There were thousands of them - but officially there were none at all. The participation of the Soviet military in the Vietnam War was not advertised. "Voice of Russia" managed to interview one of those who defended the skies of Vietnam from US Air Force raids.
January 30 is another anniversary of the establishment of Soviet-Vietnamese diplomatic relations. One of the brightest pages in the relations between the two countries is military assistance to Vietnam during the war against American aggression. Voice of Russia was told about those days by a person who was directly involved in the events of the Vietnam War. Nikolai Kolesnik, Chairman of the Interregional public organization Russian veterans of the Vietnam War, since 1965, participated in the battles fought against US aircraft by Soviet missilemen.
Kolesnik: Soviet military assistance was huge and comprehensive. In value terms, this amounted to about two million dollars daily during all the years of the war. A huge amount of equipment was delivered to Vietnam. It is enough to give just a few figures: 2,000 tanks, 7,000 guns and mortars, over 5,000 anti-aircraft guns and installations, 158 anti-aircraft missile systems, over 700 combat aircraft, 120 helicopters, over 100 warships. And all these deliveries were free of charge. The Vietnamese had to be taught to fight on all this equipment. For this, Soviet military specialists were sent to Vietnam. From July 1965 to the end of 1974, about 6.5 thousand officers and generals, as well as more than 4.5 thousand soldiers and sergeants of the Soviet Armed Forces, took part in the hostilities in Vietnam. In addition, the training of Vietnamese military personnel was started in military schools and academies of the USSR - more than 10 thousand people.
They say that the equipment sent from the USSR to Vietnam was outdated.
Kolesnik: At that time it was the most modern. For example, the MiG-21 jet fighters - it was on them that the Vietnamese pilots shot down both the F-105 and the B-52 "flying fortresses". For all the years of the war, Vietnamese fighter aircraft people's army 350 enemy planes were destroyed. Vietnamese aviation lost much less - 145 aircraft. The history of the VNA included the names of air aces, on whose account there were 7, 8 and 9 downed American aircraft. At the same time, de Beliva, the most successful US pilot, had only six air victories in Vietnam. The Soviet Dvina missile systems supplied during this war were capable of hitting air targets even at a 25-kilometer altitude. “These are the most deadly projectiles that have ever been fired from the ground on aircraft,” the American Military Technical Journal stated in those years.
The anti-aircraft missile forces of the DRV, created and trained by Soviet specialists, shot down about 1,300 American aircraft, including 54 B-52 strategic bombers. Each of them carried 25 tons of bombs, and each could destroy all living things and all buildings on an area equal to thirty football fields. The Americans regularly bombed both the "Ho Chi Minh trail" and the cities of North Vietnam, flying at an altitude inaccessible to anti-aircraft guns. After our first victories, they sharply lowered their altitude so as to be inaccessible to missiles, but fell under fire from anti-aircraft artillery. After the appearance of Soviet missiles, American military pilots began to refuse to fly to bomb the territory of North Vietnam. Their command had to take urgent measures, including increasing payments for each sortie, constantly replacing the flight crew of aircraft carriers. At first, missile battles were Soviet officers, the Vietnamese adopted their experience. For the first time, Soviet missiles showed themselves in the sky of Vietnam on July 24, 1965. 4 American "Phantoms" then went to Hanoi, at a height where they could not get the Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns. Soviet missiles were fired at them. 3 out of 4 aircraft were shot down. The date of this victory has since been celebrated annually in Vietnam as the Day missile troops.
Do you remember when your first fight took place? Who is who then?
Kolesnik: August 11, 1965. During the day we occupied places on combat alert 18 times. And all - to no avail. And, finally, late at night, 4 enemy planes were shot down with three missiles. In total, the battalions of the First and Third Vietnamese anti-aircraft missile regiments shot down 15 enemy aircraft in the battles in which I participated.
The Americans must have hunted for your combat crews?
Wheeler: Yes. Places of deployment had to be changed after each battle. It was impossible otherwise - the Americans immediately launched rocket and bomb strikes on the identified positions of rocket launchers. The Americans did their best to prevent the use of our technology: they used interference, Shrike missiles. Our military designers also reacted and improved our anti-aircraft missile technology.
Have you personally seen captured American pilots?
