Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979 (Documentary)

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Christmas 1979. Soviet armor pours across the Afghan border towards Kabul as helicopters secure the mountain passes through the Hindukush mountains. In Moscow, the Politburo has decided to save Afghanistan’s communist government from collapse. Afghan rebels have taken up arms against the unpopular regime and control most of the countryside. But the Red Army leadership doubts it can pacify the country – so why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan?

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» SOURCES
Braithwaite, Rodric. “Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89” Oxford University Press, 2011.

Coll, Steve. “Ghost Wars: The secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001” Penguin Books, 2004.

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Dupree, Louis. “Afghanistan” Princeton University Press, 1980.

Galeotti, Mark. “Storm-333 KGB and Spetsnaz seize Kabul, Soviet Afghan War 1979” Osprey Publishing, 2021.

Grad, Marcela. “Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader” Webster University Press, 2009.

Grau, Lester W. “The Take-Down of Kabul: An Effective Coup de Main” GlobalSecurity.org, 2002 https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2002/MOUTGrau.htm#_ftn1

Jalali, Ali Ahmad. “A military history of Afghanistan: from the Great Game to the Global War on Terror” University Press of Kansas, 2017.

Leake, Elisabeth. “Afghan Crucible: The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan” Oxford University Press, 2022.

Penter, Tanja/Meier, Esther (Eds.). “Sovietnam – Die UdSSR in Afghanistan 1979-1989” Ferdinand Schöningh, 2017.

Radchenko, Sergey. “To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power” Cambridge University Press, 2024.

Misdaq, Nabi. “Afghanistan: Political frailty and external interference” Routledge, 2006

Tomsen, Peter. “The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers” PublicAffairs, 2013.

Bakhtar News Agency, “We took power on the basis of politcal, social honesty: Taraki”, Kabul Times, Vol XVII, No 110 (3 August 1978)

Зубок, В. М. “Неудавшаяся империя: Советский Союз в Холодной войне от Сталина до Горбачева” РОССПЭН, 2011.

Ляховский, Александр. “Трагедия и доблесть Афгана” Искона, 1995

Меримский, В.А. “Загадки афганской войны” Вече, 2006.

Евгений Чернышев, Дневник https://corpus.prozhito.org/notes?date=“1979-01-01”&diaries=[3872]

Христофоров В.С., Гусева Ю.Н. Военная стратегия Советского Союза в Афганистане: просчеты планирования и общественное неприятие // QUAESTIO ROSSICA. 2020. Vol. 8, № 2. С. 382–398.

»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Philipp Appelt
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Research by: Florian Wittig, Sofia Shirogorova
Fact checking: Florian Wittig, Sofia Shirogorova
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig

Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster

Contains licensed material by getty images, picture alliance, and Reuters

Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3

Music Library: Epidemic Sound

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