Battle for Hill 3234

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Battle for Hill 3234
Part of the Soviet war in Afghanistan
View from the hill 3234, a photo from personal files of S.V.Rozhkov.
Date January 7, 1988 - January 8, 1988 Location Khost Province, Afghanistan Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
9th Company, 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment (VDV)	Afghan mujahideen
Commanders
Senior Lieutenant Sergey Borisovich Tkachev	Jalaluddin Haqqani
Strength
39[1]	200[2]-400[3] (Soviet est.)
Casualties and losses
6 killed, 28 wounded[1]	~90 (Soviet estimate)

Battle for Hill 3234 was a defensive battle fought by the Soviet paratroopers in Afghanistan in 1988 against the much larger Afghan rebel force.

Contents 1 Background 2 The Battle 3 Casualties 3.1 Soviet Union 3.2 Mujahideen 4 Mass culture 5 Notes

[edit] Background

In November 1987 the Soviet 40th Army under General Boris Gromov began Operation Magistral to open the road from Gardez to Khost near the Pakistani border. Khost had been cut off for months by mujahideen led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and had to be resupplied by air.

[edit] The Battle

v • d • e Soviet war in Afghanistan U.S. involvement – Storm-333 – Khost – Panjsher – Maravar Pass – Badaber Uprising – Zhawar – Jaji – Magistral – Hill 3234 – Arrow – Soviet withdrawal

To cover the Soviet armored columns reopening the road, Soviet paratroop units of the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment led by Colonel Valery Vostrotin leapfrogged ahead seizing strategic heights and ridges. In one of these operations on January 7, 1988, the 9th Company of the 345th Regiment landed on a hill known only as "3234" due to its height in meters.

Shortly after landing on Hill 3234, the 39-man unit came under attack by a coordinated and well-armed force of 200-400 mujahideen. During the ensuing battle the Soviet unit was in constant communication with headquarters and got everything the leadership of 40th Army had to offer in terms of artillery support, ammunition, reinforcements, and helicopter evacuation of the wounded.^[4]

The first attack came at 15:30 on January 7th and was followed by 11 more attacks until just before dawn on January 8th, when the mujahideen withdrew leaving Hill 3234 in the hands of the Soviet paratroopers. The exhausted and mostly wounded Soviets were nearly out of ammunition after the final attack and may not have been able to withstand a 13th assault.

[edit] Casualties

[edit] Soviet Union

The Soviet forces sustained 34 casualties (out of a force of 39 men), including 6 men killed and 28 injured. Two of the killed soldiers, Alexandrov Vyacheslav Alexandrovich and Melnikov Andrey Alexandrovich, were posthumously awarded the golden star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. All of the paratroopers after this battle were given the Order of the Red Banner and Order of the Red Star.^[1]

Name and rank	Details	Awarded medal
Officers[1][5]
Tkachyov Sergey Borisovich Senior Lieutenant	Deputy Commander of the 9th Company. Birth place: Bryansk. Commanded the 9th Company men.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Gagarin Viktor Yuryevich Senior Lieutenant	1st Platoon Commander.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Babenko Ivan Pavlovich Senior Lieutenant	Commander of the artillery observer team.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Rozhkov Sergey Vladimirovich Senior Lieutenant	2nd Platoon Commander.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Matruk Vitaly Vasilyevich Senior Lieutenant	Deputy Commander of the 9th Company.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Kozlov Vasily Praporshchik	Starshina of the 9th Company.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Sergeants and soldiers[1][5]
Alexandrov Vyacheslav Alexandrovich Junior Sergeant	Commander of the NSV machine gun squad. Birth place: Orenburg Oblast, Izobilnoe. Killed while covering the positional movements of the 1st platoon men during the 1st attack. In the judgement of his brothers in arms, his feat consists in the fact that "by his decisive actions he got the precious minutes to the platoon just to get over."[6]	Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously)
Bobko Sergey Private	Medic.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Borisov Sergey Sergeant	Rifleman. Injured.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Borisov Vladimir Private	Injured.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Verigin Vladimir Senior Sergeant		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Dyomin Andrey Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Karimov Rustam Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Kopyrin Arkadiy Private	Rifleman of the NSV machine gun squad.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Kriptoshenko Vladimir Olegovich Junior Sergeant	Rifleman. Birth place: Minsk Oblast, Krupki. Killed by grenade explosion.	Order of the Red Banner (posthumously), Order of the Red Star (posthumously)
Kuznezov Anatoly Yuryevich Private	Rifleman. Killed in action.	Order of the Red Banner (posthumously), Order of the Red Star (posthumously)
Kuznezov Andrey Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Korovin Sergey Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Lash Sergey Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Melnikov Andrey Alexandrovich Private	Machine gunner. Birth place: Mogilyov. Killed in action.	Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously)
Menteshashvili Zurab Private	Rifleman.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Muradov Nurmatdzhon Nimanovich Private	Sniper.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Medvedev Andrey Private	Artillery observer.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Ognev Nikolay Private	Rifleman. Injured.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Ob'edkov Sergey Private	Rifleman of the NSV machine gun squad.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Peredelsky Viktor Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Puzhaev Sergey Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Salamaha Yury Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Safronov Yury Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Suhoguzov Nikolay Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Tichonenko Igor Private	Rifleman.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Trutnev Pavel Private	Birth place: Kemerovo. Injured.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Shchigolev Vladimir Private	Rifleman.	Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Fedotov Andrey Alexandrovich Gefreiter	Radioman of the artillery observer team. Birth date: 29 September 1967. Birth place: Kurgan Oblast, M. Dyuryagino. [1] Killed during the initial intensive bombardment of the hill by the RPG burst occurred on the top of a tree. His pierced radio station is kept in the Central Armed Forces Museum, Russia [7].	Order of the Red Banner (posthumously), Order of the Red Star (posthumously)
Fedorenko Andrey Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Fadin Nikolay Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
Zvetkov Andrey Nikolaevich Junior Sergeant	Machine gunner. Birth place: Petrozavodsk. Killed in action.	Order of the Red Banner (posthumously), Order of the Red Star (posthumously)
Yazuk Evgeny Private		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star
???[8]		Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star

Andrey Drohanov- Was hit with an RPG frgment in the chest/ was unknown to have survived. he currently lives in Svetlavodsk Ukraine

[edit] Mujahideen

According to the Soviet estimates, the mujahideen lost approximately 90 men. Mujahideen had black uniform with rectangle black-yellow-red stripes.^[9][1] It was claimed by several sources that the mujahideen were actually members of the Black Storks, an independent commando division of the Pakistan Army.^[10][11]

[edit] Mass culture

The Russian / Finnish / Ukrainian movie The 9th Company released in 2005 was loosely based on this incident. In 2008, the Russian "documentary video game" The Truth About 9th Company was released.

[edit] Notes