Kolesnik: I have never seen it in person. Yes, our presence in Vietnam was not advertised. Suffice it to say that we spent the entire business trip in civilian clothes, without any personal and even without any documents. They were kept in our embassy.
And how did they announce to you that you were flying to Vietnam and what did you say at home?
Kolesnik: I served in an air defense regiment near Moscow. The regimental commander announced that we were invited to go on a business trip to a country with a "hot tropical climate." Almost everyone agreed, and those who for some reason did not want to go, as a result, did not go. I said the same at home.
What struck you the most as a young guy in the first place?
Kolesnik: Everything amazed me: the unusual nature, the people, the climate, and the first bombardment that I had to visit. After all, in Moscow we were guided by the fact that we would simply train and prepare Vietnamese calculations. And I had to train directly on combat positions, with daily incessant raids by American aircraft. The Vietnamese are very stubborn people, they learned very quickly. And I also mastered the basic commands and terms in Vietnamese.
What was the hardest thing?
Nikolai Kolesnik: Unbearable heat and high humidity. For example, after a 40-minute refueling of rockets with an oxidizer in a special rubberized suit, they lost almost a kilogram of weight.
What is the attitude of the current Vietnamese youth towards that war and your participation in it?
Nikolai Kolesnik: With great respect, the Vietnam veterans of that war. We remember our difficult military days and our common victories. And the younger, more pragmatic generation asked us with interest about those battles and details of that war unknown to them.
Now many in our country have a very ambiguous attitude towards the participation of the Soviet Union in conflicts outside its borders. What was participation in the Vietnam War for you?
N. Kolesnik: For me, those fights are still the brightest events in my life. I and my comrades - both Soviet and Vietnamese - participated in historical events, forged victory, in the truest sense of the word. I am proud that I helped the Vietnamese people in the struggle for their independence and took part in the creation of Vietnam's anti-aircraft missile forces.
Became one of major events period cold war. Its course and results largely predetermined the further development of events throughout Southeast Asia.
The armed struggle in Indochina lasted more than 14 years, from the end of 1960 to April 30, 1975. Direct US military intervention in the affairs of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam continued for more than eight years. Military operations also took place in a number of regions of Laos and Cambodia.
In March 1965, 3,500 marines, and in February 1968, US troops in Vietnam already numbered 543 thousand people and a large amount of military equipment, which accounted for 30% of the combat strength of the US Army, 30% of army aviation helicopters, about 40% of tactical aircraft, almost 13% of attack aircraft carriers and 66% marines. After the conference in Honolulu in February 1966, the heads of the US allies in the SEATO bloc sent troops to South Vietnam: South Korea- 49 thousand people, Thailand - 13.5 thousand, Australia - 8 thousand, Philippines - 2 thousand and New Zealand- 350 people.
The USSR and China took the side of North Vietnam, providing it with extensive economic, technical and military assistance. By 1965 alone, the DRV received 340 million rubles from the Soviet Union free of charge or in the form of loans. Weapons, ammunition and other materiel were supplied to the VNA. Soviet military specialists helped VNA soldiers to master military equipment.
In 1965-1666, the American-Saigon troops (over 650 thousand people) launched a major offensive with the aim of capturing the cities of Pleiku, Kontum, dissecting the forces of the NLF, pressing them to the borders of Laos and Cambodia and destroying them. At the same time, they widely used incendiary means, chemical and biological weapons. However, SE AO thwarted the enemy offensive by launching active operations in various regions of South Vietnam, including those adjacent to Saigon.
With the beginning of the dry season of 1966-1967, the American command launched a second major offensive. Parts of the SA SE, skillfully maneuvering, escaped from blows, suddenly attacked the enemy from the flanks and rear, making extensive use of night operations, underground tunnels, communications and shelters. Under the blows of the SA SE, the American-Saigon troops were forced to go on the defensive, although by the end of 1967 their total number already exceeded 1.3 million people. At the end of January 1968, the NLF armed forces themselves went on the general offensive. It involved 10 infantry divisions, several separate regiments, a large number of battalions and companies of regular troops, partisan detachments(up to 300 thousand people), as well as the local population - only about one million fighters. Attacked simultaneously 43 of the most major cities South Vietnam, including Saigon (Ho Chi Minh), 30 major air bases and airfields. As a result of the 45-day offensive, the enemy lost more than 150 thousand people, 2,200 aircraft and helicopters, 5,250 military vehicles, 233 ships were sunk and damaged.
