The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

Residents of the KGB and GRU began to form operative teams immediately after theyreceived orders from Moscow to organize the surveillance of military activities in Kabul.They decided that each Residency would form two groups, each consisting of two men. TheKGB and GRU groups would enter the theater of military action simultaneously. Each groupwould have a cover story explaining what it was doing in the city. The pairs of operativesreceived a route for them to traverse across Kabul that would be approximately an hourand a half long. The operatives entering the city were not allowed to carry cameras,recording devices, or any other communication equipment. They were not even allowed totake notepads. These measures were taken to diminish the risk to the operatives in case oftheir arrest.Valery Starostin, a thirty-three-year-old KGB officer, worked undercover as the thirdsecretary of the Soviet embassy, dealing with cultural issues, intelligentsia, religiousofficials, and sports organizations. He was appointed by Osadchiy to go into the city in thesecond team. He was paired with an older colleague, an experienced and distinguishedintelligence officer. Osadchiy chose Valery because he was calm under pressure, spoke Darifluently and without any accent, and knew the city thoroughly. Valery, a passionateOrientalist, had explored every inch of Kabul on foot while he was still a student working asan interpreter.Once they received their assignment and instructions from the resident, Starostin andhis partner went to the common room to prepare for their departure. Meanwhile, VictorBubnov and Yuri Kitaev, who comprised the first group, walked towards their car parkedoutside the embassy.Peering through the window, Valery watched the GRU operatives, followed by his51