In the last days of December 1979, a limited contingent of the USSR Armed Forces entered the territory of Afghanistan “... in order to provide international assistance to the friendly Afghan people, as well as to create favorable conditions for prohibiting possible Afghan actions by neighboring states.” This military action, which pursued rather vague goals and was planned for a short time, in practice for the Soviet people resulted in a bloody war that lasted nine years, one month and eighteen days, took the lives and health of about 55 thousand Soviet people, but did not bring those who blessed it the rulers of the desired victory.