ABSTRACT
Soviet-Afghan relations existed on a stable basis from the 1920s until 1978, when the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan violently seized power in Kabul with Soviet military assistance. This chapter seeks to conduct a preliminary analysis of Russia’s doctrinal response to counter-insurgency warfare in Afghanistan and Chechnya. It defines the three main principles involved in that doctrine: forward defense, lightning war, and continuous assessment of lessons learned. The chapter examines how these principles were manifested during the war in Afghanistan, the reform and reorganization of the Russian army after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the first battle for Grozny. The Soviet response was to develop a science of troop control which consisted of two principles: unity of command and interaction. Interaction at the tactical level was compromised by poor communications equipment and the failure to designate radio frequencies and use cyphers.
