Image source: vestnik-rm.ru
In October 1996, I had to visit Tajikistan near the location of the tank unit of the brigade of the rebel Colonel Mahmud Khudoiberdyev. The fighters were just engaged in maintenance of equipment: they cleaned the trunks, dug into the engines, changed the tracks of the tracks of one tank.
I was surprised that T-72AV tanks with laser rangefinders and dynamic protection were in service. At the same time, the forces of the 201st Division, which, interacting with the Russian border guards of the Panj detachment, defended the border with Afghanistan, had "seventy-second" practical first releases, not that without dynamic protection, with monolithic, not multilayer armor towers.
The sights are outdated, with optical, difficult-to-handle rangefinders.
Khudoiberdyev was constantly in conflict with the central authorities and mafia groups. Many of the locals considered him a bandit, although there were those who sympathized with him.
In August 1997, the colonel staged a small civil war in the country using heavy artillery, BM-21 "Grad", armored vehicles. According to an eyewitness, the fighting was very intense: before his eyes, an anti-tank guided missile hit the T-72AV, and the ammunition exploded, after which the tower flew off a dozen meters.
In the end, the government forces managed to take over, and Khudoyberdiyev and some of his supporters escaped. Then he tried to storm Khujand, but again suffered a serious setback. By the way, the old T-72 "Ural", which were in the hands of the legitimate authorities, took part in the defeat of the rebels.
Lev Romanov
