the combat area were occupied by “spirits” and captured in battle.

At the end of December, under New Year, the battalion almost reached the task, the 8th company occupied three of its heights and consolidated on them, the 9th company and the battalion control reached the approaches to heights 3234, 3228. These two heights, from which the entire Gardez-Khost road was clearly visible over 20-30 kilometers and increasingly lower heights, which were already occupied by our troops. From these heights, the enemy adjusted his artillery fire across almost the entire army group.

On December 27, the reconnaissance platoon of the battalion of senior lieutenant Alexei Smirnov, under cover of fire from the 9th company, captured height 3228.

Art. Lieutenant A. Smirnov

Height 3234 remained. The first assault ended unsuccessfully. The platoon of Guard Senior Lieutenant Viktor Gagarin found itself in a fire bag. Gagarin remained to cover the retreat of his platoon and did not manage to retreat in time himself. To be honest, I thought he was killed, although literally an hour later he made himself known via radio communication. At this time, another platoon of the 9th company was brought up to the platoon’s position, and with the onset of darkness, during the assault after artillery preparation, the height was captured. Another platoon of the 9th company arrived at height 3234. Regimental commander V. Vostrotin approved my decision to concentrate all three platoons of the 9th parachute company in the area of this height, since it was strategically important.

On December 29, the first columns set out on the road to Khost. That day, with the onset of sunset, the “spirits” began a massive shelling from the direction of the setting sun from small arms across all positions of the battalion and the entire regiment. Such evening attacks continued until Christmas. On January 7, as we are already accustomed to, at sunset the enemy began massive artillery, rocket, cannon and mortar fire at heights 3234 and 3228 simultaneously.

At the same time, the “spirits” from three directions began an assault on height 3234. In parallel with these actions, the enemy increased fire on the positions of the 1st battalion of the regiment, so it was not clear in which direction the enemy’s main attack would be. The first to die at the height was Guard Corporal Andrei Fedotov from the group of Guard artillery spotter Senior Lieutenant Ivan Babenko. Then the machine gunner - Aleksandrov. It was Slava Aleksandrov who first opened fire on the advancing enemy, allowing the units to take up firing positions.

The first attack of the “spirits” was repulsed. But during the night, 12 more attacks followed at altitude 3234. The regiment commander again approved my decision to remove two platoons of the 8th company from their position and pull them up to height 3234. The same task, to advance to height 3234, was assigned to A. Smirnov’s battalion reconnaissance platoon. The option of retreating from the heights was immediately ruled out, since it was impossible to evacuate the wounded and dead: in order to carry out one wounded or dead man, 4-6 healthy soldiers are needed. We simply could not physically carry everyone away. During the battle, all platoons of the 9th company were concentrated on the southeastern part of Hill 3234. There was also an artillery adjustment group there. All enemy attacks began with massive artillery and mortar shelling with further transfer of fire deeper into the defense. The enemy very cleverly used his full advantage in heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles and grenade launchers.

According to various estimates, in each of the twelve attacks, from 200 to 400 Mujahideen took part, dressed in black uniforms with rectangular black, yellow and red stripes on the sleeves. Each time they suffered huge losses, rolled back and started again. There was a moment when the acting commander of the 9th company, a calm and very self-possessed officer Sergei Tkachev, cursed directly on the air: “There are so many of them here! There are more and more of them!”

Based on the build-up of enemy forces, it was clear that reserves were approaching the “spirits”. All the artillery units of the regiment and army group assigned to me during the battle began to work along all the expected routes of their advance, places of enemy concentration and collection of their wounded. Guard artillery spotter Senior Lieutenant I. Babenko directed the fire. At the same time, Ivan calmly and calmly aimed artillery from a distance of 7-10 kilometers and placed shells 20-30 meters away from himself... Without exaggeration, I will say that this officer saved the situation several times. More than a dozen soldiers and officers owe their lives to him.

From the first attack of the “spirits” we got the impression that regular troops were fighting us: the very competent use of artillery and the organization of the assault spoke for themselves. This was confirmed later. The paratroopers repelled attacks by the Pakistani commando regiment Chinhatwal. Enemy artillery also operated mainly from Pakistani territory. The enemy, in addition, used helicopters to transport reserves and evacuate the wounded. To hunt for their helicopter pilots, a few days later the regiment commander sent me a crew of anti-aircraft gunners with two Igla MANPADS.

