Soviet-Chinese border conflict on Damansky Island- armed clashes between the USSR and the PRC on March 15, 1969 in the area of Damansky Island (Chinese: 珍宝, Zhenbao- “Precious”) on the Ussuri River, 230 km south of Khabarovsk and 35 km west of the regional center of Luchegorsk ( 46°29′08″ n. w. 133°50′40″ E. d. HGIO). The largest Soviet-Chinese armed conflict in modern history Russia and China.
Encyclopedic YouTube
1 / 4
Damansky Island. 1969
Border conflict on Damansky Island (1969)
Shot Island
Theory of misconceptions → Conflict on Damansky Island
Subtitles
Background and causes of the conflict
Damansky Island, which was part of the Pozharsky district of the Primorsky Territory, was located on the Chinese side of the main channel of the Ussuri. Its dimensions are 1500-1800 m from north to south and 600-700 m from west to east (area about 0.74 km²). During flood periods, the island is completely hidden under water, and the water meadows are valuable natural resource.. However, there are several brick buildings on the island.
Since the early 1960s, the situation in the island area has been heating up. According to statements from the Soviet side, groups of civilians and military personnel began to systematically violate the border regime and enter Soviet territory, from where they were expelled each time by border guards without the use of weapons. Initially to the territory of the USSR on the instructions Chinese authorities Peasants came in and demonstratively engaged in economic activities there: mowing and grazing livestock, declaring that they were on Chinese territory. The number of such provocations increased sharply: in 1960 there were 100 of them, in 1960 there were more than 5,000. Then Red Guards began to carry out attacks on border patrols. Such events numbered in the thousands, each of them involving up to several hundred people. On January 4, 1969, a Chinese provocation was carried out on Kirkinsky Island (Qiliqindao) with the participation of 500 people. [ ]
According to the Chinese version of events, Soviet border guards themselves “arranged” provocations and beat up Chinese citizens engaged in economic activities where they always did. During the Kirkinsky incident, Soviet border guards used armored personnel carriers to oust civilians, and on February 7, 1969, they fired several single machine gun shots in the direction of the Chinese border detachment.
However, it was repeatedly noted that none of these clashes, no matter whose fault it occurred, could result in a serious armed conflict without the approval of the authorities. The assertion that the events around Damansky Island on March 2 and 15 were the result of an action carefully planned by the Chinese side is now the most widespread; including directly or indirectly recognized by many Chinese historians. For example, Li Danhui writes that in 1968-1969, the response to “Soviet provocations” was limited by the directives of the CPC Central Committee; only on January 25, 1969, it was allowed to plan “response military actions” near Damansky Island with the forces of three companies. On February 19, the General Staff and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China agreed to this. There is a version according to which the leadership of the USSR was aware in advance through Marshal Lin Biao of the upcoming Chinese action, which resulted in a conflict.
In a US State Department intelligence bulletin dated July 13, 1969: “Chinese propaganda emphasized the need for internal unity and encouraged the population to prepare for war. It can be considered that the incidents were staged solely to strengthen domestic politics."
Chronology of events
Events of March 1-2 and the following week
Junior Sergeant Yuri Babansky took command of the surviving border guards, whose squad managed to covertly disperse around the island due to a delay in moving from the outpost and, together with the crew of the armored personnel carrier, took up fire.
“After 20 minutes of battle,” Babansky recalled, “out of 12 guys, eight remained alive, and after another 15, five. Of course, it was still possible to retreat, return to the outpost, and wait for reinforcements from the detachment. But we were seized with such fierce anger at these bastards that in those moments we wanted only one thing - to kill as many of them as possible. For the guys, for ourselves, for this inch that no one needs, but still our land.”Around 13:00 the Chinese began to retreat.
In the battle on March 2, 31 Soviet border guards were killed and 14 were wounded. The losses of the Chinese side (according to the assessment of the KGB USSR commission chaired by Colonel General N.S. Zakharov) amounted to 39 people killed.
At about 13:20, a helicopter arrived at Damansky with the command of the Iman border detachment and its chief, Colonel D.V. Leonov, and reinforcements from neighboring outposts, the reserves of the Pacific and Far Eastern border districts were involved. Reinforced squads of border guards were deployed to Damansky, and the 135th Motorized Rifle Division of the Soviet Army with artillery and installations of the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system was deployed in the rear. On the Chinese side, the 24th Infantry Regiment, numbering 5 thousand people, was preparing for combat.
For their heroism, five servicemen received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Colonel D.V. Leonov I. Strelnikov (posthumously), junior sergeant V. Orekhov (posthumously), senior lieutenant V. Bubenin, junior sergeant Yu. Babansky. Many border guards and military personnel of the Soviet Army were awarded state awards: 3 - Orders of Lenin, 10 - Orders of the Red Banner, 31 - Orders of the Red Star, 10 - Orders of Glory III degree, 63 - medals "For Courage", 31 - medals “For combat merits” .
Soviet soldiers were unable to return the damaged T-62, tail number 545, due to constant Chinese shelling. An attempt to destroy it with mortars was unsuccessful, and the tank fell through the ice. Subsequently, the Chinese were able to pull it to their shores, and now it stands in the Beijing military museum.
After the ice melted, the Soviet border guards' exit to Damansky turned out to be difficult, and Chinese attempts to seize it had to be thwarted by sniper and machine-gun fire. On September 10, 1969, a ceasefire was ordered, apparently to create a favorable background for the negotiations that began the next day at Beijing airport. Immediately, the islands of Damansky and Kirkinsky were occupied by Chinese armed forces.
On September 11 in Beijing, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. N. Kosygin, returning from the funeral of Ho Chi Minh, and Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai agreed to stop hostile actions and that the troops would remain in their occupied positions. In fact, this meant the transfer of Damansky to China.
On October 20, 1969, new negotiations between the heads of government of the USSR and the PRC were held, and an agreement was reached on the need to revise the Soviet-Chinese border. Then a series of negotiations were held in Beijing and Moscow, and in 1991 Damansky Island finally went to the PRC (de facto it was transferred to China at the end of 1969).
