01-11-2012, 01:26 PM
Operation Storm 333 (Шторм-333) was the codename of the Soviet special forces operation on 27 December 1979 in which Soviet special forces stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Afghanistan and killed President Hafizullah Amin and his 200 personal guards. This was an operation linked to the Soviet invasion of the country.
Wikipedia says (using whatever size grain of salt is needed):
Now someone (I suspect one of the numerous enterprising capitalist churners-out of "commemorate" medals to commemorate every possible thing) have produced awards to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of this action. In addition to the two shown below, there is also a screwback version of the enameled star.
Yet, under contemporary "rules", these are wearable, so long as someone gives you a stamped certificate (and I haven't seen one of those, though I'm sure someone will make them up if there's a profit to be made).
Wikipedia says (using whatever size grain of salt is needed):
Quote:Taking part in the operation were 24 men from «Гром» ("Thunder") unit of Alpha Group, GRU, and 30 operators from another special KGB group: «Зенит» ("Zenith"). There were also 520 men from the 154th Separate Spetsnaz Detachment of the USSR Ministry of Defence, known as the "Muslim battalion" because it consisted exclusively of soldiers from the southern republics of the USSR, and 87 troops of a company of 345 Guards Airborne Regiment. These support troops were not issued armor or helmets, but one of them recalls that a magazine tucked inside his clothes protected him from an SMG bullet. The GRU and KGB units were clad in bullet-proof vests and helmets; this proved crucial, because Amin's personal guards were armed only with submachine guns, which were not able to penetrate the Soviet vests.
In the operation Alpha Group lost 2 men, Zenith group lost 3, the Muslim battalion 9, and the Air Landing company 5. More than 50 were wounded in total.
Now someone (I suspect one of the numerous enterprising capitalist churners-out of "commemorate" medals to commemorate every possible thing) have produced awards to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of this action. In addition to the two shown below, there is also a screwback version of the enameled star.
Yet, under contemporary "rules", these are wearable, so long as someone gives you a stamped certificate (and I haven't seen one of those, though I'm sure someone will make them up if there's a profit to be made).