During the battle, the regiment commander was constantly in the company-battalion radio network. To ensure stable radio communications, the army commander, General B. Gromov (who personally controlled the radio networks in which we worked), raised a repeater aircraft to the altitude area. The critical moment of the battle came at night, when the paratroopers had literally one magazine of ammunition left. But, fortunately, the situation was saved by the arrival of A. Smirnov’s reconnaissance platoon, who, having walked at night with 15 paratroopers with a full load of ammunition for about 3 kilometers through the mountains, reached a height of 3234. After this, the enemy launched the last attacks, but with the goal of collecting their corpses.

The outcome of the battle was decided. The enemy began to retreat. I. Babenko worked along his retreat routes, adjusting the fire of almost the entire artillery of the army group. In total, in the battle at height 3234, out of 39 paratroopers, 6 people were killed and 9 were seriously wounded. Three wounded refused to evacuate. Only three days later they were taken down - their wounds began to fester.

In general, Operation Magistral was carried out extremely successfully and efficiently. A convoy of vehicles carrying food and basic necessities was transported to the city of Khost, which had been under blockade for many years. The main armed detachments and bases of the Mujahideen in this area were defeated, a huge amount of weapons, ammunition and military equipment was captured and destroyed, including 19 MANPADS, 167 mortars and recoilless rifles, 156 heavy machine guns and other weapons. In 218 warehouses, 25,730 rockets, 12,012 engineering mines and land mines, and several million pieces of various ammunition were captured.

In the combat area, 1,576 mines and land mines were removed and neutralized. The enemy also suffered heavy losses in manpower. In Soviet units, in total, 20 soldiers were killed and 68 soldiers were wounded. The success of Operation Magistral also had great moral and psychological significance. The defeat of the Mujahideen significantly undermined the authority of their armed forces in the eyes of the population of Paktia, the Khost district and all of Afghanistan and led to a decrease in the morale of ordinary members of the opposition groups. Young, 18-20-year-old soldiers of the 9th company, tightly clinging to bare rocks, covered themselves with unfading glory, repelling attacks from many times superior enemy forces. Moreover, the attacks are not “spirits”, but the best commando regiment of the Pakistani army - “Chinhatwal” (“Black Storks”).

Airborne Forces in Once again They confirmed their motto with deeds: “Nobody but us!”

Ninth Company: everything was wrong...

Anyone who watched Fyodor Bondarchuk’s sensational film “9th Company” several years ago probably remembered its dramatic ending: while repelling the attacks of dushmans, a company of paratroopers dies in an unequal battle without receiving reinforcements.

And then the colonel, who arrived on a guard helicopter, bewilderedly asks the only surviving soldier what happened to the connection... A participant in those events, Alexey Smirnov, claims: everything shown in the film “based on real events,” by a famous director, is very far from reality. And he has such a right. On January 6, 1988, it was the reconnaissance platoon of the Guard, Senior Lieutenant Smirnov, who came to the aid of the 9th Company of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment, which had spent ammunition, and had taken the battle at an altitude of 3234....Report on admission to the Ryazan Airborne School of private training division A. Smirnov wrote immediately after the oath. And then, when the country learned about the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, a limited continent, he submitted a second request, asking to be sent to the combat zone after training. Then the first report was put into action, and Smirnov ended up “across the river” after college - as the commander of a reconnaissance platoon of the parachute battalion of the 345th regiment. The first unforgettable impression after arriving in Afghanistan was the prank played on him by the soldiers. Offering the new platoon commander to help prepare for the first combat exit, the scouts equipped the “unfired” officer with such a backpack that he announced a halt after only 300 m of the mountain crossing. The officers who guessed what was going on came to the rescue. Approaching the newcomer, who was clearly tired ahead of time, they smiled and lightened his backpack with eight grenades, four packs of 120 rounds of ammunition and three dry rations. Walking immediately became easier. Smirnov did not punish anyone for this joke, nor did he take offense. But, having quickly grasped how relationships between commanders and subordinates are built in war, within a month he gained genuine authority among his soldiers. A few combat outings were enough for the scouts to understand that their lieutenant was a real pro. And after another successful operation, the entire platoon personnel were presented with orders and medals.

Paratroopers were dropped into the mountainous province of Paghman by helicopter.

