The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

Having returned to Kabul, Gorelov soon realized that he also was in line to pack hisbags. One of his colleagues mentioned to him that a group of officers headed by GeneralGus’kov, the deputy commander of the airborne troops, had been working in Afghanistanfor about a week. According to protocol, Gus’kov was to introduce himself to Gorelov, thesenior official from the Ministry of Defense, immediately upon arrival in Kabul. Besides,they were friends who had once been in charge of airborne divisions, so even informally,their rendezvous was inevitable. Now Gus’kov had arrived with the goal of conducting asurvey prior to a potential military intervention. Most probably, it was not recommendedfor him to communicate with Gorelov, who was suspected of sympathizing with Amin. Thiswas an ominous sign.Several days later, he received a call from the General Staff. “Your successor isarriving in Kabul. Prepare to relinquish your position.”Colonel General S.K. Magometov had been sent to Afghanistan from his formerposition as deputy commander of the Zabaikaliye Military District to replace Gorelov.Shortly thereafter, General Vasily Zaplatin, an admitted Amin sympathizer, was removedfrom his post. His recall to Moscow occurred in a somewhat mysterious manner.One December day, Zaplatin was speaking with officers at the Afghan MilitaryAcademy. Suddenly, in mid-lecture, he was informed that he had to leave immediately foran important conversation with the General Staff over a secure phone line. Zaplatinapologized to his audience for having to interrupt the class before dashing to the AskariClub. There, he was immediately connected to the deputy head of the Tenth ChiefDirectorate of the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Oshurkov.642