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Witness History: The Soviet Union's Afghan War

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The Soviet Union's Afghan War

06/04/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The Soviet Union's Afghan War

How what Moscow planned as a short military operation turned into the Soviet "Vietnam".

How what Moscow planned as a short military operation turned into the Soviet "Vietnam". Its troops were due to spend six months in Afghanistan; they ended up staying 10 years.

In late December 1979, the world held its breath as thousands of Soviet troops were sent into Afghanistan. Moscow said the troops would be there six months, to help bring peace to the country. In fact, the Soviet army stayed almost ten years, and Afghanistan came to be seen as the Soviet Union's Vietnam. In 2018,Louise Hidalgo spoke to journalist Andrei Ostalski and former soldier Vyacheslav Ismailov about that time.

PHOTO: Soviet tanks in front of the Darulaman Palace in Kabul (Credit: Henri Bureau/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

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