The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

that would last up to six months. Certainly, the general would have liked to know where hisoperative was going, but he suppressed his curiosity and simply wished him success.Kurilov shook the general’s hand and headed to the accounting office to receive theallowance for his trip.He understood immediately that he was bound to return to Afghanistan. Hewelcomed the news with something like a sense of relief. He had gotten the bug of thatcountry’s magical pull after having been a witness to and a participant in that summer’sevents. His life and the mundane work in the Soviet Union paled in comparison to theunpredictable nature and thrill of lingering danger in Afghanistan. The urgency of thecoded message indicated that something quite serious was about to happen.The only problem arose before Kurilov’s departure. His wife Tatiana, as if sensingsomething was wrong, declared, “You’re not going anywhere.” When she understood thatshe had no say in the matter, she stopped talking to Valery. *Once he arrived at Balashikha, he was immediately surrounded by his fellow“saboteurs” with whom he had trained and graduated earlier. His friends had come from allover the Soviet Union and discussed excitedly where they might be sent. The nameAfghanistan was uttered repeatedly.The next day, the head of the school, Colonel Boyarinov, confirmed their guess. “Weare going to Afghanistan. Everybody stay here on permanent high alert.” Within a day, the“saboteurs” boarded a bus and were driven to the PGU headquarters in Yasenevo forfurther instructions. The first deputy head of intelligence, Kirpichenko, told them that aspart of the elite Zenit group, they were to fulfill a special task of great importance to the* Valery Kurilov would be seriously wounded during the operation to overthrow Amin on December 27, 1979.651