And so it began... First, a hellish climb to a snow-covered pass 4 thousand meters above sea level and an overnight stay in the snow, and in the morning - a descent down and reconnaissance search operations in a village “cut” by the battalion commander. After completing the task, we again climb the mountains and occupy another dominant height. And here, having climbed the hill before the parachute units and received instructions from the battalion commander to wait for the others, Smirnov suspected something was wrong. Having sacrificed a halt, the officer decided to check the neighboring height. And he was not mistaken: the scouts discovered an empty stronghold of the “spirits.” Judging by the freshly boiled potatoes and still hot tea found in the dugout, it was not difficult to guess that at the time of their rise, only the duty shift of several Mujahideen was in position. Had the dushmans managed to call for reinforcements, the parachute company would have been unable to avoid serious losses: from the positions occupied by Smirnov, the height to which the paratroopers rose was well under fire. The trophies collected in the “Duhovsky” stronghold were also impressive: an anti-aircraft gun, machine guns, dozens of zincs with ammunition, German binoculars from the Second World War, a bunch of sleeping bags... But one trophy was of particular value: an American-made portable anti-aircraft missile system, which had been in possession for several months Our scouts were hunting all over Afghanistan. The same “Stinger” for which the regiment commander promised to give a “Hero”.

Dushman with “Stinger”

However, due to his short time in the war, Smirnov was nominated for the Order of the Red Star. “This is the order,” the battalion commander consoled the senior leader. “If you had stayed here not a month, but at least three, you would definitely have become a Hero of the Soviet Union.” By the way, the order received for the Stinger was not only the first, but also the most expensive award for the paratrooper. And the next day after receiving it, the large-scale operation “Magistral” began, during which Smirnov, who at that time had already fought in Afghanistan for six months, had the opportunity to fight together with the 9th company of their regiment at the previously mentioned height.

At the end of November 1987, the 345th regiment was transferred to Gardez with the task of knocking out the “spirits” from the dominant heights around the city of Khost. In the twentieth of December, the guard unit of Senior Lieutenant Smirnov occupied height 3234 without a fight, transferring it to the parachute platoon of the 9th company. Then for several days the scouts carried out other combat missions: they occupied new heights and participated in clearing out a nearby village. Until January 6, 1989, a battle broke out for that same height 3234. Having fired at the hill with mortars and recoilless rifles, the dushmans tried to take it on foot. But the landing party fought to the death. When the first “200th” appeared in the 9th company, the battalion commander ordered Smirnov to rise to a height to carry the deceased Andrei Fedotov from the battlefield. But just a few minutes later he changed his mind, ordering Smirnov to take as much ammunition as possible and, having reached the next high-rise building, wait for his further commands.

Meanwhile, the acting platoon was pulled up to the defending platoon. commander of the 9th company with another platoon. However, it became increasingly difficult to resist the growing attacks of the “spirits”. Acting with his fifteen reconnaissance officers as a nearby reserve for the already almost surrounded 9th company, Smirnov saw how the Mujahideen were more and more furiously attacking, how the snow-covered hill was turning black from explosions and powder gases. At the same time, the battalion commander stubbornly kept him in reserve, thinking that the dushmans might try to bypass the company from his side. From several hundred meters that separated Smirnov and the fighting 9th company, he clearly heard the enemies shouting: “Moscow, surrender!” And when, late in the evening, reports from soldiers to the company commander about running out of cartridges began to be heard from the battlefield, Smirnov radioed the battalion commander that they could not wait any longer. Having received the go-ahead, the scouts rushed to the rescue of the company. As a result, Smirnov’s 15 fighters and the ammunition they delivered did their job: after several hours of night fighting, the militants retreated. When dawn broke, there were a lot of abandoned weapons lying on the approaches to the established heights, and the snow was full of bloody spots...

Well, a week later, at the ill-fated height 3234, Smirnov himself, who remained there with a reconnaissance platoon after the departure of the 9th company, almost died. The harassing mortar fire, which the “spirits” kept opening on the hill, did not at first cause much damage to the paratroopers: the fragments could not fly into the trenches or into the tents sunk into the ground. But one day the incredible happened. When officers who came from neighboring heights were celebrating the birthday of the Komsomol organizer of the battalion, Vladimir Alekseev, in Alexei’s tent, one of the “spiritual” mines exploded next to the tent. When everyone poured out to look at the crater, the second mine hit right on the tent. No one died just by some lucky chance.