In the same period, the American command launched a large-scale "air war" against the DRV. Up to 1,000 warplanes delivered massive strikes against DRV targets. In 1964-1973, over two million sorties were made over its territory, 7.7 million tons of bombs were dropped. But the bet on the "air war" failed. The government of the DRV carried out a mass evacuation of the population of cities into the jungle and shelters created in the mountains. The Armed Forces of the DRV, having mastered supersonic fighters, anti-aircraft missile systems, radio equipment received from the USSR, created a reliable air defense system of the country, which destroyed up to four thousand American aircraft by the end of 1972.
In June 1969, the People's Congress of South Vietnam proclaimed the formation of the Republic of South Vietnam (RSV). The SE Defense Army in February 1968 was transformed into the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NVSO SE).
Major defeats in South Vietnam, failure" air war" forced the US government in May 1968 to begin negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Vietnamese problem and agree to an end to the bombing and shelling of the territory of the Republic of South Vietnam.
Since the summer of 1969, the US administration has set a course for "Vietnamization", or "de-Americanization", of the war in South Vietnam. By the end of 1970, 210,000 American soldiers and officers were withdrawn from South Vietnam, and the size of the Saigon army was increased to 1.1 million people. The United States transferred almost all the heavy weapons of the withdrawn American troops to it.
In January 1973, the US government signed an agreement to end the war in Vietnam (the Paris Agreement), which provided for the complete withdrawal of US troops and military personnel from South Vietnam, the dismantling of US military bases, and the mutual return of prisoners of war and detained foreign civilians.
Up to 2.6 million American soldiers and officers participated in the Vietnam War, equipped with big amount the most modern military equipment. US spending on the war reached $352 billion. During its course, the American army lost 60 thousand people killed and over 300 thousand wounded, about 9 thousand aircraft and helicopters, a large number of other military equipment. After the withdrawal of American troops from South Vietnam, over 10,000 American military advisers remained in Saigon under the guise of "civilians". US military assistance to the Saigon regime in 1974-1975 amounted to more than four billion dollars.
In 1973-1974, the Saigon army stepped up fighting. Its troops regularly carried out a large number of so-called "pacification operations", the Air Force systematically bombarded areas in the zone of control of the government of the Republic of South Ossetia. At the end of March 1975, the command of the army of the Republic of Vietnam concentrated all remaining forces for the defense of Saigon. In April 1975, as a result of the lightning operation "Ho Chi Minh", North Vietnamese troops defeated the South Vietnamese army, which was left without allies, and captured all of South Vietnam.
The successful completion of the war in Vietnam made it possible in 1976 to unite the DRV and the RSE into a single state - the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
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Today we know why it took the United States so long to withdraw from Vietnam: the withdrawal meant a sign of weakness in the face of the global communist threat, which could provoke a backlash at home and a loss of confidence among the allies.
But while America's involvement is understandable, the same cannot be said for its superpower adversary, the Soviet Union. What did the Russians gain by supporting the distant jungle war by sending advisers, equipment, and money to help the North Vietnamese, even though this not only froze Soviet-American relations, but could also ignite the devastating conflagration of a global war?
Was it the geopolitical importance of Vietnam, or perhaps Moscow's preoccupation with the spread of revolutionary ideology? We often attribute to the other side more foresight and purpose than we have ourselves. In fact, the parallels between American and Soviet involvement in the events in Vietnam were quite obvious. Moscow, like the United States, was most concerned about its credibility as an ally and superpower, and the domestic and international legitimacy that comes with that credibility.
Nikita Khrushchev, who in the 1950s was one of the first to initiate the turn of the USSR towards the Third World, had limited interest and patience with the North Vietnamese and was suspicious of them, especially after Hanoi, in the unfolding Sino-Soviet split, became gravitate noticeably towards the Chinese side.
The North Vietnamese defection to China was a tactical move in the absence of better options. Khrushchev himself hastened this shift by refusing to provide aid. But he attributed the loss of North Vietnam to alleged machinations by "Chinese half-breeds" in the Vietnamese party leadership. For Khrushchev, the problem of Vietnam was only an aspect of a larger struggle with China, and rather a peripheral one.
