The last Soviet in Afghanistan
20 AUGUST 2012
“First tell us what you did in Afghanistan all those years. Then we'll decide whether or not we can shake hands,” said Gennady-Nikmamat's fellow soldiers after he had been assumed to be a traitor and disappeared for 29 years.
This is the unique story of Gennady-Nikmamat, a former Soviet soldier who was captured by the Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. He was presumed a turncoat, which carried a criminal penalty if he ever returned to his homeland. Thus he had no choice but to stay in Afghanistan and adopt a Muslim way of life.
Gennady-Nikmamat married an Afghan woman, had four children with her and has lived a full life, but he never abandoned the dream of returning home. After finally coming back to Ukraine to see his relatives and visit his parents' graves for the first time, he still can't decide whether it was better that he survived or if he should have ended up just another unknown soldier lost in the turmoil of war.
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Last comments
Ehssan omar October 18, 2012, 23:03
Mr.Gennady is victim of circumstances that was not in his control, he chose to live instead of being killed . The ones that think he is a traitor were never captured by the mujahideen so they don't know what Gennady experienced, I think he did the right thing by choosing to live.
sandeep August 23, 2012, 15:53
He is a soldier and never a traitor... easy to talk big on patriotism but the truth is a soldier is as much human being as any of us. there is nothing romantic associated with war.he did what he had to do to survive.politicians and capitalists wage war and in future it should be them who should be packed to warzone
Ash August 22, 2012, 15:49
This made me cry... Bless this man and may God or Allah grant him happiness. The expression on his face was of a human caught up on a journey, that none can imagine. As the curator said, he wondered off from his garrison to watch people pray and got captured by his enemy. That speaks of a normal curiosity in a young man, a teenager. The mujaheddin would have probably killed him, if he did not co-operate and did not accept Islam ( his Afghan /Muslim name loosely translates into Kindness / Peace ) Bless you Gennadii Nehk Momod Khan
khmer August 22, 2012, 15:49
Love the story, but it stops short of his return home to his family. I would like to see more about his return to his family after visiting his homeland. It is so sad that he went to meet his old friends, but they turned him down. They should welcome him even he deserted from his unit. Who wants to die in the war? He made the right decision. They should at least give him a hug. They're stubborn. They hurt his feeling.
It is a good story after all.
May lord Buddha protecting him and his family.
Good story.
From a Cambodian in Washington DC.
Chia A. Abdulkarim January 19, 2013, 01:09
I have noticed, from my personal experience, and questioning certain people who have lived in exile, that the most difficult obstacle they face, is suffering from alienation. everybody who lives in exile, thinks that he will be able to get back the place where he left. but in reality, once they go back to get that place, they will realize that it is gone forever, they only have it in their memories.