...Over the subsequent years of service in the life of Alexei Smirnov there will be many more hot spots and other difficult trials. But Afghanistan, where he received his first combat experience, from where he returned with the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star, and in which he lost his best friend - Guard Captain Oleg Yurasov, the paratrooper officer will always consider his most important war. This is probably why Alexey Smirnov, like thousands of other “Afghans,” was so disappointed by a blockbuster that had nothing to do with real events.

Participants in Operation Magistral

from the 9th Airborne Company

345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment

Officers and warrant officers:

Guard Senior Lieutenant Sergei Tkachev - (acting commander) deputy commander of the 9th PDR;

Guard Senior Lieutenant Matruk Vitaly - deputy commander of the 9th PDR for political affairs;

Guard Senior Lieutenant Gagarin Viktor - commander of the 1st platoon;

Guard Senior Lieutenant Sergei Rozhkov - commander of the 2nd platoon;

Guard senior lieutenant Babenko Ivan - artillery spotter;

Guard ensign Kozlov Vasily - company sergeant-major.

Guard sergeants and privates:

Akulin Sergey; Alexandrov Vyacheslav - died;

Bobko Sergey; Borisov Sergey; Borisov Vladimir;

Verigin Vladimir; Demin Andrey; Rustam Karimov;

Kopyrin Arkady; Krishtopenko Vladimir - died;

Kuznetsov Anatoly - died; Kuznetsov Andrey;

Korovin Sergey; Lasch Sergey; Melnikov Andrey - died;

Menteshashvili Zurab; Muradov Nurmatjon;

Medvedev Andrey; Ognev Nikolay; Obyedkov Sergey;

Peredelsky Victor; Puzhaev Sergey; Salamakha Yuri;

Safronov Yuri; Sukhoguzov Nikolay; Tikhonenko Igor;

Trutnev Pavel; Fedotov Andrey - died; Fedorenko Oleg;

Fadin Nikolay; Tsvetkov Andrey - died; Shchigolev Vladimir;

Yatsuk Evgeniy.

In total, 39 people took part in the battle, six were killed, twenty-eight were injured, nine of them seriously.

All paratroopers for this battle were awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Red Star, Guard Junior Sergeant V.A. Alexandrov and Guard Private A.A. Melnikov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Vyacheslav Alexandrovich Alexandrov Andrey Alexandrovich Melnikov

awarding orders to paratroopers of the 9th company

They shared life before the war, war, but will there be life after the war? And which of them will have it after the war...
This was still the time when people could join the Army just to avoid going to prison; in the military registration and enlistment offices they tried to find “shelter”, fleeing, for example, from unwanted trips to the registry office, and even “running away” from debt obligations. That is, those who were considered unreliable by the then authorities were put into penal companies. They were sent to Afghanistan.

The debut in Fyodor Bondarchuk’s directorial career was the feature war film “9th Company,” released in two thousand and five. It tells about the war in Afghanistan in the late eighties, when soldiers, still powerful, but already approaching the end of their life path, the superpowers of the USSR, for nine years, submitting to the highest interests of their homeland, gave their lives on foreign territory, one might even say - in a completely different, Muslim world. This war was the last major military action carried out by the USSR, and had the character of seizing new territories. The goal was simple and at the same time important both strategically and economically. The capture of Afghanistan guaranteed a secure border from the south, plus control over territory, which for hundreds of years has been the object of close attention of other countries - potential adversaries.

The action of the film concentrates on a small group of “conscripts”: Sparrow (Alexey Chadov), Chugun (Ivan Kokorin), Stas (Artem Mikhailov), Gioconda (Konstantin Kryukov), Ryab (Mikhail Evlanov) and Lyut (Arthur Smolyaninov), who “ I was lucky enough to get into a company heading straight to the trenches of Afghanistan after “training.” They had a slight advantage - unlike most conscripts, who studied only the standard “young fighter course”, the ninth company spent three months preparing for combat and the realities of war. However, the guys had nothing to be happy about. Their “training” was carried out by a real monster, and a shell-shocked one at that - senior warrant officer Dygalo. But behind all his atrocities and frequent breakdowns lies only one thing - the desire to protect his charges, to give them everything he knows, skills that will allow them to survive and not become a target in the first days. The film is hardly worth laying claim to historical reality - since in order to create greater drama and convey his own views and ideology, director Fyodor Bondarchuk used facts and figures quite freely. If you watch it without bias, and specifically as a drama, the film is undoubtedly a success, and certainly as a debut.