Everything changed when Khrushchev was overthrown by his colleagues in October 1964. The successors in the person of Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin wanted to prove their loyalty to an ally in trouble by providing military assistance. The main reason was that the new Soviet leadership was faced with a lack of political legitimacy. Helping Vietnam in the war against "imperialism" helped them gain recognition from the people, the allies and the rest of the world as the rightful heirs of the leadership of the socialist camp. For the same reason, Moscow has tried to improve relations with China.
However, Mao Zedong was not going to reciprocate. This became apparent during Kosygin's trip to Beijing in February 1965. The Soviet premier spoke of the need for "combined action" to help Hanoi's military efforts. Mao responded to his pleas with hostile sarcasm, declaring that the Sino-Soviet struggle would last at least 10,000 years. “The US and the USSR are now deciding the fate of the world,” Mao said decisively. “Well, keep deciding.” He seemed indifferent to the new round of escalation in Vietnam: “So what? What is terrible about the death of a certain number of people? — and contrasted Kosygin's fears of a deepening conflict with optimistic calls for a "revolutionary war."
Context
May Buddha forgive me
Stern 04.02.201815 years ago America destroyed my country
The New York Times 03/21/2018Vietnam War
InoSMI 03/02/2015 Even against the backdrop of worsening relations between Moscow and China, Hanoi abandoned its pro-Chinese position in favor of some semblance of neutrality. This was due to the fact that to protect against American bombing, the inhabitants of North Vietnam needed Soviet weapons, especially modern anti-aircraft missiles. The Chinese Cultural Revolution also came to the rescue. Vietnamese leaders were outraged by Beijing's attempts to incite the many Chinese living in North Vietnam to radicalism. “Paradoxically,” Nguyen Van Vinh, one of the Politburo members, noted in 1967, “the Vietnamese are not afraid of the Americans, but of their Chinese comrades.”Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi became much more pronounced in 1971, after Henry Kissinger's clandestine trip to China and the announcement of an upcoming visit by Nixon. The North Vietnamese, whose advice they did not bother to ask, felt betrayed. But there was a more fundamental problem: the Chinese and Vietnamese had very different ideas about their relative importance. The Chinese leaders viewed the North Vietnamese as subordinates and helped and mentored them, expecting respect in return. However, the Vietnamese refused to give in because, after years of fighting the US, they felt entitled to claim revolutionary leadership—at least in Southeast Asia.
With this idea, General Vo Nguyen Giap came to Moscow in December 1971, when the Vietnamese were preparing for a spring offensive to deliver the final blow to South Vietnam. Giap promised that a joint Soviet-Vietnamese victory in Vietnam would herald Hanoi's rise to the ranks of the leader of the Third World countries, as well as the latter's socialist foothold. “We would like to continue this mission together with the Soviet Union, because without the Soviet Union it is impossible to do this,” he said. Soviet leaders appreciated the idea, especially after Giap's promise to grant the USSR naval rights in Cam Ranh Bay, which at that time was still under American control.
Supporting the warlike moods of Hanoi carried a danger. The resumption of large-scale hostilities in March 1972 threatened to disrupt progress towards Soviet-American detente. After the Americans responded to the Hanoi spring offensive with heavy bombing, several Soviet leaders, including Kosygin, suggested canceling the upcoming summit in Moscow.
Brezhnev, however, considered détente a personal achievement and was not prepared to sacrifice it for Vietnam. However, at the same time, he did not want to put pressure on Vietnam to improve relations with the United States. Kissinger and Nixon did not fully realize that Vietnam was an important element in Brezhnev's struggle for world leadership. Soviet support for Hanoi made the USSR a true superpower on par with America.
Nixon later recalled his bewilderment during the Moscow summit in May 1972 when Brezhnev, "who a moment ago was laughing and slapping me on the back, began to shout angrily" accusing the United States of terrible crimes in Vietnam. This act was due to the need for Brezhnev to protect his authority both in front of his colleagues and also in front of North Vietnam. “I don’t remember that I or my comrades ever had to speak so sharply and harshly as with Nixon about Vietnam,” Brezhnev later said. Secretary General Le Duan and Prime Minister Pham Van Dong.
