The Demob Chord

Vitaly Krivenko’s army fate resembles the fates of the heroes of the acclaimed film “9th Company.” First, Vitaly was trained in the “basics of military service” by strict sergeants and warrant officers at an all-arms training unit. Then, by order of 60А, he was sent to Afghanistan, to the 12th Guards Regiment of the province of Herat. He started as the senior master of artillery equipment, and later ended up in the 9th motor rifle company as a platoon commander. He survived everything that fell to his harsh soldier’s lot; he saw and remembered all the horrors and troubles of war—then he transferred those memories onto paper. That is how this novel was born. Today, he lives in the Far North, in the city of Noyabrsk, and works on the railway.

His parents bombarded the Ministry of Defense with letters: how could it be—only now, after receiving from their son the news, “Wait, I’ll come in a month.” Then came a zinc coffin. That’s why, in 1987, an order was issued: demobilized soldiers in Afghanistan were not to be sent to combat operations. But there weren’t enough people—and the demobilized themselves didn’t mind either: during a raid, time flies faster. So Yura, Hasan, Nurlan, and Ural—“the grandfathers of the Soviet Army,” the crew of the BTR-472—set out on the regimental operation. From first blood to last blood—this is the path of each soldier in that war.