{"id":99152,"date":"2026-03-16T02:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T06:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=99152"},"modified":"2025-11-18T20:46:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T01:46:50","slug":"soviet-invasion-of-afghanistan-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2026\/03\/16\/soviet-invasion-of-afghanistan-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RYdrPg6xdYo?si=juxoVyzLnETepesN\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Real Time History<\/strong><br \/>\nPublished 24 Oct 2025<\/p>\n<p>Christmas 1979. Soviet armor pours across the Afghan border towards Kabul as helicopters secure the mountain passes through the Hindu Kush mountains. In Moscow, the <em>Politburo<\/em> has decided to save Afghanistan&#8217;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 &#8211; so why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan?<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u00bb SUPPORT US<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/nebula.tv\/realtimehistory\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/nebula.tv\/realtimehistory<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>\u00bb THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS<br \/>\nCharles Shananaquet II, Bruce D, Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Jim Frame, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen R\u00f8ste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce D. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje<\/p>\n<p>\u00bb SOURCES<br \/>\nBraithwaite, Rodric. <em>Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89<\/em>, Oxford University Press, 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Coll, Steve. <em>Ghost Wars: The secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001<\/em>, Penguin Books, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Dimitrakis, Panagiotis. <em>The Secret War in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union, China and Anglo-American Intelligence in the Afghan War<\/em>, L.B. Tauris, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Dupree, Louis. <em>Afghanistan<\/em>, Princeton University Press, 1980.<\/p>\n<p>Galeotti, Mark. <em>Storm-333 KGB and Spetsnaz seize Kabul, Soviet Afghan War 1979<\/em>, Osprey Publishing, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Grad, Marcela. <em>Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader<\/em>, Webster University Press, 2009.<\/p>\n<p>Grau, Lester W. &#8220;The Take-Down of Kabul: An Effective <em>Coup de Main<\/em>&#8221; GlobalSecurity.org, 2002 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/redirect?event=video_description&#038;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGs4NUJIa0JSNVBJXzEweGlqMUhQWUI3RmhzUXxBQ3Jtc0tuRVhvcUh2X3M4RndnLWF1WlJfdTNYbkdUUUtsZlBzc09hdlZUSWpxOHN2ZGRxckpBa2l2bTZ2RjVqTU1Lb0J1TkllQk5lNVA4bTM1b3Jya2tQWThMMzVBekE0Ti1PX2dzei1QS2lPMmZaSmNGb3ZNbw&#038;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalsecurity.org%2Fmilitary%2Flibrary%2Freport%2F2002%2FMOUTGrau.htm%23_ftn1&#038;v=RYdrPg6xdYo\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.globalsecurity.org\/milita&#8230;<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Jalali, Ali Ahmad. <em>A military history of Afghanistan: from the Great Game to the Global War on Terror<\/em>, University Press of Kansas, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Leake, Elisabeth. <em>Afghan Crucible: The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan<\/em>, Oxford University Press, 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Penter, Tanja\/Meier, Esther (Eds.). <em>Sovietnam &#8211; Die UdSSR in Afghanistan 1979-1989<\/em>, Ferdinand Sch\u00f6ningh, 2017. <\/p>\n<p>Radchenko, Sergey. <em>To Run the World: The Kremlin&#8217;s Cold War Bid for Global Power<\/em>, Cambridge University Press, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Misdaq, Nabi. <em>Afghanistan: Political frailty and external interference<\/em>, Routledge, 2006 <\/p>\n<p>Tomsen, Peter. &#8220;The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers&#8221;, <em>Public Affairs<\/em>, 2013. <\/p>\n<p>Bakhtar News Agency, &#8220;We took power on the basis of political, social honesty: Taraki&#8221;, <em>Kabul Times<\/em>, Vol XVII, No 110 (3 August 1978).