In 2001, photographs of the discovered bodies of Soviet soldiers from the archives of the KGB of the USSR, indicating facts of abuse by the Chinese side, were declassified, the materials were transferred to the museum of the city of Dalnerechensk.
Exactly 42 years ago, on March 2, 1969, the first shots of the Soviet-Chinese border conflict rang out on Damansky Island. The tragedy left a deep mark in the memory of the great neighboring nations. Looking to the future, we do not forget the past. ETERNAL MEMORY TO THE FALLEN HEROES OF THE BORDER! GLORY TO THE VETERANS OF 1969!
Disputed Island
Damansky Island, which sparked a border armed conflict, occupies 0.75 square meters in area. km. From south to north it stretches for 1500 - 1800 m, and its width reaches 600 - 700 m. These figures are quite approximate, since the size of the island greatly depends on the time of year. In the spring, Damansky Island is flooded with the waters of the Ussuri River and it is almost hidden from view, and in winter the island rises like a dark mountain on the icy surface of the river. From the Soviet coast to the island it is about 500 m, from the Chinese coast - about 300 m. In accordance with generally accepted practice, borders on rivers are drawn along the main fairway. However, taking advantage of the weakness of pre-revolutionary China, the tsarist government of Russia managed to draw the border on the Ussuri River in a completely different way - along the water's edge along the Chinese coast. Thus, the entire river and the islands on it turned out to be Russian. This obvious injustice persisted after the October Revolution of 1917 and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, but did not affect Sino-Soviet relations for some time. And only at the end of the 50s, when ideological differences arose between the Khrushchev leadership of the CPSU and the CPC, the situation on the border gradually began to worsen. Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders have repeatedly expressed the view that the development of Sino-Soviet relations presupposes a solution to the border problem. The “decision” meant the transfer of certain territories to China, including islands on the Ussuri River. The Soviet leadership was sympathetic to the Chinese desire to draw a new border along the rivers and was even ready to transfer a number of lands to the PRC. However, this readiness disappeared as soon as the ideological and then interstate conflict flared up. Further deterioration of relations between the two countries eventually led to open armed confrontation on Damansky.
Tension in the Damansky area increased gradually. At first, Chinese citizens simply went to the island. Then they started coming out with posters. Then sticks, knives, carbines and machine guns appeared... For the time being, communication between the Chinese and Soviet border guards was relatively peaceful, but in accordance with the inexorable logic of events, it quickly developed into verbal skirmishes and hand-to-hand brawls. The most fierce battle took place on January 22, 1969, as a result of which Soviet border guards recaptured several carbines from the Chinese. Upon inspection of the weapon, it turned out that the cartridges were already in the chambers. Soviet commanders clearly understood how tense the situation was and therefore constantly called on their subordinates to be especially vigilant. Preventive measures were taken - for example, the staff of each border post was increased to 50 people. Nevertheless, the events of March 2 were a complete surprise for the Soviet side. On the night of March 1-2, 1969, about 300 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) crossed to Damansky and lay down on the western coast of the island. The Chinese were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, as well as SKS carbines. The commanders had TT pistols. All Chinese weapons were made according to Soviet models. There were no documents or personal items in the Chinese's pockets. But everyone has a Mao quote book. To support the units that landed on Damansky, positions of recoilless rifles, heavy machine guns and mortars were equipped on the Chinese coast. Here the Chinese infantry with a total number of 200-300 people was waiting in the wings. At about 9.00 am, a Soviet border patrol passed through the island, but did not find the invading Chinese. An hour and a half later, at the Soviet post, observers noticed the movement of a group of armed people (up to 30 people) in the direction of Damansky and immediately reported this by telephone to the Nizhne-Mikhailovka outpost, located 12 km away south of the island . Head of the outpost st. Lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov raised his subordinates to the gun. In three groups, in three vehicles - GAZ-69 (8 people), BTR-60PB (13 people) and GAZ-63 (12 people), Soviet border guards arrived at the scene. Having dismounted, they moved towards the Chinese in two groups: the first was led across the ice by the head of the outpost, Senior Lieutenant Strelnikov, and the second by Sergeant V. Rabovich. The third group, led by St. Sergeant Yu. Babansky, driving a GAZ-63 car, fell behind and arrived at the scene 15 minutes later. Approaching the Chinese, I. Strelnikov protested about the violation of the border and demanded that the Chinese military personnel leave the territory of the USSR. In response, the first line of Chinese parted, and the second opened sudden machine-gun fire on Strelnikov’s group. Strelnikov’s group and the head of the outpost himself died immediately. Some of the attackers got up from their “beds” and rushed to attack a handful of Soviet soldiers from the second group, commanded by Yu. Rabovich. They took the fight and fired back literally to the last bullet. When the attackers reached the positions of Rabovich’s group, they finished off the wounded Soviet border guards with point-blank shots and cold steel. This shameful fact for the People's Liberation Army of China is evidenced by the documents of the Soviet medical commission. The only one who literally miraculously survived was Private G. Serebrov. Having regained consciousness in the hospital, he spoke about the last minutes of his friends’ lives. It was at this moment that the third group of border guards arrived in time under the command of Yu. Babansky. Taking a position some distance behind their dying comrades, the border guards met the advancing Chinese with machine gun fire. The battle was unequal, there were fewer and fewer fighters left in the group, and ammunition quickly ran out. Fortunately, border guards from the neighboring Kulebyakina Sopka outpost, located 17-18 km north of Damansky, came to the aid of Babansky’s group, commanded by Senior Lieutenant V. Bubenin. Having received a telephone message on the morning of March 2 about what was happening on the island, Bubenin put more than twenty soldiers in the armored personnel carrier and hastened to the rescue of the neighbors. At about 11.30 the armored personnel carrier reached Damansky. The border guards disembarked from the car and almost immediately encountered a large group of Chinese. A fight ensued. During the battle, Senior Lieutenant Bubenin was wounded and shell-shocked, but did not lose control of the battle. Leaving several soldiers at the site, led by junior sergeant V. Kanygin, he and four soldiers loaded into an armored personnel carrier and moved around the island, going behind the Chinese. The culmination of the battle came at the moment when Bubenin managed to destroy the Chinese command post. After this, the border violators began to leave their positions, taking with them the dead and wounded. This is how the first battle on Damansky ended. In the battle on March 2, 1969, the Soviet side lost 31 people killed - this is exactly the figure that was given at a press conference at the USSR Foreign Ministry on March 7, 1969. As for the Chinese losses, they are not reliably known, since the PLA General Staff has not yet made this information public. The Soviet border guards themselves estimated the total enemy losses at 100-150 soldiers and commanders.
