April 14, 1979
Report of the chief of the Soviet military advisory group in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. L.N. Gorelov, with H. Amin (excerpt)
Moscow
Urgent. Secret
...I was invited to see Com. Amin, who, at the behest of N.M. Taraki, requested that we send to Kabul some 15-20 combat helicopters with ammunition and Soviet crews so that, if the situation in the outlying and central regions deteriorates, they can be used against bands of rebels and terrorists who are being infiltrated from Pakistan.
In this regard, assurance was provided that the arrival in Kabul and the use of Soviet crews will be kept secret....
L. Gorelov
14 April 1979
INSTRUCTIONS: This should not be done.[Marshal and Chief of Staff] N. V. Ogarkov
[Ed. note: For a translation of a CPSU CC Politburo decision dated 21 April 1979 rejecting the above-mentioned request from Amin that Moscow send Soviet helicopter crews to participate in the fighting, see CWIHP Bulletin 4 (Fall 1994), pp. 74-75.]
Urgent. Secret
...I was invited to see Com. Amin, who, at the behest of N.M. Taraki, requested that we send to Kabul some 15-20 combat helicopters with ammunition and Soviet crews so that, if the situation in the outlying and central regions deteriorates, they can be used against bands of rebels and terrorists who are being infiltrated from Pakistan.
In this regard, assurance was provided that the arrival in Kabul and the use of Soviet crews will be kept secret....
L. Gorelov
14 April 1979
INSTRUCTIONS: This should not be done.[Marshal and Chief of Staff] N. V. Ogarkov
[Ed. note: For a translation of a CPSU CC Politburo decision dated 21 April 1979 rejecting the above-mentioned request from Amin that Moscow send Soviet helicopter crews to participate in the fighting, see CWIHP Bulletin 4 (Fall 1994), pp. 74-75.]
Report of the chief of the Soviet military advisory group in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. L.N. Gorelov, with H. Amin (excerpt) describing Amin’s request for further military aid from the Soviet Union.
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B. V. Gromov, Ogranichennyi kontingent (Moscow: Progress/Kultura, 1994), p. 78
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