<\/p>\n<p>\u0417\u0443\u0431\u043e\u043a, \u0412. \u041c. &#8220;\u041d\u0435\u0443\u0434\u0430\u0432\u0448\u0430\u044f\u0441\u044f \u0438\u043c\u043f\u0435\u0440\u0438\u044f: \u0421\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0421\u043e\u044e\u0437 \u0432 \u0425\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0432\u043e\u0439\u043d\u0435 \u043e\u0442 \u0421\u0442\u0430\u043b\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u0434\u043e \u0413\u043e\u0440\u0431\u0430\u0447\u0435\u0432\u0430&#8221;, \u0420\u041e\u0421\u0421\u041f\u042d\u041d, 2011.<\/p>\n<p>\u041b\u044f\u0445\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439, \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0430\u043d\u0434\u0440. &#8220;\u0422\u0440\u0430\u0433\u0435\u0434\u0438\u044f \u0438 \u0434\u043e\u0431\u043b\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0410\u0444\u0433\u0430\u043d\u0430&#8221;, \u0418\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043d\u0430, 1995<\/p>\n<p>\u041c\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439, \u0412.\u0410. &#8220;\u0417\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0434\u043a\u0438 \u0430\u0444\u0433\u0430\u043d\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0432\u043e\u0439\u043d\u044b&#8221;, \u0412\u0435\u0447\u0435, 2006. <\/p>\n<p>\u0415\u0432\u0433\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0427\u0435\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0448\u0435\u0432, \u0414\u043d\u0435\u0432\u043d\u0438\u043a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/redirect?event=video_description&#038;redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1Rxejk0WVQ2WHMyYXRkaGhlaG05WHRRY21SZ3xBQ3Jtc0tsci1SVlhjLUNOTXFPNE5SSmFJeUpWamhya0NCRlJGRWkwR25jM2dWM2F5aU0tRGpQUkpVMlFMMzZobXprX2pNMzl0ZjBkQmRPVkNwUkVWTGlGQ1doajE5cG9VOEJ6b0VaODRZOVVkU1pHME1GUWdkVQ&#038;q=https%3A%2F%2Fcorpus.prozhito.org%2Fnotes%3Fdate%3D%E2%80%9C1979-01-01%E2%80%9D%26diaries%3D&#038;v=RYdrPg6xdYo\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/corpus.prozhito.org\/notes?dat&#8230;<\/a>[3872] <\/p>\n<p>\u0425\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432 \u0412.\u0421., \u0413\u0443\u0441\u0435\u0432\u0430 \u042e.\u041d. \u0412\u043e\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0433\u0438\u044f \u0421\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0421\u043e\u044e\u0437\u0430 \u0432 \u0410\u0444\u0433\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u0435: \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0447\u0435\u0442\u044b \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0438 \u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0435\u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f\u0442\u0438\u0435 \/\/ QUAESTIO ROSSICA. 2020. Vol. 8, \u2116 2. \u0421. 382\u2013398.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbCREDITS<br \/>\nPresented by: Jesse Alexander<br \/>\nWritten by: Jesse Alexander<br \/>\nDirector: Toni Steller<br \/>\nEditing: Philipp Appelt<br \/>\nMotion Design: Philipp Appelt<br \/>\nMixing, Mastering &#038; Sound Design: <a href=\"http:\/\/above-zero.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/above-zero.com<\/a><br \/>\nResearch by: Florian Wittig, Sofia Shirogorova<br \/>\nFact checking: Florian Wittig, Sofia Shirogorova<br \/>\nExecutive Producer: Florian Wittig<\/p>\n<p>Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster<\/p>\n<p>Contains licensed material by getty images, picture alliance, and Reuters<\/p>\n<p>Maps: MapTiler\/OpenStreetMap Contributors &#038; GEOlayers3<\/p>\n<p>Music Library: Epidemic Sound<\/p>\n<p>All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.<\/p>\n<p>All rights reserved &#8211; Real Time History GmbH 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real Time History Published 24 Oct 2025 Christmas 1979. Soviet armor pours across the Afghan border towards Kabul as helicopters secure the mountain passes through the Hindu Kush mountains. In Moscow, the Politburo has decided to save Afghanistan&#8217;s communist government from collapse. Afghan rebels have taken up arms against the unpopular regime and control most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,7,5,1119],"tags":[263,218,108,780,47,1433,397,433],"class_list":["post-99152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia","category-history","category-military","category-russia","tag-1970s","tag-afghanistan","tag-coldwar","tag-communism","tag-islam","tag-kabul","tag-pakistan","tag-sovietunion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hpV6-pNe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99153,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99152\/revisions\/99153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}