After the battle on March 2, 1969, reinforced squads of Soviet border guards constantly came to Damansky - numbering at least 10 people, with a sufficient amount of ammunition. Sappers carried out mining on the island in case of an attack by Chinese infantry. In the rear, at a distance of several kilometers from Damansky, the 135th motorized rifle division of the Far Eastern Military District was deployed - infantry, tanks, artillery, Grad multiple rocket launchers. The 199th Verkhne-Udinsky Regiment of this division took a direct part in further events. The Chinese were also accumulating forces for the next offensive: in the area of the island, the 24th Infantry Regiment of the People's Liberation Army of China, which consisted of up to 5,000 soldiers and commanders, was preparing for battle! On March 15, noticing the revival on the Chinese side, a detachment of Soviet border guards consisting of 45 people in 4 armored personnel carriers entered the island. Another 80 border guards concentrated on the shore, ready to support their comrades. At about 9.00 on March 15, a loudspeaker installation started working on the Chinese side. A clear female voice in clear Russian called on the Soviet border guards to leave “Chinese territory”, abandon “revisionism”, etc. On the Soviet shore they also turned on a loudspeaker. The broadcast was conducted in Chinese and in rather simple words: come to your senses, before it’s too late, before you are the sons of those who liberated China from the Japanese invaders. After some time, there was silence on both sides, and closer to 10.00, Chinese artillery and mortars (from 60 to 90 barrels) began shelling the island. At the same time, 3 companies of Chinese infantry (each with 100-150 people) went on the attack. The battle on the island was focal in nature: scattered groups of border guards continued to repel attacks by the Chinese, who significantly outnumbered the defenders. According to eyewitnesses, the course of the battle resembled a pendulum: each side pressed back the enemy as reserves approached. At the same time, however, the ratio in manpower was always approximately 10:1 in favor of the Chinese. At about 15.00 an order was received to leave the island. After this, the arriving Soviet reserves tried to carry out several counterattacks in order to expel the border violators, but they were unsuccessful: the Chinese thoroughly fortified themselves on the island and met the attackers with heavy fire. Only at this point was it decided to use artillery, since there was a real threat of the complete capture of Damansky by the Chinese. The order to attack the Chinese coast was given by the first deputy. Commander of the Far Eastern Military District, Lieutenant General P.M. Plotnikov. At 17.00, a separate BM-21 Grad rocket division under the command of M.T. Vashchenko launched a fire strike at Chinese concentration areas and their firing positions.
This is how the then top-secret 40-barreled "Grad" was used for the first time, capable of releasing all the ammunition in 20 seconds. After 10 minutes of the artillery attack, there was nothing left of the Chinese division. A significant part of the Chinese soldiers in Damansky (more than 700 people) and the adjacent territory were destroyed by a firestorm (according to Chinese data, more than 6 thousand). There was immediately a buzz in the foreign press that the Russians had used an unknown secret weapon, either lasers, or flamethrowers, or who knows what. (And the hunt began for God knows what, which was crowned with success in the distant south of Africa 6 years later. But that’s another story...)
At the same time, a cannon artillery regiment equipped with 122 mm howitzers opened fire on identified targets. The artillery fired for 10 minutes. The raid turned out to be extremely accurate: the shells destroyed Chinese reserves, mortars, stacks of shells, etc. Radio interception data indicated hundreds of dead PLA soldiers. At 17.10, motorized riflemen (2 companies and 3 tanks) and border guards in 4 armored personnel carriers went on the attack. After a stubborn battle, the Chinese began to retreat from the island. Then they tried to recapture Damansky, but three of their attacks ended in complete failure. After this, the Soviet soldiers retreated to their shores, and the Chinese made no further attempts to take possession of the island.
Political settlement of the conflict
On September 11, 1969, negotiations between the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.N. Kosygin and the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai took place at Beijing airport. The meeting lasted three and a half hours. The main result of the discussion was an agreement to stop hostile actions on the Soviet-Chinese border and to stop troops at the lines they occupied at the time of the negotiations. It must be said that the formulation “the parties remain where they were before” was proposed by Zhou Enlai, and Kosygin immediately agreed with it. And it was at this moment that Damansky Island became de facto Chinese. The fact is that after the end of the fighting, the ice began to melt and therefore the border guards’ access to Damansky turned out to be difficult. We decided to provide fire cover for the island. From now on, any attempt by the Chinese to land on Damansky was stopped by sniper and machine-gun fire. On September 10, 1969, border guards received an order to stop firing. Immediately after this, the Chinese came to the island and settled there. On the same day, a similar story occurred on Kirkinsky Island, located 3 km north of Damansky. Thus, on the day of the Beijing negotiations on September 11, the Chinese were already on the islands of Damansky and Kirkinsky. A.N. Kosygin’s agreement with the wording “the parties remain where they were until now” meant the actual surrender of the islands to China. Apparently, the order to cease fire on September 10 was given in order to create a favorable background for the start of negotiations. The Soviet leaders knew very well that the Chinese would land on Damansky, and they deliberately went for it. Obviously, the Kremlin decided that sooner or later, a new border would have to be drawn along the fairways of the Amur and Ussuri. And if so, then there is no point in holding on to the islands, which will go to the Chinese anyway. Soon after the completion of the negotiations, A.N. Kosygin and Zhou Enlai exchanged letters. In them they agreed to begin work on preparing a non-aggression pact.
