Avdanin V.
PhD in History
Saint Petersburg City Administration

Abstract
Based on contemporary historiography, the reasons for the entry of the Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979 are reviewed, the factors that forced the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to directly get involved in a long-drawn-out armed conflict are analyzed, and the planned and factual scale of the military presence is reported. The author notes that the Soviet troops were not prepared for a prolonged military campaign in Afghanistan and had fundamentally different military-political objectives. In the author’s opinion, the entry of the Soviet troops into Afghanistan was the initial stage of their subsequent deployment to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. The unique role of the Soviet special forces in the events under review is also discussed.

Keywords: armed conflict in Afghanistan 1979–1989; Soviet-Chinese relations; history of Soviet foreign policy.