The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

“He thinks that he will recover soon. He is strong.”“Yes, of course,” Kryuchkov demonstrated his brilliant memory. “You know him well fromyour joint work in Israel.”Previously Medyanik had been the KGB resident in Tel-Aviv and Delhi.“But you are correct,” continued Kryuchkov. “Our business in Kabul should not be leftwithout a resident even for a few days, not under the current circumstances. Do you have anyrecommendations?”“We’ve given it some thought.” Medyanik looked at his colleagues as if inviting them tosupport his statement. “A group headed by Ershov should be sent to Afghanistan right away. IvanIvanovich knows the situation and the revolutionaries very well. Now would be the time to takeadvantage of his unique expertise. He can be useful to both our Residency and the Afghancomrades.”“When would they depart?”“We will try to do the paperwork as soon as possible. It will take about three days.”“Fine. See that it is taken care of.”Having finished the meeting, Kryuchkov asked Medyanik and General Leonov, who was thehead of the Department of Information Analytical Services, to stay. He knew that he would soonspeak with Andropov and, as usual, before talking to the chairman he wanted to discuss thesituation with colleagues once more to hear their opinions.“Well, Yakov Prokofievich, the Afghans didn’t listen to us. We told them in no uncertainterms not to touch Daoud and not to act in a rush. Look at how many innocent lives were lost: thepresident, his whole family, his ministers and guards, the generals loyal to Daoud.”Kryuchkov turned to Leonov.112