The final end to these Soviet-Chinese conflicts was only put in 1991. On May 16, 1991, an agreement on the eastern section of the border was signed between the USSR and the PRC. According to this agreement, the border was established along the main fairway of the rivers. Damansky Island went to the PRC...
Daman conflict
Prerequisites for the conflict
The history of the origin of the conflict goes back to 1860, when China (then the Qing Empire) ceded vast lands to Russia under the Treaties of Aigun and Beijing. Central Asia and Primorye.
After the Second World War on Far East The USSR received a very reliable and devoted ally in the form of the People's Republic of China. Soviet assistance in the war with Japan 1937-1945. and in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang forces made the Chinese Communists very loyal to the Soviet Union. The USSR, in turn, willingly took advantage of the created strategic situation.
However, already in 1950, peace in the Far East was destroyed by the outbreak of the Korean War. This war was a logical consequence of the Cold War that began four years earlier. The desire of the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA - to unite the Korean Peninsula under the rule of a friendly regime led to bloodshed.
Initially, success was entirely on the side of communist Korea. Her troops managed to break the resistance of the small army of the South and rushed deeper into South Korea. However, US and UN forces soon came to the aid of the latter, as a result of which the offensive stopped. Already in the fall of 1950, troops were landed in the area of the capital of the DPRK - the city of Seoul, and therefore the North Korean army began a hasty retreat. The war threatened to end with the defeat of the North as early as October 1950.
In this situation, the threat of a capitalist and clearly unfriendly state appearing on China’s borders has increased more than ever. Ghost civil war still hung over the PRC, so it was decided to intervene in the Korean War on the side of the communist forces.
As a result, China became an “unofficial” participant in the conflict, and the course of the war changed again. For very a short time the front line again dropped to the 38th parallel, which practically coincided with the demarcation line before the war. This is where the front stopped until the end of the conflict in 1953.
After the Korean War, the most noticeable thing in Sino-Soviet relations was China’s desire to break away from the “suzerainty” of the USSR in order to pursue its own, completely independent foreign policy. And the reason was not long in coming.
The gap between the USSR and China
In 1956, the 20th Congress of the CPSU was held in Moscow. The result was the refusal of the Soviet leadership from the personality cult of J.V. Stalin and, in fact, a change in the country’s foreign policy doctrine. China closely followed these changes, but was not enthusiastic about them. Ultimately, Khrushchev and his apparatus were declared revisionists in China, and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party radically changed the foreign policy course of the state.
That period in China is called the beginning of the “war of ideas between China and the USSR.” The Chinese leadership put forward a number of demands to the Soviet Union (for example, the annexation of Mongolia, the transfer of nuclear weapons, etc.) and at the same time tried to show the United States and other capitalist countries that the PRC was no less an enemy of the USSR than they were.
The gap between the Soviet Union and China widened and deepened. In this regard, all Soviet specialists working there were removed from the PRC. In the highest echelons of the USSR, irritation grew over the foreign policy of the “Maoists” (as the followers of Mao Zedong’s policies were called). On the Chinese border, the Soviet leadership was forced to maintain a very impressive group, aware of the unpredictability of the Chinese government.
In 1968, events took place in Czechoslovakia that later became known as the “Prague Spring.” A change in the political course of the country's government led to the fact that already at the end of August of the same year, the Soviet leadership was forced to intervene in this process in order to avoid the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. Troops of the USSR and other Warsaw Pact countries were brought into Czechoslovakia.
The Chinese leadership condemned the actions of the Soviet side, as a result of which relations between the countries deteriorated extremely. But as it turned out, the worst was yet to come. By March 1969, the situation for a military conflict was fully ripe. It was fueled by the huge number of provocations on the Chinese side that had taken place since the early 1960s. Not only the Chinese military, but also peasants often entered Soviet territory, demonstratively engaged in economic activities in front of the Soviet border guards. However, all violators were expelled back without the use of weapons.
By the end of the 1960s, full-fledged clashes involving military personnel from both sides took place in the area of Damansky Island and other sections of the Soviet-Chinese border. The scale and boldness of the provocations grew steadily.
The Chinese leadership pursued the goals not only and not so much of military victory, but of clearly demonstrating to the US leadership that the PRC was an enemy of the USSR, and therefore could be, if not an ally, then at least a reliable partner of the United States.
Fights March 2, 1969
On the night of March 1-2, 1969, a group of Chinese military personnel numbering from 70 to 80 people crossed the Ussuri River and landed on the western shore of Damansky Island. Until 10:20 am, the group remained unnoticed by the Soviet side, as a result of which the Chinese soldiers had the opportunity to conduct reconnaissance and plan further actions based on the situation.
At approximately 10:20 a.m. on March 2 Soviet post surveillance noticed a group of Chinese military personnel on Soviet territory. A group of border guards headed by the head of the 2nd outpost “Nizhne-Mikhailovka”, senior lieutenant I. Strelnikov, went to the site of the violation of the USSR border. Upon arrival on the island, the group split up. The first part, under the command of I. Strelnikov, moved in the direction of the Chinese military personnel standing on the ice at the southwestern tip of Damansky Island; another group under the command of Sergeant V. Rabovich moved along the coast of the island, cutting off a group of Chinese military personnel moving deeper into Damansky.
After about 5 minutes, Strelnikov’s group approached the Chinese military personnel. I. Strelnikov protested to them in connection with the violation of the state border of the USSR, but the Chinese suddenly opened fire in response. At the same time, another group of Chinese soldiers opened fire on V. Rabovich’s group, as a result of which the Soviet border guards were taken by surprise. In a short battle, both Soviet groups were almost completely destroyed.
