The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

the revolution stem from the sharp social inequalities and intensification of class struggle.” Here,this was important: what happened in Kabul was no longer being called a coup, but a “nationaldemocratic revolution.”An hour later, Zaplatin walked into the reception room of the office of the secretary of theCentral Committee. However, the head of the International Affairs Department of the CentralCommittee did not receive him right away. As his assistant explained, Boris NikolayevichPonomaryov was called to see Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, and Zaplatin should confer instead withPonomaryov’s deputy, Rostislav Alexandrovich Ulyanovsky. Later, the general would be told thatthe 74-year-old Ulyanovsky was one of the key figures in the Oriental vector of Soviet politics. Hehad spent many years studying the southern underbelly of the Soviet Union: India, Pakistan, andAfghanistan. At a young age, he had worked at the Soviet embassy in Kabul. He was a well-knowntheoretician, had a PhD, and had authored many books. He was highly regarded by Orientalspecialists. Zaplatin was also told later about another important period from Ulyanovsky’s life. Hewas a victim of Stalin’s repression—he had spent five years in labor camps, and fifteen more inexile.But on that day in May, the general knew nothing about the man he was about to meet. If heever visited that building of the Central Committee, he would go to a different section, whichhoused the department in charge of administering defense issues.When the general entered the office, Ulyanovsky turned, smiled, and invited him to sit atthe large conference table in his office. Ulyanovsky was tall, gaunt, with a cap of white hair.Fortunately for the general, Ulyanovsky did not ask him any questions regarding the recent eventsin Afghanistan—Epishev’s blessing carried a lot of weight. The host sat across the table fromZaplatin, bidding Zaplatin to help himself to tea and snacks and explaining to him that there was141