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Video: "Russian Afghan": Why did the Soviet soldier go to live in aul to dushmans
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In Afghanistan, not far from the town of Chagcharan, a "Russian Afghan" lives. Many years ago, Sergei Krasnoperov came here to fight with dushmans, but in the end he decided to stay in this mountainous country forever. Got a wife and children, and now it is difficult to distinguish him from ordinary Afghans. Why did our soldier go over to the side of the enemies? And how is he living in a foreign land 30 years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan? However, for him these are no longer enemies and not a foreign land …
Dushmans became dearer to him than Russians
When the Trans-Ural boy was drafted into the army and sent to serve in Afghanistan, he could not imagine that the enemies for him would not be strangers-spooks, but guys of the same age from his own call, not even "grandfathers." The fact is that for some reason the colleagues disliked Sergei. As the man later recalled, they constantly insulted and mocked him, but he could not answer. And there seemed to be no serious reasons for such a general hatred: according to Sergei, they simply "did not agree with each other." The outsider tried to complain to the commanders, but they didn't care. In the already stressful conditions of the war, the boy felt one against everyone - both against the Afghans and against “ours”. It is amazing, but the spooks seemed more merciful to him. And at the end of the service, he decided to go to them.
When the soldier came to the strangers, they at first took him incredulously and kept him locked up for three weeks, putting a guard on him and shackling him for the night. And then their commander came to the gorge and ordered to release the guy with the words: "Since you came to us yourself, you can leave yourself." But Sergei did not leave.
Then there were difficult months of adaptation: the young man could not learn a foreign language, get used to an unfamiliar culture and ascetic life in the mountains, suffered several dangerous diseases, miraculously survived. But gradually I got used to it. I came to the conclusion that God is one and it doesn't matter who you believe in - Jesus or Allah.
According to the "Russian Afghan", he never fought against his own (in the sense - Soviet fighters). He only helped the Mujahideen to repair machine guns and clean weapons.
At first, the spooks looked after the defector and did not allow him to leave anywhere - apparently, they still could not believe that he really decided to stay with them. But when he married an Afghan woman (on their own insistent advice), they nevertheless recognized their own in Sergei and gave him complete freedom.
He became a real Afghan
Now Sergei has six children. Outwardly, they are blond - more like their father than their mother. He himself works as a road construction foreman and moonlights as an electrician at a hydroelectric power station, earning more than a thousand dollars a month (by local standards, this is very decent money).
Every evening after work, he hurries home. The children run out to meet him, knowing that dad must have brought them presents.
The town of Chagcharan, located in central Afghanistan, consists of two-storey houses of the same type. Life in these places does not differ in variety, and it seems that civilization has not particularly touched them. But Sergei is happy with everything. He plans to build a large house in the city (now he lives outside the city, in an aul) - the authorities promised to help.
Outwardly, this man no longer differs much from his Afghan neighbors: the same long beard, shirt, wide trousers. And his name is now different - Nurmomad.
Some time ago, Russian photographer Alexei Nikolaev met with Sergei-Nurmomad - he became the first domestic journalist to talk to a "Russian Afghan" and to capture his life on camera.
Other "Russian Afghans"
The case with Sergei Krasnoperov is far from an isolated one. Here are just a few similar examples.
Bahretdin Khakimov was drafted into the army in 1979, and a year later he went missing after the battle in Herat. It turned out that the guy was badly wounded in the head and ended up in the hands of the Afghans. He partially lost his memory and practically forgot his native language. The locals gave Bahretdin a room in the Herat museum. In these parts, he remained forever.
Nikolai Bystrov was captured in 1982. At the base of the Afghan mujahideen, he met with the field commander Ahmad Shah Massoud and subsequently became his guard. After a while, Nikolai married an Afghan woman and became a Muslim. And in 1999, he returned to his homeland, accompanied by his Afghan wife and daughter.
Yuri Stepanov was captured in 1988, and the guy's relatives mistakenly thought that he was killed. But, as it turned out, he lived in Afghanistan for almost twenty years: he converted to the Islamic faith, married a local girl and became a father. Only in 2006, Yuri returned to Russia with his Afghan wife and son. The family lives in a Bashkir village.
Why did some Soviet fighters who were captured by the mujahideen stayed in Afghanistan even if they later had the opportunity to return? Many of them answer like this: they were afraid that they would be considered traitors. And to leave a familiar place (especially if you have an Afghan wife and children) is no longer easy …
For those interested in the culture of the Afghan people, we recommend taking a look at miracle of Afghanistan: Blue Mosque Hazrat Ali.
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