At that time, Sino-Vietnamese relations reached another low. By the summer of 1973, Le Duan was expressing concern about China and sharing with Brezhnev his fears that Mao was planning to "invade Indo-China and Southeast Asia, if circumstances permit." Brezhnev promised to help defend Vietnam, this time from its northern neighbor.
Costs for post-war reconstruction were colossal. Le Duan and Pham Van Dong frankly discussed Hanoi's expectations with Brezhnev: in order to show Southeast Asia the practical advantages of a socialist orientation, major efforts were needed on the part of the USSR to assist in the "industrialization" of Vietnam.
Brezhnev agreed to write off all of Hanoi's debts. However, loans continued to come in, and by 1990 Vietnam had received more than $11 billion, most of which had never been paid back. Subsidizing Vietnam became a serious burden on the Soviet economy in the 1980s.
The war ended with a Soviet-Vietnamese victory, but for Moscow it was tantamount to defeat. The support of the satellites contributed to the growth of confidence in it as a superpower and the political legitimacy of the leaders, but for state budget it turned out to be a disaster. The policy pursued by Russia during recent years, including operations in Syria, is reminiscent of the pursuit of legitimacy in Vietnam during the Cold War. The long-term consequences of the resumption of such a pursuit will be just as dire.
Sergey Radchenko— professor of the department international relations Cardiff University in Wales.
The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.
The history of our civilization is dotted bloody wars and tragedies. People still do not know how to live in peace on one small planet, lost in cold space. War is increasingly becoming an instrument of enrichment for some at the expense of the grief and misfortune of others. In the twentieth century, the assertion that force rules the world was once again confirmed.
In early September, in the year of the final surrender of fascism, the creation of the second people's state in Asia, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was proclaimed. The power in the country was in the hands of the communist leader Ho Chi Minh, which radically changed the geopolitical situation in the region. However, the Europeans did not intend to leave their colonies, and soon a new bloody war. British troops under the leadership of General Gracie created favorable conditions for the return of the French colonists, instead of the promised help to expel the Japanese aggressors. The Allies openly violated the provisions of the Atlantic Charter, which stated that all countries that fought against fascism would receive their long-awaited freedom. Soon, French troops landed on the territory of Vietnam in order to restore their former influence in the region. However, Vietnam by this time was experiencing an incredible rise in national spirit and the French met with fierce resistance.
At the initiative of the Soviet Union, at the end of April 1954, a document was signed in Geneva recognizing the independence of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as restoring peace in the region. As a result, two parts of the country were formed, separated by a conditional border: North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and South, headed by Ngo Dinh Diem. If Ho Chi Minh was a leader with real authority among the local population, supported by the countries of the socialist camp, then Diem turned out to be an ordinary puppet of the West. Soon Diem lost even the appearance of popularity among the people, and in the territory of South Vietnam the guerrilla war. The democratic elections scheduled by the Geneva Act turned out to be completely disadvantageous for the Europeans, since it became clear that Ho Chi Minh's victory was predetermined. It should be noted that the communists from the DRV played an important role in the development of the partisan movement. Soon the United States intervened in the conflict, but the lightning-fast conquest of the country did not take place.
T-34-85 from the 203rd tank regiment on the outskirts of the fortified point Charlie. The infantry sitting openly on the armor of the tank is extremely vulnerable to shelling from all types of weapons, but the North Vietnamese did not have enough armored personnel carriers. Soldiers of the North Vietnamese special forces Dak Kong act as a tank landing. Spetsnaz were often used as assault groups, the personnel of these formations were distinguished by excellent combat skills and high morale. The special forces, by the standards of the DRV army, were well armed and equipped. For example, here every fighter has a Soviet-style helmet on his head. (http://otvaga2004.narod.ru)
The southern part of Vietnam was almost completely covered with impenetrable jungle, in which the partisans successfully hid. Military operations, customary and effective in Europe, were inapplicable here, the communist North provided significant support to the rebels. After the Tokyo Incident, the US Air Force bombed North Vietnam. Black phantoms were sent to Hanoi and exerting a psychological impact on the population, destroyed mainly military facilities. The air defense system in the underdeveloped country was almost completely absent, and the Americans quickly felt their impunity.