The shooting on the island was heard by the head of the neighboring 1st outpost “Kulebyakiny Sopki”, senior lieutenant V. Bubenin. He decided to move with 23 fighters in an armored personnel carrier towards Damansky to help his neighbors. However, approaching the island, the senior lieutenant’s group was forced to take up defensive positions, because Chinese troops went on the offensive with the goal of capturing Damansky Island. Nevertheless, Soviet soldiers bravely and stubbornly defended the territory, not allowing the enemy to throw them into the river.
Realizing that this state of affairs could not continue for long, Senior Lieutenant Bubenin made a very brave decision, which essentially decided the outcome of the battles for Damansky Island on March 2. Its essence was a raid to the rear of the Chinese group with the aim of disorganizing it. On the BTR-60PB, V. Bubenin headed to the rear of the Chinese, skirting the northern part of Damansky Island, while inflicting serious damage on the enemy. However, Bubenin’s armored personnel carrier was soon hit, as a result of which the commander decided to get to the armored personnel carrier of the killed senior lieutenant I. Strelnikov. This plan was a success, and soon V. Bubenin continued to move along the lines of the Chinese troops, inflicting losses on the enemy. So, as a result of this raid, the Chinese command post was also destroyed, but soon the second armored personnel carrier was also hit.
The group of surviving border guards was commanded by Junior Sergeant Yu. Babansky. The Chinese failed to oust them from the island, and already at 13:00 the violators began to withdraw troops from the island.
As a result of the battles on March 2, 1969 on Damansky Island, Soviet troops lost 31 people killed and 14 wounded. The Chinese side, according to Soviet data, lost 39 people killed.
Situation March 2-14, 1969
Immediately after the end of the fighting on Damansky Island, the command of the Iman border detachment arrived here to plan further actions and suppress further provocations.
As a result, a decision was made to strengthen border guards on the island and deploy additional border guard forces. In addition to this, the 135th Motorized Rifle Division, reinforced with the latest Grad multiple rocket launchers, was deployed in the area of the island. At the same time, the 24th Infantry Regiment was deployed from the Chinese side for further actions against the Soviet troops.
However, the parties did not limit themselves to military maneuvers. On March 3, 1969, a demonstration took place at the Soviet embassy in Beijing. Its participants demanded that the Soviet leadership “stop aggressive actions against the Chinese people.” At the same time, Chinese newspapers published false and propaganda materials claiming that Soviet troops allegedly invaded Chinese territory and fired at Chinese troops.
On the Soviet side, an article was published in the Pravda newspaper, in which the Chinese provocateurs were branded with shame. There the course of events was described more reliably and objectively. On March 7, the Chinese embassy in Moscow was picketed and demonstrators threw ink bottles at it.
Thus, the events of March 2-14 essentially did not change the course of events, and it became clear that new provocations on the Soviet-Chinese border were just around the corner.
Fights March 14-15, 1969
At 15:00 on March 14, 1969, Soviet troops received an order to leave Damansky Island. Immediately after this, Chinese military personnel began to occupy the island. To prevent this, the Soviet side sent 8 armored personnel carriers to Damansky, upon seeing which the Chinese immediately retreated to their shore.
By the evening of the same day, the Soviet border guards were given the order to occupy the island. Soon after this, a group under the command of Lieutenant Colonel E. Yanshin carried out the order. On the morning of March 15, 30 to 60 Chinese artillery barrels suddenly opened fire on the Soviet troops, after which three companies of the Chinese went on the offensive. However, the enemy failed to break the resistance of Soviet troops and capture the island.
However, the situation was becoming critical. In order not to allow Yanshin’s group to be destroyed, another group under the command of Colonel D. Leonov came to its aid, which entered into a counter battle with the Chinese at the southern tip of the island. In this battle, the colonel died, but at the cost of serious losses, his group managed to hold its positions and inflict significant damage on the enemy troops.
Two hours later, the Soviet troops, having used up their ammunition, were forced to begin withdrawing from the island. Taking advantage of their numerical advantage, the Chinese began to reoccupy the island. However, at the same time, the Soviet leadership decided to launch a fire strike on enemy forces from Grad installations, which was done at approximately 17:00. The result of the artillery strike was simply stunning: the Chinese suffered huge losses, their mortars and guns were disabled, and the ammunition and reinforcements located on the island were almost completely destroyed.
10-20 minutes after the artillery barrage, motorized riflemen went on the offensive along with border guards under the command of Lieutenant Colonels Smirnov and Konstantinov, and the Chinese troops hastily left the island. At approximately 19:00, the Chinese launched a series of counterattacks, which quickly fizzled out, leaving the situation virtually unchanged.
As a result of the events of March 14-15, Soviet troops suffered losses of 27 people killed and 80 wounded. Chinese losses were strictly classified, but roughly we can say that they range from 60 to 200 people. The Chinese suffered the bulk of these losses from the fire of Grad multiple rocket launchers.
Five Soviet servicemen were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for their heroism in the battles on Damansky Island. These are Colonel D. Leonov (posthumously), Senior Lieutenant I. Strelnikov (posthumously), Junior Sergeant V. Orekhov (posthumously), Senior Lieutenant V. Bubenin, Junior Sergeant Yu. Babansky. Also, approximately 150 people were awarded other government awards.
Consequences of the conflict
Immediately after the end of the battles for Damansky Island, Soviet troops were withdrawn across the Ussuri River. Soon the ice on the river began to break, and the crossing was very difficult for the Soviet border guards, which the Chinese military took advantage of. At the same time, contacts between Soviet and Chinese troops were reduced only to machine-gun firefights, which ended in September 1969. By this time the Chinese had effectively occupied the island.
However, provocations on the Soviet-Chinese border after the conflict on Damansky Island did not stop. So, already in August of the same year, another major Soviet-Chinese border conflict occurred - the incident at Lake Zhalanashkol. As a result, relations between the two states reached a truly critical point - a nuclear war between the USSR and the PRC was closer than ever.
Another result of the border conflict on Damansky Island was that the Chinese leadership realized that it was impossible to continue its aggressive policy towards its northern neighbor. The depressing state of the Chinese army, once again revealed during the conflict, only strengthened this guess.
