Viktor Karpukhin
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Viktor Karpukhin was born in 1947 in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk. He joined the KGB's crack Alpha unit in 1979 and worked his way up to commander.
On December 23, 1979, Karpukhin led 38 soldiers of the "Alfa" anti-terrorist group, who along with 500 Soviet paratroopers, landed at Begram airport, next to Kabul, Afghanistan. Two days later, 40,000 Red Army soldiers poured over the Afghan border.
Stationed in the Soviet embassy in Kabul, which was in close range of president Hafizullah Amin's palace, Karpukhin's forces awaited further instuctions. On December 27, Karpukhin was ordered to take the presidential palace. In the ambush, two Soviet soldiers were killed, and Amin was shot to death. The following day, prime minister Babrak Karmal, took Amin's seat as president. Karmal was handpicked by Moscow. Karpukhin was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his role.
Karpukhin retired from the Alpha unit in 1991, and worked in various government and commercial ventures.