Help from the USSR followed immediately. To be more precise, Soviet support for the young people's state was carried out a year before the famous meeting in 1965, however, large-scale deliveries of military equipment began after the official decision was made and the issues of transportation through China were settled. In addition to weapons, Soviet military and civilian specialists, as well as correspondents, went to Vietnam. In the famous movie "Rambo", American directors cover the fierce battles between the "hero" and notorious thugs from the "Russian special forces". This work concentrates all the fear of the Soviet soldiers, who, according to US politicians, fought with their valiant half-million army. So, given that the number of soldiers from the USSR who arrived in Hanoi was only six thousand officers and about four thousand privates, it becomes clear how exaggerated such stories are.
In fact, only officers and privates were present on the territory of North Vietnam, called to train local military personnel in the management of Soviet equipment and weapons. Contrary to the expectations of the Americans, who predicted the appearance of the first results of such training only a year later, the Vietnamese entered into confrontation after only two months. Perhaps such an unexpected and unpleasant circumstance for the American command gave rise to suspicions that Soviet pilots, and not at all local soldiers, were on the side of the enemy. Legends of Bolsheviks with machine guns hiding in the impenetrable jungle and attacking American civilians in Vietnam are still popular in the States today. If you believe these stories, then we can conclude that only ten or eleven thousand Soviet soldiers were able to defeat half a million American army and it's really incredible. The role of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese in this approach is not at all clear.
The offensive of the 3rd Corps of the DRV Army began on April 2, 1972. The Corps operated in the province of Tai Ninh on the border with Cambodia in the Saigon direction. With a combined attack of tanks and infantry on April 4, the northerners drove the southerners out of the city of Lokk Ninh. In the picture - T-54 tanks from the 21st separate tank battalion are moving past the wrecked South Vietnamese M41A3 tank (the tank belonged to the 5th armored cavalry regiment of the 3rd armored brigade). Both the T-54 and M41 are camouflaged with tree branches. (http://otvaga2004.narod.ru)
However, it cannot be denied that the Americans had reason not to trust the assurances of the USSR about the exclusively advisory mission of military specialists. The fact is that the majority of the population of North Vietnam was illiterate. The vast majority were starving, and people were exhausted, so ordinary fighters did not even have a minimum margin of endurance and strength. Young men could only endure ten minutes of combat with the enemy. There was no need to talk about skill in the field of piloting on modern machines. Despite all of the above factors, during the first year of confrontation with North Vietnam, a significant part of American military aircraft was destroyed. MiGs outperformed the legendary phantoms in maneuverability, so they successfully evaded pursuit after the attack. Anti-aircraft systems, thanks to which most of the American bombers were shot down, were difficult to eliminate, since they were located under the cover of dense tropical forests. In addition, intelligence worked successfully, reporting fighter sorties in advance.
The first months of work of the Soviet rocket scientists turned out to be extremely tense. Completely different climatic conditions, unfamiliar diseases, annoying insects have become far from the most main problem in completing the task. The training of the Vietnamese comrades, who did not understand the Russian language at all, took place through a demonstration, with the involvement of translators, who were often in short supply. However, Soviet specialists did not participate directly in the battles, as they were few in number and were of too great value. According to the testimony of direct participants, they even had their own weapons.
North Vietnamese PT-76, shot down in the battle near the Benhat special forces camp. March 1969
The American command strictly forbade shelling Soviet ships and transport, since such actions could provoke the outbreak of the Third World War, however, it was the Soviet military-economic machine that turned out to be opposed to the Americans. Two thousand tanks, seven hundred light and maneuverable aircraft, seven thousand mortars and guns, more than a hundred helicopters and much more were supplied by the USSR as gratuitous friendly assistance to Vietnam. Almost the entire air defense system of the country, later assessed by the enemy as impenetrable for any type of fighter, was built at the expense of the USSR, by the forces of Soviet specialists. The armament of the belligerent state took place in the most difficult conditions of constant bombing and open robbery by China. Over 10,000 Vietnamese were sent to the Soviet Union for military training and training in handling modern Soviet technology. According to various estimates, the support of friendly Vietnam cost the USSR budget from one and a half to two million dollars daily.
