From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Wed Feb 15 2006 - 11:29:45 EST
RUSSIAN DEFENSE CHIEF HAILS SOVIET 'HEROISM' IN AFGHANISTAN
Speaking at a ceremony commemorating the 17th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on 14 February that while there have been "repeated attempts" to "play down the heroism of the servicemen who fought in Afghanistan," he and the other heads of the Defense Ministry regard such attempts as "immoral," Russia's RTR television reported. Ivanov, while giving awards to former Soviet soldiers, said that some 3,000 orders and medals will be awarded to those veterans who, for various reasons, have not received their awards. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and withdrew its troops in 1989, by which time the Soviets lost an estimated 15,000 troops while nearly a million Afghans were killed. AT
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