http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/mia-the-russian-who-switched-sides/story-e6frg6so-1226128422700 MIA: the Russian who switched sides From: The Australian September 03, 2011 12:00AM FACING prison, beatings and the wrath of a Soviet colonel, Sergei Krasnoperov says he had no choice but to abandon his post and surrender to the enemy. It was the second time in a year that the young Russian conscript had been caught selling army supplies to the Afghans and he knew the punishment would be severe.
"If I hadn't escaped, they would have put me in prison," he says. "I had to escape and join the Mujaheddin. I climbed into the hills and found some fighters. They welcomed me and I joined them." It was 1984 and Russia was in the midst of a guerilla war against Islamist insurgents. More than a quarter of a century later, Private Krasnoperov, now 45, is known as Noor Mohammad. He learnt the local language, converted to Islam, married an Afghan woman, and still lives in Chaghcharan, in Afghanistan's central highlands, a few kilometres from his old base. They have six children, aged three to 16, and Mr Mohammad works part-time for the local electricity department, repairs lorry parts on a metal lathe and owns a 30 per cent share in a local tractor. "Life is not good in Afghanistan, but I have to stay here because I have a wife and children," he says. General Boris Gromov, the commander of the Russian army, claimed there was "not a single Soviet officer or soldier left behind" when he completed the Soviet withdrawal by walking over a bridge to Turkmenistan in 1989. But Alexander Lavrentyev, of Russia's War Veterans Committee, says 270 soldiers are still missing in action in Afghanistan: "Since 1991, we found 29 alive; 22 of that number returned home to the republics of the former Soviet Union,' he says. "Seven decided to stay in Afghanistan." Mr Mohammad says he fought with the insurgents against his old Russian comrades. "When I joined the Mujaheddin I wanted to show them what I could do," he said. "Tanks and helicopters were harassing us a lot, so I fixed their machine guns when they jammed and I repaired the artillery as well. We hit many helicopters and scared the pilots, so after a while they stopped coming." Apart from his eyes, he looks Afghan. He wears a plain white skull cap and has a fistful of beard. His face is weathered. Even the salopettes he wears in the height of summer - grubby blue with a bright pink waistband and sewn-in belt - were appropriate attire for an Afghan metalworker. Originally from Korgan, 1600km east of Moscow, Mr Mohammad has seen his mother once, when she visited in 1994, but speaks to her and his only brother regularly by telephone. He says he is well treated under the Taliban regime because its leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, admires the Russians who had converted to Islam. But he predicts the government will fall when NATO leaves. "Security has got a lot worse because NATO has put dishonest people in power," he says. "They are only thinking about how to line their own pockets. The warlords control this area, and they have made deals with the Taliban." The Times Related Coverage a.. Fifty Afghan militants die in raid Courier Mail, 22 Jul 2011 b.. Man in Afghan army uniform kills trooper Herald Sun, 16 Jul 2011 c.. Karzai leads mourners at brother's funeral The Australian, 13 Jul 2011 d.. NATO strike 'claims 13 civilians' Courier Mail, 7 Jul 2011 e.. Suicide bombers attack top Kabul hotel Adelaide Now, 28 Jun 2011 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: prole...@egroups.com Subscribe : proletar-subscr...@egroups.com Unsubscribe : proletar-unsubscr...@egroups.com List owner : proletar-ow...@egroups.com Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: proletar-dig...@yahoogroups.com proletar-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: proletar-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
