During the war years in Afghanistan, more than 200 thousand military were received state awards

On Thursday, the 18th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan marks. The head of the Russian General Staff, Army General Yuri Baluevsky, said that more than 200 thousand generals, officers and soldiers who took part in hostilities in Afghanistan were awarded state awards.

“Unfortunately, so far there are still many combat orders and medals and remain nevertheless,” he said on Thursday in Moscow at the award ceremony to a group of military personnel who fought in Afghanistan.

Baluevsky said that the military department "intends to restore justice and make sure that every reward would find its hero." According to the general, "hundreds of thousands of our compatriots went through fire and death, learned to look into the face of danger, learned the true value of human life." “Unfortunately, we were shy too long for this, pretending that there was nothing like this. Moreover, at one time, attempts were made repeatedly to belittle the heroism of the“ Afghans ”, to shift the responsibility of politicians for their shoulders for the course and outcome of that undeclared nine years of war,” said the head of the General Staff.

“The leadership of the military department has always regarded and regarding these attempts as at least immoral. Moreover, the Ministry of Defense did and will do everything possible so that your military valor, the valor of your comrades would never forget,” Baluevsky assured.

In his opinion, "the country is obliged to take care of those who, on its orders, fulfilled their duty to the end." “And, of course, the merits of the“ Afghans ”should be appreciated,” he said.

On February 15, 1989, the commander of the 40th Army General Boris Gromov, the last of the Soviet soldiers, left Afghanistan.