The result of this border conflict was a change in the state border between the USSR and China, as a result of which Damansky Island came under the rule of the PRC.
If you are tired of advertising on this site, download our mobile app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.news.android.military or below by clicking on the Google Play logo. There we reduced the number of advertising blocks specifically for our regular audience.
Also in the application:
- even more news
- updates 24 hours a day
- notifications about major events
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them
The Daman conflict of 1969 was an armed clash between the troops of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The name of the event was given by geographical position- the battle took place in the area of Damansky Island (sometimes mistakenly called the Damansky Peninsula) on the Ussuri River, which flows 230 kilometers south of Khabarovsk. It is believed that the Daman events are the largest Soviet-Chinese conflict in modern history.
Background and causes of the conflict
After the end of the Second Opium War (1856-1860), Russia signed an extremely beneficial treaty with China, which went down in history as the Treaty of Beijing. According to official documents, the Russian border now ended on the Chinese bank of the Amur River, which meant that only the Russian side could have full use of water resources. No one thought about the ownership of the deserted Amur islands due to the small population in that territory.
In the mid-20th century, China was no longer satisfied with this situation. The first attempt to move the border ended in failure. At the end of the 1960s, the leadership of the PRC began to assert that the USSR was following the path of socialist imperialism, which means that aggravation of relations could not be avoided. According to some historians, the Soviet Union cultivated a sense of superiority over the Chinese. Military personnel, as never before, began to zealously monitor compliance with the Soviet-Chinese border.
The situation in the area of Damansky Island began to heat up in the early 1960s. Chinese military and civilians constantly violated the border regime and entered foreign territory, but Soviet border guards expelled them without the use of weapons. The number of provocations grew every year. In the middle of the decade, attacks on Soviet border patrols by Chinese Red Guards became more frequent.
At the end of the 60s, scuffles between the parties ceased to resemble fights; first, firearms were used, and then military equipment. On February 7, 1969, Soviet border guards for the first time fired several single shots from machine guns in the direction of the Chinese military.
Progress of the armed conflict
On the night of March 1–2, 1969, more than 70 Chinese military personnel, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and SKS carbines, took up a position on the high shore of Damansky Island. This group was noticed only at 10:20 am. At 10:40 a border detachment of 32 people, led by senior lieutenant Ivan Strelnikov, arrived on the island. They demanded to leave the territory of the USSR, but the Chinese opened fire. Most of The Soviet detachment, including the commander, died.
Reinforcements arrived on Damansky Island in the person of Senior Lieutenant Vitaly Bubenin and 23 soldiers. The firefight continued for about half an hour. The heavy machine gun on Bubenin's armored personnel carrier was out of order, and the Chinese were firing from mortars. They delivered ammunition to Soviet soldiers and helped evacuate the wounded residents of the village of Nizhnemikhailovka.
After the death of the commander, junior sergeant Yuri Babansky took over the leadership of the operation. His squad was dispersed on the island, the soldiers took the fight. After 25 minutes, only 5 fighters remained alive, but they continued to fight. At approximately 13:00, the Chinese military began to retreat.
On the Chinese side, 39 people died, on the Soviet side - 31 (and another 14 were injured). At 13:20, reinforcements from the Far Eastern and Pacific border districts began to flock to the island. The Chinese were preparing a regiment of 5 thousand soldiers for the offensive.
On March 3, a demonstration took place near the Soviet embassy in Beijing. On March 4, Chinese newspapers reported that only the Soviet side was to blame for the incident on Damansky Island. On the same day, completely opposite data were published in Pravda. On March 7, a picket was held near the Chinese embassy in Moscow. Demonstrators threw dozens of vials of ink at the walls of the building.
On the morning of March 14, a group of Chinese military personnel moving towards Damansky Island was fired upon by Soviet border guards. The Chinese retreated. At 15:00 a unit of USSR army soldiers left the island. It was immediately occupied by Chinese soldiers. Several more times that day the island changed hands.
On the morning of March 15, a serious battle ensued. Soviet soldiers did not have enough weapons, and what they had was constantly out of order. The numerical superiority was also on the side of the Chinese. At 17:00, the commander of the army of the Far Eastern District, Lieutenant General O.A. Losik violated the order of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and was forced to introduce the secret Grad multiple launch rocket systems into battle. This decided the outcome of the battle.
The Chinese side in this section of the border no longer dared to undertake serious provocations and military operations.
Consequences of the conflict
During the Daman conflict of 1969, 58 people were killed or died from wounds on the Soviet side, and another 94 people were wounded. The Chinese lost from 100 to 300 people (this is still classified information).
On September 11 in Beijing, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. Kosygin concluded a truce, which in fact meant that Damansky Island now belongs to China. On October 20, an agreement was reached to revise the Soviet-Chinese border. Finally Damansky Island became the official territory of the People's Republic of China only in 1991.
The Soviet leadership failed to take advantage of Khrushchev's removal to normalize relations with China. On the contrary, under Brezhnev they worsened even more. The blame for this falls on both sides - from the second half of 1966, the Chinese leadership, led by Mao Zedong, organized a number of provocations on transport and the Soviet-Chinese border. Claiming that this border was forcibly established by the Russian tsarist government, it laid claim to several thousand square kilometers Soviet territory. The situation was especially acute on the river border along the Amur and Ussuri, where over a hundred years after the signing of the border treaty, the river fairway changed, some islands disappeared, others moved closer to the opposite bank.
Bloody events took place in March 1969 on Damansky Island on the river. Ussuri, where the Chinese fired on the Soviet border guard, killing several people. Large Chinese forces landed on the island, well prepared for combat. Attempts to restore the situation with the help of Soviet motorized rifle units were unsuccessful. Then the Soviet command used the Grad multiple launch rocket system. The Chinese were virtually wiped out on this small island (about 1700 m long and 500 m wide). Their losses numbered in the thousands. At this point, active hostilities virtually ceased.