There is an opinion that the Soviets sent obsolete weapons to help the belligerents. In refutation, one can cite an interview with the chairman of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Vietnam Veterans Nikolai Kolesnik, a direct participant and eyewitness to the events under study. According to him, modern MiG-21 vehicles were put into service, as well as Dvina anti-aircraft guns, the shells of which, according to the Americans, turned out to be the deadliest on earth at that time. Kolesnik also notes the high qualification of military specialists, and the incredible perseverance of the Vietnamese in learning and striving to master the science of management as quickly as possible.
Despite the fact that the US authorities were well aware of the provision of military assistance to North Vietnam, all specialists, including the military, were required to wear only civilian clothes, their documents were kept at the embassy, and they found out about the final destination of their business trip at the last moment. Secrecy requirements were maintained until the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the country, and the exact numbers and names of the participants are not known to this day.
After the signing of the peace accords in Paris on January 27, 1973, Hanoi reinforced its troops in the so-called "liberated areas". Massive deliveries of weapons and military equipment from the Soviet Union and China allowed Hanoi to reorganize the armed forces, including armored forces. From the USSR, then for the first time, Vietnam received wheeled armored personnel carriers BTR-60PB. The picture shows a BTR-60PB platoon, Locke Ninh air base near the border with Cambodia, solemn ceremony, 1973 (http://otvaga2004.narod.ru)
Relations between the USSR and Vietnam were based on the conditions of "unequal friendship". The Union was interested in spreading its influence in the region, which is why it provided such generous and disinterested assistance. Vietnam, on the other hand, cooperated with the Soviets solely for reasons of profit, successfully speculating on the position of the country fighting for independence and freedom. Sometimes help was not asked, but demanded. In addition, direct participants often describe cases of provocations by the Vietnamese authorities.
International relations with this tropical country are being built today by Russia as the immediate legal successor of the Union. The political situation develops in different ways, however, the local population retained a sense of gratitude for the Russian soldiers, and the heroes of that secret war everyone is also proud to be a part of it.
On final stage During the Ho Chi Minh operation, the DRV army for the first time used the latest and best ZSU-23-4-Shilka in the world. At that time, the only battery of these self-propelled guns from the 237th anti-aircraft artillery regiment could take part in the hostilities (http://www.nhat-nam.ru)
Three armored personnel carriers BTR-40A, armed with anti-aircraft guns, on patrol on a highway near the seaside city of Nha Trang, early April 1975. Armored personnel carriers BTR-40 in the anti-aircraft version were often used in reconnaissance units of tank regiments (http://www.nhat-nam.ru )
According to the US intelligence community, North Vietnam received ISU-122, ISU-152 and SU-100 self-propelled artillery mounts from the USSR in addition to and to replace the SU-76 self-propelled guns. Nothing is known about the combat use of the above self-propelled guns in Indochina. In the reports of units of the army of South Vietnam, they were not mentioned even once. Here is an extremely rare shot of the SU-100 self-propelled gun of the DRV army, but the tail number with the letter “F” is very confusing, the style of depicting letters and numbers is no less strange for the North Vietnamese army. Pay attention to road wheels different type(http://otvaga2004.narod.ru)
After World War II, the USSR participated in many local military conflicts. This participation was unofficial and even secret. The exploits of the Soviet soldiers in these wars will forever remain unknown.
Chinese Civil War 1946-1950
By the end of World War II, two governments had formed in China, and the country's territory was divided into two parts. One of them was controlled by the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek, the second by the communist government led by Mao Zedong. The US supported the Kuomintang, and the USSR supported the Communist Party of China.
The trigger for the war was released in March 1946, when a group of 310,000 Kuomintang troops, with the direct support of the United States, launched an offensive against the positions of the CCP. They captured almost all of southern Manchuria, pushing the communists across the Sungari River. At the same time, the deterioration of relations with the USSR begins - the Kuomintang, under various pretexts, does not fulfill the conditions of the Soviet-Chinese treaty "on friendship and alliance": the property of the CER is plundered, Soviet media are closed, and anti-Soviet organizations are created.
In 1947, the United Democratic Army (later the People's Liberation Army China) Soviet pilots, tankers, gunners arrived. A decisive role in the subsequent victory of the CPC was also played by the weapons supplied to the Chinese Communists from the USSR. According to some reports, only in the autumn of 1945, the PLA received from the USSR 327,877 rifles and carbines, 5,207 machine guns, 5,219 artillery pieces, 743 tanks and armored vehicles, 612 aircraft, as well as ships of the Sungarian flotilla.
