Composition of Forces at Hill 3234

A look at the 9th Rota and the Forces it fought against

© Christopher Eger

Mar 14, 2007
soviet paras in afghanistan, authors collection
At the Battle for Hill 3234 two very different groups fought each other through the night in 12 engagements. Here is what is known about them.

The Composition of the 9th Company (9Rota) of the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment (VDV) at the “Battle for Hill 3234” January 7-8, 1988. The company was made up of 39 men: 6 officers and 33 Sergeants and private soldiers. These men were of nine different nationalities including Russian, Ukrainian, Turkistani, Uzbeks and Lithuanian. Nine lost there lives and of the remaining 30, 28 were wounded. Two of the dead, Sergeant Aleksandrov and Private Melnikov are posthumously honored the Title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The Soviet paratroopers were armed with man portable weapons mainly consisting of AK-74 assault rifles and BG-30 Grenade launchers. They were re-supplied once during the battle with ammunition via helicopter.

Unit Roster, 9th Rota

  1. Senior Lieutenant Tkachev, Sergey Borisovich - commander of company
  2. Senior Lieutenant Gagarin, Victor yurivich
  3. Senior Lieutenant Babenko, Ivan Pavlovich
  4. Senior Lieutenant Rozhkov, Sergey Vladimirovich
  5. Senior Lieutenant Matruk, Vitalius Vasilyevich - political officer
  6. Ensign Kozlov, Vasiliy - Chief Petty Officer of company.
  7. Sergeant Aleksandrov, Vyacheslav Alexandrovich - Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumous)
  8. Sergeant Tsvetkov , Andrey Nikolayevich, killed
  9. Sergeant Bobko, Sergey
  10. Sergeant Rushinskas, Virginajus Leonardovich
  11. Sergeant Borisov, Sergey
  12. Sergeant Borisov, Vladimir
  13. Sergeant Verigin, Vladimir
  14. Sergeant Demin, Andrey
  15. Sergeant Karimov
  16. Sergeant Ofkopyrin,. Arkady
  17. Sergeant Krishtopenko, Vladimir Olegovich, killed
  18. Private Kuznetsov, Anatoliy yurivich, killed
  19. Private Kuznetsov, Andrey
  20. Private Korovin, Sergey
  21. Private Lash, Sergey
  22. Private Melnikov, Andrey Alexandrovich - Hero of the Soviet Union, (posthumous)
  23. Private Menteshashvili, Zurab
  24. Private Medvedev, Andrey
  25. Private Leavingski, Sergey
  26. Private Peredel'skiy Victor
  27. Private Puzhayev, Sergey
  28. Private Salamakha, Yuri
  29. Private Safronov, Yuri
  30. Private Sukhoguzov, Nikolai
  31. Private Tikhonenko, Igor
  32. Private Trutnev, Pavel
  33. Private Fedotov, Andrey Alexandrovich, killed
  34. Private Fedorenko, Andrey
  35. Private Fadin, Nikolai
  36. Private Yatsuk, Yevgeny
  37. Private Zanegin, Igor Viktorovich, killed
  38. Private Kudryashov, Alexander Nikolaevich, killed
  39. Private Millers, Andrey Aleksandrovich, killed

The Soviet forces fought a group of Mujahideen that was believed to be of battalion sized. Soviet sources cite that as many as 500 afghan forces were involved and it was stated that they were composed of units of the “Black Storks”. The Black Storks were part of Pakistan Army Intelligence’s Special Services Group that dressed up as Afghan Mujahideen and fought during the Soviet-Afghan war. Soviet sources cite at least 90 of these fighters were killed in the battle. There is no known list of casualties in open circulation or even for sure who these fighters were. It is known that they were equipped with a mix of western and communist bloc weapons including RPG 2 and RPG 7 40mm grenade launchers, Enfield rifles and AK-47 assault weapons. The force withdrew over the Pakistani border at daylight, avoiding further combat.

Sources

"Oath of Thirty Nine", and “Exploit at Height 3234” by Colonel A. Oliynik published in "Red Star", June 14 and October 27,1988 respectively.

"Battle in height 3234" A. Meshchaninov, published in "Izvestiya", January 17, 1988

The Soviet-Afghan War: Breaking the Hammer & Sickle, published in VFW magazine


The copyright of the article Composition of Forces at Hill 3234 in Modern War is owned by Christopher Eger. Permission to republish Composition of Forces at Hill 3234 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


soviet spetsnaz in afgahnistan, public domain
       


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