Red Army vs. Mujahedeen: Soviet-Afghan War Tactics 1980-85 (Documentary)

Get Nebula with 40% off annual subscription with my link: https://go.nebula.tv/realtimehistory Watch Mad Kings about Kim Il Sung: https://nebula.tv/videos/madkings-kim-il-sung?ref=realtimehistory The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was supposed to be a quick show of force to pacify the country and install a more Moscow-friendly leadership for the Afghan communist regime. But the 40th Army (officially "Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan") soon found themselves embroiled in a counter insurgency which they weren't prepared for. The tactical successes and increasingly brutal methods against the guerilla mujahedeen tactics didn't win hearts and minds of the Afghan population, however. » SUPPORT US https://patreon.com/realtimehistory https://nebula.tv/realtimehistory » THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS Mike Gloudemans, George Durrett, Luis Gonzalez, Mike Cumings, Jr., Charles Shananaquet II, Joel Sanchez, shane cawthon, Andrew Thomas Mooney, Chris Rohde, Bruce D, Jim Frame, Glenn Sugden, Lisa Anderson, George Haramundanis, G S, Kempf Mario, jhgBo8jigr hzufjkl, Gayle Elizabeth, Glenn G Webb, Stephen D Nugent PsyD, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Simen Røste, Amy Williams, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, Josh Bruder, Konstantin Bredyuk, Richard L Benkin, Matt, Rob Carle, Murray Godfrey, Jan, Gage Manthey, Theodore Patrick Shannon, Bruce G. Hearns, Stephanie Schindhelm, Paul Wilcox, Brad Durbin, Fogeltje, » SOURCES Alexievich, Svetlana. „Boys in Zinc“ Penguin, 2017. Braithwaite, Rodric. "Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89" Oxford University Press, 2011. Campbell, David. "Afghanistan 1979-89: Soviet Paratrooper versus Mujahideen Fighter" Osprey, 2017 Coll, Steve. "Ghost Wars: The secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001" Penguin, 2004 Crile, George “Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History” Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003 Dimitrakis, Panagiotis. "The Secret War in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union, China and Anglo-American Intelligence in the Afghan War" L.B. Tauris, 2013. Galeotti, Mark. "Afghanistan 1979-1988: Soviet air power against the mujahideen" Osprey, 2023. Galeotti, Mark. "The Panjshir Valley 1980–86: The Lion Tames the Bear in Afghanistan" Osprey, 2021. Gall, Sandy. “Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud” Haus Publishing, 2021. Grau, Lester. E. (ed.) "The Bear Went Over The Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics In Afghanistan" National Defense University Press, 1996. Hershberg, James G. (ed.). “CWIHP Bulletin No. 8/9 (Winter 1996): The Cold War in the Third World and the Collapse of Detente in the 1970s” Cold War International History Project, 1996. Jalali, Ali Ahmad. "A military history of Afghanistan: from the Great Game to the Global War on Terror" University Press of Kansas, 2017. Jalali, Ali Ahmad and Lester E. Grau. “The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War” USMC Studies and Analysis Division, 1998. Leake, Elisabeth. "Afghan Crucible: The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan" Oxford University Press, 2022 Maley, William. “The Afghanistan Wars – Third Edition” Red Globe Press, 2021. Misdaq, Nabi. "Afghanistan: Political Frailty and External Interference" Routledge, 2006. Radchenko, Sergey. "To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power" Cambridge University Press, 2024. Tamarov, Vladislav. “Afghanistan – A Russian Soldier’s Story” Ten Speed Press, 1992 Urban, Mark. „War in Afghanistan Second Edition” Macmillan, 1990. Меримский, В.А. “Загадки афганской войны” Вече, 2006. “MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION Between cde. M. S. Gorbachev and General Secretary of the CC NDPA, Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of DRA B. Karmal” Kremlin, 14 March 1985 https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB272/Doc%201%20Gorbachev-Karmal%20conversation.pdf »CREDITS Presented by: Jesse Alexander Written by: Jesse Alexander Director: Toni Steller Editing: Toni Steller, Philipp Appelt Motion Design: Philipp Appelt Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com Research by: Florian Wittig, Sofia Shirogorova Fact checking: Florian Wittig Executive Producer: Florian Wittig Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster Contains licensed material by getty images, picture alliance, and Reuters Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3 Music Library: Epidemic Sound 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. All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2026