Russian servicemen have been on the territory of Syria for several years, where they carry out tasks to combat terrorists in the framework of assistance to the official authorities of this Middle Eastern country. But in fact, the history of our people's participation in the fight against terrorism in Syria did not begin in 2015. Back in Soviet times, our servicemen had to face terrorists face to face. And even bear losses …
The recently created Main Military-Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation proposed to assign the name of Alexei Terichev to one of the youth army detachments and a secondary school. Private of the Soviet Army Alexei Terichev died back in 1981, but by no means in Afghanistan, where by that time the Soviet Army was participating in battles against the Mujahideen. The life of Terichev, who was recruited from the Vologda region, was interrupted two weeks before demobilization in distant Syria, where a private was part of a contingent of Soviet troops and was on duty to guard the Soviet military town in Damascus.
A conscript from Vologda
Lesha Terichev grew up as an ordinary guy for his generation. He was born on October 18, 1961, lived in Vologda, graduated from the 4th secondary school, and then entered the vocational school number 29, received the profession of a carpenter-carpenter. He connected his future with this very necessary working profession. And after graduating from vocational school, he managed to work by profession for six months before he was drafted into the Soviet Army.
After "training" in the Leningrad region, Alexei Terichev was sent along with other colleagues on a long trip to the Syrian Arab Republic. There, a guy from Vologda was to carry out the security service of the Soviet military mission in the Syrian capital Damascus. Of course, the parents did not know anything about their son's business trip - at that time such information was carefully hidden even from the closest relatives. And Syria is not Afghanistan, and many Soviet people dreamed of visiting abroad at that time. There was a risk factor, of course, but where is it not in military service? And the guards for the protection of the embassy were hardly considered by the young soldier as some kind of super-dangerous mission. And until a certain time it really was. But in fact, Soviet soldiers were not sent to Syria in vain.
Syria in the early 1980s: rampant terrorism
In the late 1970s, the situation in Syria, which by this time was one of the USSR's closest allies in the Middle East, became seriously aggravated. On the one hand, it did not stop its hostile actions against the SAR of Israel. On the other hand, Islamic radicals became more active, who dreamed of overthrowing Hafez Assad, who was in power in the country, a representative of the Alawite national minority and a secularly oriented person.
In Syria, the number of terrorist attacks against the command of the Syrian armed forces, especially the air force and air defense of the country, from which Hafez al-Assad was a native, has sharply increased.
Militants of radical organizations staged attempts on the life of Syrian military personnel, civilian officials, and then moved on to actions against Soviet citizens who were in Syria - diplomats, engineers and technicians, military personnel and members of their families.
In this regard, the chief military adviser in Syria, General Budakov, forbade Soviet citizens to move around the country without an armed escort. But this measure did not help much either. Thus, in the city of Hama, as a result of an ambush, four Soviet officers were killed. In Damascus, militants organized an explosion of the General Staff of the Air Force and Air Defense of Syria, as a result of which about 100 Syrian servicemen were killed, 6 Soviet military specialists were wounded, including Major General N. Glagolev, adviser to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Air Defense.
The main role in attacks on government agencies, officials, Soviet citizens was played by the Muslim Brotherhood party, which was secretly supported by the American special services. The radicals became more active after the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Terrorist attacks against government agencies and Soviet citizens became so frequent that Soviet military counterintelligence officers were sent to Syria, working together with representatives of the Syrian special services. But their efforts were not enough to reduce the wave of terror in the country. The attacks and sabotage continued, and the Soviet servicemen had only to take additional measures to protect their military facilities and themselves.
Blue House
The office of the chief military adviser of the USSR under the command of the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic was located in the city of Damascus. He was in a multi-storey building, popularly nicknamed the "Blue House". The offices of the military advisers were located on two floors, while the other ten floors were occupied by military advisers, military specialists and translators with their families. After all, many officers brought wives and children from the Soviet Union, not wanting to be separated from their relatives for the duration of a long business trip.
Geographically, the "Blue House" was located in the area of the exit from Damascus towards Homs. Its isolated position played an important role in ensuring the safety of the facility. Since the building was somewhat distant from the recently erected residential buildings, it was surrounded by a concrete fence. Cubes were installed along the fence, and barriers blocked the entrance to the makeshift courtyard. The outer perimeter of the residence of the military advisers was guarded by Syrian soldiers, while inside the facility, Soviet soldiers were on duty. Both the Syrians and our guys were armed with automatic weapons.
