Composition of Forces at Hill 3234
A look at the 9th Rota and the Forces it fought against
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
- Senior Lieutenant Tkachev, Sergey Borisovich - commander of company
- Senior Lieutenant Gagarin, Victor yurivich
- Senior Lieutenant Babenko, Ivan Pavlovich
- Senior Lieutenant Rozhkov, Sergey Vladimirovich
- Senior Lieutenant Matruk, Vitalius Vasilyevich - political officer
- Ensign Kozlov, Vasiliy - Chief Petty Officer of company.
- Sergeant Aleksandrov, Vyacheslav Alexandrovich - Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumous)
- Sergeant Tsvetkov , Andrey Nikolayevich, killed
- Sergeant Bobko, Sergey
- Sergeant Rushinskas, Virginajus Leonardovich
- Sergeant Borisov, Sergey
- Sergeant Borisov, Vladimir
- Sergeant Verigin, Vladimir
- Sergeant Demin, Andrey
- Sergeant Karimov
- Sergeant Ofkopyrin,. Arkady
- Sergeant Krishtopenko, Vladimir Olegovich, killed
- Private Kuznetsov, Anatoliy yurivich, killed
- Private Kuznetsov, Andrey
- Private Korovin, Sergey
- Private Lash, Sergey
- Private Melnikov, Andrey Alexandrovich - Hero of the Soviet Union, (posthumous)
- Private Menteshashvili, Zurab
- Private Medvedev, Andrey
- Private Leavingski, Sergey
- Private Peredel'skiy Victor
- Private Puzhayev, Sergey
- Private Salamakha, Yuri
- Private Safronov, Yuri
- Private Sukhoguzov, Nikolai
- Private Tikhonenko, Igor
- Private Trutnev, Pavel
- Private Fedotov, Andrey Alexandrovich, killed
- Private Fedorenko, Andrey
- Private Fadin, Nikolai
- Private Yatsuk, Yevgeny
- Private Zanegin, Igor Viktorovich, killed
- Private Kudryashov, Alexander Nikolaevich, killed
- 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