But from May to September 1969, Soviet border guards opened fire on intruders in the Damansky area more than 300 times. In the battles for the island from March 2 to March 16, 1969, 58 Soviet soldiers were killed and 94 were seriously injured. For their heroism, four servicemen received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The Battle of Damansky was the first serious clash between the USSR Armed Forces and regular units of another major power since World War II. Moscow, despite its local victory, decided not to aggravate the conflict and give Damansky Island to the People's Republic of China. The Chinese side subsequently filled up the channel separating the island from their shores, and since then it has become part of China.
On September 11, 1969, on the Soviet initiative, a meeting of the heads of government of the USSR (A.N. Kosygin) and the PRC (Zhou Enlai) took place, after which protracted negotiations on border issues began in Beijing. After 40 meetings in June 1972, they were interrupted. The Chinese government chose to improve relations with the United States, Western European countries and Japan. In 1982-85. Soviet-Chinese political consultations were held alternately in Moscow and Beijing at the level of government representatives with the rank of deputy foreign ministers. There were no results for a long time. Soviet-Chinese relations were settled only by the end of the 80s.
SAILORS LIVE!
Our special correspondents V. Ignatenko and L. Kuznetsov report from the area of Damansky Island
Here, on the front line, as soon as the smoke of the last battle cleared, we were told about the exceptional courage of the Far Eastern border guard sailors. It was not on distant ocean meridians, nor on cruises on supercruisers and submarines that the sailors distinguished themselves these days. In the mortal battle with Maoist provocateurs on March 2 and 15, guys in pea coats stood shoulder to shoulder with the officers and soldiers of the outposts.
It is not difficult to recognize them among the military people of the border region: only the sailors have black sheepskin coats, and their hats and caps with anchors are pulled down somehow in a special way, seemingly casually, but within the framework of the regulations.
Fortunately, the sailors came out of the fire without losses. Shells and lead bursts lay nearby and lay over their heads. But, alive and unharmed, the guys rose to their height, shook off the hot, steaming earth and rushed into a counterattack... We saw these young Komsomol guys, in whose veins flows the blood of their fathers, the defenders of the legendary Malaya Zemlya.
We want to tell you about one sailor in particular. Long before dawn, on March 15, when there were all the signs of preparing a new provocation at Damansky, captain Vladimir Matrosov took up an observation post on a spit a few meters from the gently sloping shore of the island. He could see the provocateurs fussing about on the Chinese shore in the pre-dawn twilight. From time to time, the annoying sounds of engines could be heard: it must have been the guns being brought to the firing lines. Then silence again, viscous, cold.
A few hours later, the first burst hit from the Chinese side, then the second, the first shells exploded... The Maoists rushed in chains towards Damansky. Our fire weapons began to speak, and the vanguard of the Soviet border guards moved to the island.
I am "Break"! I am "Break"! How do you hear? The enemy is in the southern part of the island,” Sailors shouted into the radiotelephone. It was the turn of his combat mission. - How did you understand?
I am "Burav". You are understood!
A minute later our fire became more accurate, the Chinese wavered.
I am "Break"! I am "Break"! The enemy moved to the northeast. - Sailors did not have time to finish: a mine struck nearby. He fell into the snow. It's gone! And the phone is intact.
I am "Break"! I am "Break"! - Volodya continued. - How did you understand me?
And the earth shook again. Again the elastic wave pushed the sailor. And again I just had to shake the earth off myself.
Then Sailors got used to it. True, he had an unpleasant feeling that someone invisible from the other shore was watching him, as if he knew how much now depended on his, Volodina’s, adjustment of the fire. But again the call signs of “Obryv” were flying on the air...
He saw our border guards fighting on the island. And if suddenly one of our people stumbled and fell, he knew: it was Mao Zedong’s lead that threw the soldier to the ground. This was already the second battle in Matrosov’s life...
Captain Sailors kept in touch with the command post for several hours. And all this time he was the epicenter of a barrage of fire.
Vladimir, one might say, is a border guard from the cradle. His father, Stepan Mikhailovich, only recently retired with the rank of colonel of the border troops, and the younger Sailors, as long as he can remember, lived all the time on the edges of his native land, at outposts. From childhood, he knew the anxieties of the front line, and this region planted good seeds of masculinity and goodness in his soul, and over time, having become stronger, these seeds began to grow. When the time came for Vladimir to choose his fate, there was no doubt: he chose his father’s path. He studied and became an officer. He is now 31 years old. He's a communist. He received border training before being assigned to this area in the Kuril Islands. Probably, not one of the eleven sailors who took part in the battle on Damansky is now dreaming of receiving Matrosov’s party recommendation. After all, Vladimir became a communist at their age, and they went through their first baptism of fire together: a communist and Komsomol members.
In the division, senior officers told us: “Did you notice how similar our Sailors are…” And we, without listening to the end, agreed: “Yes, he is very similar to that legendary Alexander Matrosov.” Everything seems to happen on purpose. It seems that the journalistic move is naked to the limit. But no, what’s more important is not this amazing external similarity. The kinship of their characters - heroic, truly Russian - is seen a hundred times more clearly. More important is the identity of their high spirit, the fieryness of their hearts in difficult times.
Historians of the Great Patriotic War find new evidence of many exploits of privates, sergeants, and officers who repeated Matrosov’s feat. They died gloriously, and they became immortal, for the Russian warrior has this “sailor” vein, this spirit of victory even at the cost of his life.
Sailors Vladimir is alive!
May he live happily into old age. Let there be peace and harmony in his home, where his daughters are growing up: second-grader Sveta and five-year-old Katya. May they always have a dad...
N-division of maritime border guards
Red Banner Pacific
border district, March 20
YURI VASILIEVICH BABANSKY
Babansky Yuri Vasilievich - commander of the Nizhne-Mikhailovskaya border outpost section of the Ussuri Order of the Red Banner of Labor border detachment of the Pacific Border District, junior sergeant. Born on December 20, 1948 in the village of Krasny Yar, Kemerovo region. After finishing an eight-year school, he graduated from a vocational school, worked in production, and then was drafted into the border troops. Served on the Soviet-Chinese border in the Pacific Border District.
