Sharipov, Vladimir Salimovich

Start service

Born in Dushanbe ^[1] . Father - Salim Sharipov, a Tajik, a veteran of World War II, holder of many orders and medals, for 26 years headed the DOSAAF of the Tajik SSR ^[2] . Mother - Russian by nationality ^[1] . He graduated from the Sverdlovsk Suvorov Military School in 1970 and the Tashkent Higher Military Command School named after V. I. Lenin in 1974. He served in the 15th separate special purpose brigade (military unit 64411) since February 1979, was a candidate for the master of sports in motocross and a master of sports for pistol shooting ^[1] . During the whole of 1979, Senior Lieutenant Sharipov, as part of the so-called "Muslim battalion" of the GRU (154th separate detachment of special purpose with the GRU USSR), participated in exercises at the testing grounds of the Tashkent Higher All-Arms and Chirchik Tank Schools, where they studied the principles of building defense and combat in urban environments ^[1] .

Storming Amin's Palace

After completing the training, at the height of the holidays, Sharipov received a telegram to arrive at the unit, and in December 1979, Sharipov met with the brigade commander.Kh. T. Khalbaev named the names of volunteers who were then selected to prepare for the operation in Afghanistan. The personnel of the "Muslim" battalion arrived in Bagram , received weapons and ammunition at their disposal, and then several of his men (including Sharipov) went to Kabul for reconnaissance. According to the general plan, the battalion was to seize the residence of Amin in the city, as well as the building of Kabul radio and television (they wanted to send Sharipov’s company there). However, Amin left Kabul on the appointed day of the operation, December 14, and she was transferred to a later date. It was decided to send a battalion to Kabul to guard the Taj Beck palace, Amin’s new residence, in order to mislead its master ^[1] . By the day of the attack, December 27 , the battalion was equipped not only with weapons, but also with body armor and additional equipment - the Alpha and Zenit special forces were to assist him in the operation; several officers of the KGB and the GRU were also sent to the battalion for reconnaissance in the Amin Palace. Preparations for the assault were carried out in front of the Afghans, who were told that military training was under way. On the night before the operation, GRU Colonel V. V. Kolesnik , who led the operation and made the plan of the operation, through his man gave Sharipov a plan of action for his group - to drive up to the BMP, open fire and “cordon off the building so that no one left” ^{[ 1]} .

December 27, 1979 at 19:00 ^[1] began the assault on the palace of Amin . Sharipov was a member of the 2nd battle group ^[3] "Thunder" together with the Alpha soldiers and 25 soldiers of the 3rd company of the 154th separate special forces unit ^[1] , who advanced seven BMP to the palace ^[4] . The personnel managed to suppress the fire of the defenders of the palace, repelling the counterattacks of the residence’s guards, and under the cover of the BMP, the Alpha fighters went to storm. Sharipov took the place of the driver in BMP No. 030 ^[5] ; during the battle, he was damaged by a radio station to communicate with the battalion commander, and Sharipov himself was seriously wounded in his left thigh, but kept on his feet until the end, puncturing himself for painkillers ^[1] . 43 minutes after the start of the operation, he reported to the command about the liquidation of Amin and was evacuated to the BMP in the hospital ^[4] : later, in 1982, one of the Alpha officers thanked Sharipov for timely reporting on the liquidation of Amin, because if he was late for 7 minutes hit the palace was the MLRS ^[1] .

Further service

Because of the incompetence of the doctors, the wounded Sharipov was sewn up with a through wound, which was impossible to do, according to medical recommendations. For participation in the taking of the palace and the liquidation of Khafizulla Amin, Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Sharipov was awarded the Order of Lenin ^[2] , although they initially wanted to submit him to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union. Rewarding the title of Hero broke down because of the vanity of the secretary of the party organization, who received a medal for participation in the operation, but demanded the award of the order, because he was an acting officer. The party organizer dissatisfied with the award wrote a denunciation, accusing the soldiers of looting after the battle, and as a result, the orders submitted to the orders lowered the rank of the award by one step. As a result, the battalion soldiers were awarded seven orders of Lenin, having lost the promised Golden Stars: the personnel of the Sharipov company were awarded one Order of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, twelve Orders of the Red Star and medals. The personnel signed a non-disclosure of state secrets, although after the start of the publicity policy, information about the storming of Amin’s palace came to the official press ^[1] .

In subsequent years, Sharipov commanded the airborne assault battalion of the 66th Motorized Rifle Brigade, until it was recalled back ^[1] . He graduated from the Military Academy named after MV Frunze, served in the intelligence department of the Baltic Military District in Tallinn . In 1987 he became commander of a motorized rifle regiment, served in this position for six years, and then, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, he was appointed deputy commander of the 11th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Belarus. Despite the failed award of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, Sharipov was awarded a number of state awards and retired in 1994. In 1992, rejected the proposal to head the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan in connection with the unstable situation in the country ^[2] and the proposal to head the 201st motorized rifle division ^[1] .

• Abdullaev R. I. Time has chosen us. - Tashkent, 2014.

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