In addition, Soviet military experts developed a plan for managing strategic defense and counteroffensive. All this contributed to the success of the NAO and the establishment of the communist regime of Mao Zedong. During the war, about a thousand Soviet soldiers died in China.
Korean War (1950-1953).
Information about the participation of the USSR armed forces in the Korean War was classified for a long time. At the beginning of the conflict, the Kremlin did not plan the participation of Soviet military personnel in it, however, the large-scale involvement of the United States in the confrontation between the two Koreas changed the position of the Soviet Union. In addition, the provocations of the Americans also influenced the Kremlin’s decision to enter the conflict: for example, on October 8, 1950, two American attack aircraft even bombed an air force base. Pacific Fleet in the Dry River area.
The military support of the DPRK by the Soviet Union was aimed mainly at repelling US aggression and was carried out through gratuitous deliveries of weapons. Specialists from the USSR prepared command, staff and engineering personnel.
The main military assistance was provided by aviation: Soviet pilots made sorties on MiG-15s repainted in the colors of the Chinese Air Force. At the same time, the pilots were forbidden to operate over the Yellow Sea and pursue enemy aircraft south of the Pyongyang-Wonsan line.
Military advisers from the USSR were present at the headquarters of the front only in civilian clothes, under the guise of correspondents for the newspaper Pravda. This special "camouflage" is mentioned in Stalin's telegram to General Shtykov, an employee of the Far Eastern Department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
It is still unclear how many Soviet soldiers actually were in Korea. According to official figures, during the conflict, the USSR lost 315 people and 335 MiG-15 fighters. By comparison, the Korean War claimed the lives of 54,246,000 Americans and over 103,000 were wounded.
Vietnam War (1965-1975)
In 1945, the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed, power in the country passed to the communist leader Ho Chi Minh. But the West was in no hurry to give up its former colonial possessions. Soon, French troops landed on the territory of Vietnam in order to restore their influence in the region. In 1954, a document was signed in Geneva, according to which the independence of Laos, Vietnam Cambodia was recognized, and the country was divided into two parts: North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and South Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem. The latter quickly lost popularity among the people, and a guerrilla war broke out in South Vietnam, especially since the impenetrable jungle provided it with high efficiency.
On March 2, 1965, the US began regular bombing of North Vietnam, accusing the country of expanding the guerrilla movement in the south. The reaction of the USSR was immediate. Since 1965, large-scale deliveries of military equipment, specialists and soldiers to Vietnam began. Everything happened in the strictest secrecy.
According to the recollections of veterans, before the flight, the soldiers were dressed in civilian clothes, their letters home were subjected to such strict censorship that if they fell into the hands of an outsider, the latter could understand only one thing: the authors are resting somewhere in the south and enjoying their serene vacation.
The participation of the USSR in the Vietnam War was so classified that it is still not clear what role the Soviet military personnel played in this conflict. There are numerous legends about Soviet aces pilots fighting "phantoms", whose collective image was embodied in the pilot Li-Si-Tsyn from a famous folk song. However, according to the recollections of participants in the events, our pilots were strictly forbidden to engage in combat with American aircraft. The exact number and names of Soviet soldiers who participated in the conflict are still unknown.
War in Algeria (1954-1964)
The national liberation movement in Algeria, which gained momentum after the Second World War, in 1954 grew into a real war against French colonial rule. The USSR took the side of the rebels in the conflict. Khrushchev noted that the struggle of the Algerians against the French organizers was liberation war, in connection with which, it should be supported by the UN.
However Soviet Union provided the Algerians not only with diplomatic support: the Kremlin supplied the Algerian army with weapons and military personnel.
The Soviet military contributed to the organizational strengthening of the Algerian army, participated in the planning of operations against the French troops, as a result of which the latter had to negotiate.
The parties entered into an agreement according to which hostilities ceased, and Algeria was granted independence.
After the signing of the agreement, Soviet sappers carried out the largest demining operation in the country. During the war, French battalions of sappers on the border of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia mined a strip from 3 to 15 km, where there were up to 20 thousand “surprises” per kilometer. Soviet sappers cleared 1350 sq. km of territory, destroying 2 million anti-personnel mines.