The author of the original script was Yuri Korotkov, and it should be noted that he coped with his task. Even such a standard set of characters - essentially simple and understandable already in the first minutes - does not spoil the picture at all, but only makes you feel interested in it, immediately highlight your “favorites”, and worry. The dialogues deserve special praise - they are real, not “wooden”, which is very rare in cinema. After all, what on paper pleases the eye and mind, when you try to reproduce it out loud, it simply drives you into a stupor with insincerity and pretense. Korotkov's dialogues do not suffer from this, and even a small number of swear words are inserted exactly where necessary, and in exactly the quantity that is required. Don't find fault. It is worth noting here that Yuri Korotkov took real facts and events of that time as a basis. The ninth company of the 345th separate airborne regiment, or as it was called “nine”, in fact became almost legendary and not the most famous army unit during the entire war. The actors, for their part, also made every effort - even before filming, their main cast met with veterans Afghan war, to collect information. Some of them became prototypes of real people.

Filming of “9th Company” began at the end of May two thousand and four and ended on October twelfth. In total, all the movements of the film crew took one hundred and fifty days, of which one hundred and eleven were spent exclusively filming. In addition to the group and main actors, totaling one and a half hundred people, more than two thousand extras were involved in the filming. Three quarters of them are military personnel of various units and troops.
The geography of filming is also impressive in its scope - four countries: Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Finland. About two dozen objects from these countries were involved, including such famous ones as Old Crimea, Row Rocks, the city of Saki, Balaklava, and Angarsk Pass. It is worth noting that the film crew was actively helped and provided with all kinds of support on the ground, by the highest departments - from defense ministers to the presidents themselves.
The film's budget was nine and a half million dollars - and those who blame the creators for the exorbitantly “inflated” budget and talk about “cuts” are apparently not familiar with what the film crew had to face. All military equipment - from cars to helicopters - was provided by the army. In this regard, the production designers had to completely repaint it in accordance with the colors of the equipment of those times. Yellow and blue are also added here, matching the color of the flag - educational campuses and barracks. For these purposes, the entire supply of acrylic paint in Simferopol was purchased - and this is approximately 1 ton of paint. Too much? But we should not forget that then it was necessary to give all the equipment and buildings their original appearance again - that is, repaint them again. Also, four carriages of all kinds of props were brought for filming, to which were added clothes for the Mujahideen purchased in Afghanistan itself, and about three hundred costumes.

The most expensive scene was the spectacular explosion and crash of the plane. It took more than two weeks to prepare and spent half a million dollars, including post-processing. And the most complex and labor-intensive in technical and resource terms is, of course, the scene of the explosion of the “Afghan” village, which occupied an area of two hectares. It took the team four months to rebuild it, using the classical method - from clay. Until filming began, this object became a favorite place among tourists from the area, because it was very close to the popular resort village of Koktebel. When the final and most important stage came, for which all this was done - blowing up the village, the weather suddenly let us down, and the shooting was postponed. The village was already filled to capacity with explosives (nine tons), and the military organized enhanced security for the dangerous decoration. The next day, as soon as a special person looked and gave a sign that there would soon be a break in the clouds, the village was blown up.
Another incident occurred during the filming of the “Shelling on Heights” scene when a fire broke out. The fire began to spread so quickly that it was decided to call the firefighters. They arrived within minutes, admitting that they had already been informed about the fire, since “The whole of Crimea knows that the 9th Company is on fire!”

The creators were also haunted by oddities during the filming of scenes with helicopters. So, when two helicopters circled over the mountains in one of the quarries of the Old Crimea to make another take, a hang glider unexpectedly flew towards them. With great difficulty, the pilots managed to miss the extreme sportsman, who for a long time later told everyone that he took part in the filming of “9th Company.” Filming in Beketovo could have brought even bigger problems to Bondarchuk and his colleagues. As planned, the helicopters were supposed to fly very low from the direction of Phobos. By coincidence, it was on that day that a trilateral meeting of heads of state took place at the residence of the President of Ukraine. And if the Russian President had not left earlier, his security would probably have reacted more quickly, and it is unknown how this would have ended for the culprits and the future of the film. In this same case, everyone escaped with only a slight fright and a call from director Fyodor Bondarchuk for a “debriefing”.
The final spectacular and brutal battle was filmed in Crimea, in a place called Kuchuk-Yanyshar. In order to rebuild the position, three dozen KrAZ trucks with rubble and a dozen with facing stone were brought. Huge multi-ton blocks of stone were brought from the same quarry as the stones - Starokrymsky.

