Now, in retirement, he continues to hold in his heart the events that took place from 1986 to 1988. Turmush correspondent spoke with the former internationalist soldier.
Zamir was born in 1968. After finishing school in the village of Taldy-Suu, he trained as a driver, a profession that soon played a key role in his military service. In April 1986, he was drafted into the army. His first steps toward the front began with a training unit near Grozny, where recruits underwent three months of preparation. In August of that same year, they were flown to Kabul.
“When we were young soldiers, the fear of war was immense, but over time it dulled,” Akmatov recalls.
He was assigned as a driver of an armored vehicle that accompanied convoys carrying food and ammunition. This task was extremely dangerous: the enemy often attacked both the "head" and the "tail" of the convoy.
But not only enemy bullets and mines were the soldiers' foes; harsh natural conditions also threatened their lives. In summer, temperatures rose to +50°C. Raw water was prohibited: it was boiled, chlorinated, and only then cooled, but even such measures did not always help. 80% of the personnel fell ill with jaundice, and Zamir himself suffered from malaria four times.
One of the veteran's most difficult memories is related to his return home. The anticipation of reuniting with loved ones was overshadowed by fear: “A plane with 108 of my comrades took off in front of us. It exploded right in the air... No one survived,” the veteran recalls sadly.
They left Kabul on May 29, 1988. When the flight attendants announced crossing the border of the USSR over Tashkent, the soldiers, without coordinating, began tossing their caps into the air — this gesture symbolized the victory of life over death.
After returning to his homeland, Zamir Akmatov worked at a fish factory and then spent many years at the Tyup forestry. In 1994, he started a family and, together with his wife, raised a son and four daughters.
