Storm-333 was the opening move in the Soviet-Afghan War, a
special-forces mission to seize Kabul and assassinate Afghan leader
Hafizullah Amin. At once a textbook success for the Spetsnaz and KGB and
the start of a terrible strategic blunder for the USSR, this is the most
authoritative history of the operation available in English.
Storm-333, the operation to seize Kabul and assassinate Afghan leader
Hafizullah Amin, was at once a textbook success and the start of a
terrible blunder. It heralded the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an
operation intended to be a short, largely symbolic show of force, yet
which quickly devolved into a gritty ten-year counter-insurgency which
Moscow was never able to win. Nonetheless, Storm-333 was a striking
success, and despite initial concerns from some quarters that it would
be impossible, it saw a relative handful of Soviet special forces drawn
from the KGB and the military seize the heavily defended presidential
palace, neutralize the city's communications and defenses, and open
Kabul to occupation. The lessons learned then are still valid today, and
have been incorporated into modern Russian military art, visible most
recently in the seizure of Crimea in 2014.
Written by a recognized expert on the Soviet security forces, drawing
extensively on Russian sources, and fully illustrated with commissioned
artwork, this is the most detailed and compelling study of this
fascinating operation available in English.