And one day they brought something smaller, but no less interesting. One of the prop selection assistants returned from Simferopol with a small puppy. The dog was immediately christened Mina, and within a couple of days she became the favorite of the entire film crew. Mina even had a small role in the film. After completing the work, the dog was taken to Moscow, and there the grown-up “actress” received a second role - in one of Alla Surikova’s films.
The director of photography did a lot of work on the film at the post-production stage. In those years, Russian film makers did not yet recognize digital cameras, and during the filming period about seventy kilometers of film were produced! It took Maxim Osadchy and his assistants more than half a thousand working hours to carry out the planned color correction to add shades.

The work with sound deserves special mention. Sound engineer Kirill Vasilenko, together with his group, recorded more than twenty hours of background sounds in army units - military equipment, all kinds of weapons. Several teams of specialists have already been involved in its installation. Plus, sounds, atmospheric noises, and dialogues were recorded or created in Moscow. Specialists from St. Petersburg and Australia were also involved. The coordination and final processing of the received material was carried out at the London studio “Pinewood Shepperton Studios”, the same one that worked on such films as “Black Hawk Down”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and all parts of the adventures of special agent 007 - James Bond. The debut of Fyodor Bondarchuk is the second film in the history of Russian cinema that has resorted to the services of this British studio. The first was the work of Fedor’s father, Sergei Bondarchuk, “Waterloo”, thirty-five years ago.

The film “9th Company” became the highest-grossing film at the box office in two thousand and five. Already in the first weekend, she managed to practically cover the budget, collecting about eight million dollars. In total, box office receipts amounted to twenty-five and a half million. It is the first film made in post-communist Russia to gross over twenty million.
The work of Fyodor Bondarchuk was awarded nominations and victories at many Russian festivals and awards, including: “Golden Eagle”, “MTV-Russia”, “Nika”. “9th Company” was also submitted from Russia to the Oscars in two thousand and six.

The script by Yuri Korotkov was based on real events. The 9th company of the 345th separate guards parachute regiment was perhaps the most legendary unit of the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Many called it a “penal company,” since it was mostly inveterate hooligans and former “troubled teenagers” who ended up there. But it was from “Nine” that came greatest number Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Once, during filming in the Starokrymsky quarry, two MI-24 helicopters circled over the mountains to film another take. At this time... a hang glider flew towards them. It was difficult to avoid a collision. After this incident, Fyodor Bondarchuk sent people to all the surrounding mountains to find the place from where the ill-fated hang glider made its flight. The launch site was never found. But the hang glider then for another six months proudly told everyone the story about how he participated in the filming of “9th Company.”
The role of Pogrebnyak (“Khokhla”) could have been played by Nikolai Fomenko and Vladimir Mashkov, but in the end neither one nor the other could take part in the filming. As a result, Fyodor Bondarchuk had to try on the “ensign” uniform for himself.

At the end of 1987, Soviet troops were already preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan. Active hostilities have already ended. But no one could have imagined that another battle would be fought, which would go down in the history of the Afghan war as the most cruel and bloody. This was a battle of the 9th Airborne Company at altitude 3234.

In December 1987, part of the government troops of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was blocked in the city of Khost, Paktia province, on the border with Pakistan. Afghan soldiers lost control of Khost and the Khost-Gardez road. The city and the road fell into the hands of the Mujahideen. To provide assistance, the military leadership of the USSR decided to conduct the military operation "Magistral".

The objective of Operation Magistral was to liberate the city of Khost. On December 30, 1987, the first Soviet supply columns appeared on the road to Khost. The peak of this confrontation was the battle in the area of height 3234, on January 7 and 8, 1988.

Why was the Khost-Gardez road important? The fact is that in this mountainous area this road was the only link between the city and the “mainland”, so the road was heavily guarded. The checkpoints set up were constantly fired upon and attacked by the Mujahideen.