The checkpoint at the entrance to the courtyard and the only entrance of the "Blue House" were separated by some hundred meters. Separately, it should be noted that right at the entrance to the residence there was a hatch to an underground tank where fuel oil was stored, which was used in the winter months to organize heating of the facility. If someone managed to set up an explosion over a tank with fuel oil, then a multi-storey building would instantly burst into flames like a matchbox. And the number of victims would have gone to dozens, if not hundreds of dead and wounded.
This is exactly the plan that the terrorists were hatching when they received information about how the Blue House was arranged. But for the implementation of the plan, it was required to get into the territory of the object, and the residence of the Soviet military advisers was guarded quite adequately. Moreover, the internal guard was made up of Soviet soldiers, and if, in theory, there could still be sympathizers among the Syrians in the external guard, then how could one penetrate the territory guarded by vigilant Soviet servicemen? And yet the terrorists decided not to wait for a better moment, but to act. It was decided to attack the Soviet residence in early October 1981.
Attack on a military town
On October 5, 1981, Private Alexei Terichev took up his regular duty at the checkpoint at the entrance to the Blue House. In 13 days, Alexei was supposed to be twenty years old, and there was not far off the cherished demobilization.
At lunchtime, a bus with children drove up to the checkpoint. These were the children of Soviet military specialists returning from school at the Soviet embassy. The children were greeted by their mothers, who took them to their apartments. Preschool children played in the playground by the pool. Having closed the barrier behind the bus, Private Terichev prepared to meet the next bus - with the military advisers themselves, who were also in a hurry for lunch. And at that moment, automatic fires were heard.
A truck crashed into the barrier at high speed, and a man who was in the truck next to the driver was shooting. The first shots killed a Syrian soldier who was on duty to protect the outer perimeter - Arisman Nael. His colleagues opened fire on the car. Private Terichev also began to shoot. He was able to shoot the truck driver in the first turn. After that, the car stopped right at the gates of the military town. The terrorist who was sitting next to the driver was also destroyed by the shots of a Soviet soldier. However, there was one more terrorist who served as a cover and sat down with a sniper rifle on the roof of a neighboring house.
At the same moment, Private Terichev flinched from pain in his legs - he was hit by a bullet from a sniper who fired from the roof of a neighboring house. A 10-year-old girl clung to the wounded soldier - the daughter of one of the specialists named Yulia, who, to her misfortune at the time of the attack, was playing near the checkpoint. Terichev had time to crawl away from the truck, but at that moment an explosion thundered. It was so strong that glass flew out on all 12 floors of the Blue House. More than 100 Soviet servicemen and their families were injured.
Nineteen-year-old private Alexei Terichev and ten-year-old girl Yulia died immediately. But at the cost of his own life, the Soviet soldier managed to prevent much more terrible consequences - if a truck filled with a huge amount of explosives drove into the territory of the residence and exploded near the storage with fuel oil, it is difficult to even imagine how many victims there would be among military specialists, their wives and children.
Memory of the feat of the Soviet soldier
On February 16, 1982, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for the courage and courage shown in the performance of official duties on the territory of the SAR, posthumously awarded Alexei Anatolyevich Terichev the Order of the Red Star. The Syrian government posthumously awarded the Order of the Combat Commonwealth to the Soviet soldier.
Nevertheless, for Alyosha's family, the death of their son was a terrible shock. After 2 years, unable to withstand the experiences, Alexei's father Anatoly Terichev also passed away. But in his native Vologda, the feat of his fellow countryman, accomplished many years ago, is still remembered. So, in school number 4, where Alexei Terichev studied, a stand of his memory was equipped, and a memorial plaque was opened in the construction college. For the first-year students of the school, the lesson "Syrian Autumn" is held, where they talk about the feat of a simple Vologda guy in distant Syria.
It should be noted that they remember the feat of the Soviet soldier in Syria. In 2001, twenty years after the tragedy of October 5, 1981, at the site of the death of a Soviet soldier, a monument was erected - one for two - to the soldier of the Soviet Army Alexei Terichev and the soldier of the Armed Forces of the Syrian Arab Republic Arisman Nael. On the monument there is an inscription - "On this place on October 5, 1981, soldiers of the armies of the SAR and the USSR were killed, defending the house of Soviet specialists."
Recently, the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation proposed to assign the name of Private Alexei Terichev to one of the Yunarmiya detachments and Vologda vocational school No. 29.
The memory of the feat of Alexei Terichev, of the military cooperation of Soviet and Syrian soldiers is especially relevant today, when Russian military personnel are fighting in faraway Syria against terrorists, providing assistance to the legitimate authorities of the country. Many of our compatriots, unfortunately, have already given their lives so that peace would come on Syrian soil and terrorists would never threaten civilians again. Years and decades pass, but the military duty remains and more and more generations of Russian soldiers remain loyal to it.
