Viktor Fyodorovich Karpukhin (; October 27, 1947 – March 24, 2003) was a member of the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

who was instrumental in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

. He was born in the Ukrainian city of

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

. He joined the KGB's Alpha Group in 1967 and worked his way up to become its commander in 1988. On December 23, 1979, Karpukhin led 38 soldiers of the Alpha Group into

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, who along with 500 Soviet paratroopers, landed at

Bagram Airfield Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan), Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town ...

, next to the capital

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. Two days later, 40,000

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

soldiers poured over the Afghan border. Stationed in the Soviet embassy in Kabul, which was close to the

Tajbeg Palace Tajbeg Palace (; ; ''Palace of the Large Crown''), also inaccurately called the Queen's Palace, is one of the palaces in the popular Darulaman area of Kabul, Afghanistan. The stately mansion is located about south-west from the city's center. It ...

of President

Hafizullah Amin Hafizullah Amin (Dari/; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and ...

, Karpukhin's forces awaited further instructions. On December 27, Karpukhin was ordered to take the presidential palace. In the attack, two Soviet soldiers were killed, and Amin was shot to death. The following day, Prime Minister

Babrak Karmal Babrak Kārmal (Dari/Pashto: ; born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of general secretary of the People's Demo ...

took Amin's seat as president. Karpukhin was awarded the

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

medal for his role. Karpukhin retired from the Alpha Group in 1992 and worked in various government and commercial ventures.

References

1947 births 2003 deaths KGB officers Heroes of the Soviet Union People from Lutsk Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet major generals Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War {{hero-USSR-stub