How events unfolded: the first attack

Height 3234 is located in the southwest, a few kilometers from the middle of the Khost-Gardez road. The 9th Airborne Company of the 345th Regiment was sent to hold the defense. The head of the company was Sergei Tkachev, the composition was 39 people. The company carried out extensive preparatory work; in a short period of time they dug trenches, dugouts, and communication passages. They also mined areas where the Mujahideen could approach.

Early in the morning of January 7, the Mujahideen launched an attack on height 3234. They tried to knock down the checkpoint and open the way to the road. But the strong structures of the paratroopers did not allow them to immediately take the height. At 15:30, the Mujahideen made a second attempt to take the heights, using artillery fire, grenade launchers and mortars. Under the cover of fire, the Mujahideen were able to get another 200 meters from the company and launch an attack from two sides. And again the Mujahideen were driven back, although not for long: already at 16:30 they went into battle again, and used walkie-talkies for coordination. As a result, the Mujahideen lost about 15 people killed and about 30 people wounded - but were unable to capture the heights.

By this time, there were losses on the Soviet side as well. Junior sergeant Vyacheslav Alexandrov and his Utes heavy machine gun were killed. The Mujahideen concentrated their grenade launchers on him to remove the machine gun and junior sergeant. Sergeant Aleksandrov ordered the soldiers to retreat deeper into the defense, while he himself remained to cover the defense area.

Second, third and subsequent attacks

The Mujahideen attacked again at approximately 18:00. The 9th company continued to hold the defense. The Mujahideen attacked the area defended by the platoon of senior lieutenant Sergei Rozhkov. The heavy machine gun was again destroyed and replaced by regimental artillery. Again the Mujahideen were unable to occupy the heights. Private Anatoly Kuznetsov died during the attack.

The resistance of the 9th company infuriated the dushmans. At 19:10 they went on the attack again, using psychological methods– they marched at full height with machine guns, despite the losses of personnel. But this trick did not cause fear and panic among the soldiers, and again the attempt to take the height was unsuccessful.

The next attack began at 23:10, and was the most brutal. The command of the Mujahideen changed, and they carefully prepared for it. They cleared the minefield and approached the height, but this attempt was repulsed, and with even greater losses of the Mujahideen. The twelfth attack began on January 8, at 3 am. By this time, the Soviet fighters were tired, they were running out of ammunition, and they were preparing for a deadly end to the defense of height 3234. But at that time, a reconnaissance platoon led by Lieutenant Alexei Smirnov approached and pushed back the Mujahideen. The arriving platoon delivered ammunition in time, and the increased fire decided the outcome of the battle. The Dushmans were driven back. From that moment on, the battle at height 3234 was over.

Help 9th company

According to some reports, the Pakistani Armed Forces provided support to the Mujahideen. This is indicated by the fact that there were several helicopters 40 kilometers from altitude 3234. They delivered reinforcements and ammunition to Afghanistan, and took back the dead and wounded. The helipad was discovered by scouts and destroyed - this was another factor that influenced the outcome of the battle. The paratroopers were assisted by a D-3 howitzer artillery battery and three Akatsiya self-propelled vehicles. Boris Gromov, commander of the 40th Army, watched what was happening.

Results of the battle for height 3234

The battle for height 3234 was included in many textbooks as an example of competent tactical actions, preparatory work and courage of the personnel. 39 paratroopers fought against 200 Mujahideen for more than 12 hours, and never surrendered the heights to the enemy. Of the 39 people, 6 were killed, 28 were injured, 9 were seriously injured.

All paratroopers received military awards- Order of the Red Star and Red Banner of Battle. Commander Alexandrov and private Melnikov were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The opponents of the Soviet soldiers were Mujahideen in black uniforms with a black, red and yellow patch on their arms - the Black Stork detachment. This uniform was worn by Pakistani fighter-saboteurs, whose detachment was created in 1979 to counter Soviet troops in Afghanistan. It is believed that such uniforms are worn by people who have committed serious crimes according to Sharia - murder, theft, and sin can only be atone for with blood.

PARTICIPANTS IN THE BATTLE AT HEIGHT 3234

Alexandrov Vyacheslav Alexandrovich(01/04/1968, village Izobilnoye, Sol-Iletsk district, Orenburg region – 01/07/1988, Afghanistan)– Hero of the Soviet Union (Medal No. 11580, decree of the PVS of the USSR dated June 28, 1988), internationalist warrior, junior sergeant.

After school I went to study at the Kuibyshev River School. He was drafted into the army and served in airborne troops in Afghanistan. A fighter of the ninth company of a separate guards, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov parachute regiment, fulfilling his military duty, participated in thirteen military operations.

There is always a place for heroic deeds in life, but not everyone is able to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Only a person with a pure heart, impeccably high morality and a strong spirit can accomplish such a feat. This was V. Alexandrov. He died in battle at height “3234”: while covering the retreat of his comrades, he drew fire on himself. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to him posthumously on June 28, 1988.

School in the village Izobilny is named after V.A. Alexandrov, a bust was installed there. In the house where Vyacheslav lived, a museum has been opened, headed by his mother, Raisa Mikhailovna. In the city of Sol-Iletsk, one of the streets is named after him. There is also a bust installed in the Samara River College, where he studied. A dry cargo ship of the Volga Shipping Company was named in memory of V. Alexandrov.

By order of the Minister of Defense of December 26, 1988, he was forever included in the lists of personnel of the 301st training parachute regiment.

THE BACK SIDE OF THE STAR

His enemies did not see his death. Mortally wounded, with six rounds in the magazine, he still won his last battle. His comrades managed to help junior sergeant Alexandrov and carried him to a safe place. Before he died.

And then a spontaneous Komsomol meeting was held in the company. His “resolution” was an oath transmitted via radio to all units of the battalion. An oath not to give up positions as long as at least one fighter is alive. As long as this fighter has at least one cartridge left.

The company repelled three Dushman attacks without losses. And nine more - without Slava Alexandrov. During the last one, the enemy got within ten to fifteen meters of our positions. And when he retreated, few of our guys had a full magazine of cartridges left. There were no grenades at all.

There must be some unknown " chain reaction"feat. It does not lend itself to modeling. Nor to forecasting. It either occurs or does not. But it is known for sure that it driving force it can only be a feat. Someone's personal. Unique.

The actions of Vyacheslav Alexandrov in his last battle literally described with chronometric accuracy by Major N. Samusev, whose report was published in the press more than once. We know that the first attack on Hill 3234 was repulsed by the platoon without casualties, despite massive fire from the bandits from rocket launchers, mortars and recoilless rifles - more than 450 rounds in less than an hour. We know that the second attack was repulsed - with the help of a neighboring platoon - also without losses. We also imagine mercenaries dressed in black uniforms, recruited from among religious fanatics and criminals sentenced to death.

Answer: They launched the third attack, not comparable in fury with the first two, at 19.10. They walked at full height. It must have been scary. Or maybe it’s the other way around - Alexandrov thanked fate for such a convenient target for his machine gun. In any case, he fired accurately. And when he gave the command to his two comrades to retreat to more advantageous positions, the dushmans may not have noticed the weakening of this firing point. Even the machine gun, “wounded” in several places, fell silent and presented them with an unpleasant surprise. In the form of five F-1 grenades precisely sent by a machine gunner. And a few seconds later the “Black Shirts” had to take cover from machine gun fire: taking advantage of the grenade explosions, Vyacheslav managed to change position. And he left her already unconscious - in the arms of her comrades.

Almost tutorial. It is unlikely that even the most experienced pedant in military affairs would have been able to discern even the slightest oversight in the actions of the junior sergeant. But is this enough for the concept of “feat”? Maybe the hero will survive...

No! A feat is a concept that is beyond and above any criteria. It's like a song. Having become popular, it lives independently of musicologists, musicians and even the author. Feat is also a folk concept. What is the use of counting exactly how many enemies Aleksandrov destroyed and how many comrades he saved. After all, the power with which he was able to “charge” the soldiers who brought the grueling hours-long battle to a victorious end is truly immeasurable. And it was these nine attacks repulsed after his death that can be considered the junior sergeant’s first nomination for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

And the “ratification” of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of June 28, 1988 can be considered the horn sounded by every Soviet car driving past Height 3234. Such a tradition was born after that January battle. It was born and continues.

F. Lastochkin. - see "On Afghan roads". Set of postcards. - M.: Publishing house. "Poster", 1989.