The commander of the Nizhne-Mikhailovskaya border outpost (Damansky Island) of the Ussuri Order of the Red Banner of Labor border detachment, junior sergeant Babansky Yu.V. showed heroism and courage during the border conflict of March 2 - 15, 1969. Then, for the first time in the history of the border troops after June 22, 1941, the detachment’s border guards took on battles with units of the regular army of a neighboring state. On that day, March 2, 1969, Chinese provocateurs, who invaded Soviet territory, from an ambush shot a group of border guards who came out to meet them, led by the head of the outpost, Senior Lieutenant I.I. Strelnikov.
Junior Sergeant Yuri Babansky took command of the group of border guards remaining at the outpost and boldly led them into the attack. The Maoists unleashed heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars and artillery fire on the brave handful. Throughout the entire battle, Junior Sergeant Babansky skillfully led his subordinates, shot accurately, and provided assistance to the wounded. When the enemy was driven out of Soviet territory, Babansky went on reconnaissance missions to the island more than 10 times. It was Yuri Babansky with the search group who found the executed group of I.I. Strelnikov, and at gunpoint from the enemy’s machine guns he organized their evacuation; it was he and his group, on the night of March 15-16, who discovered the body of the heroically deceased head of the border detachment, Colonel D.V. Leonov and carried him off the island...
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 21, 1969, junior sergeant Yu.V. Babansky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Gold Star medal No. 10717).
After graduating from the military-political school, Babansky Yu.V. continued to serve in the border troops of the KGB of the USSR in various officer positions, including during the fighting in Afghanistan. In the 90s, he was deputy chief of troops of the Western Border District, was a member of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, and was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of Ukraine.
Currently, Lieutenant General of the Reserve Yu.V. Babansky is a military pensioner and is involved in social activities. He is the chairman of the all-Russian organizing committee for the “Argun Outpost” action and at the same time is the chairman of the public organization “Union of Heroes”, Honorary Citizen of the Kemerovo Region. Lives in Moscow.
THE COUNTRY DID NOT KNOW YET
...They loved fire training at the outpost. We often went out shooting. And in recent months, time for study has become less and less. The Red Guards gave no rest.
Since childhood, Yuri Babansky was taught to consider the Chinese as brothers. But when he first saw the angry, hooting crowd, waving clubs and weapons, shouting anti-Soviet slogans, he could not understand what was happening. It took him a while to learn to understand that faith in the sacred bonds of brotherhood had been trampled upon by the Maoists, that people deceived by Mao’s clique were capable of committing any crime. The Chinese staged demonstrations with slogans of the “great helmsman.” Then they attacked the Soviet border guards with their fists. “This is how they were fooled,” thought Babansky. “But the fathers of our guys fought for the liberation of China and died for the People’s China.” There was a strict order: do not give in to provocations. Machine guns on your back. And only the courage and restraint of the Soviet border guards prevented the incidents from turning into a bloody conflict.
The Maoists acted more and more boldly. Almost every morning they went out onto the ice of Ussuri and behaved cheekily. provocative.
On March 2, 1969, border guards, as usual, had to expel the rampaging Maoists who crossed the border. As always, the head of the outpost, Ivan Ivanovich Strelnikov, came out to meet them. Silence. You can only hear the snow creaking under your felt boots. These were the last minutes of silence. Babansky ran up the hill and looked around. From the cover group, only Kuznetsov and Kozus ran after him. “I broke away from the guys.” Ahead, a little to the right, stood the first group of border guards - the one that followed Strelnikov. The head of the outpost protested to the Chinese, demanding to leave Soviet territory.
And suddenly the dry, frosty silence of the island was ripped open by two shots. Behind them are frequent bursts of machine gun fire. Babansky didn’t believe it. I didn't want to believe it. But the snow was already scorched by bullets, and he saw how the border guards from Strelnikov’s group fell one after another. Babansky pulled out a machine gun from behind his back and a magazine closed in:
Get down! Fire! - he commanded and in short bursts began to mow down those who had just shot his comrades point-blank. Bullets whistled nearby, and he shot and shot. In the excitement of the battle, I didn’t notice how I had used up all the cartridges.
Kuznetsov,” he called the border guard, “give me the store!”
They'll give you a ride. There's enough for everyone. Be on the left, and I'll go to the tree.
He dropped to his knee, raised his machine gun and fired aimed fire from behind a tree. Cool, calculating. Eat! One, two, three...
There is an invisible connection between the shooter and the target, as if you are sending a bullet not from a machine gun, but from your own heart and it hits the enemy. He got so carried away that Sergeant Kozushu had to shout several times:
Yurka! Who is it in camouflage suits, ours or the Chinese?
Kozus was firing to Babansky’s right; a large group of Maoists, who had taken refuge on the island since the evening, was moving towards him. They walked straight ahead. The distance was getting shorter every minute. Kozus fired several bursts and just had time to think that there weren’t enough cartridges when he heard Babansky’s command: “Save your cartridges!” and turned the lever to single fire.
Kozus! Be careful not to get passed on the right!
Like Babansky, he did not remain in place, changed positions and fired aimed fire. The cartridges were running out.
Kuznetsov! And Kuznetsov! - he called and looked towards where the border guard had just fired. Kuznetsov sat bent over with his head in his hands. The face is bloodless, the lower lip is slightly bitten. Lifeless eyes. A spasm squeezed her throat, but there was no time to grieve. I took the remaining cartridges from Kuznetsov. And then right in front of him, about thirty meters away, he saw a Chinese machine gun. Babansky fired and killed the machine gunner. Now we need to help Kozushu. Babansky acted quickly and accurately. He shot through the channel and fired at the enemy advancing from the right. The Chinese machine gun has a soldier again. Yuri fired again. He was glad that the machine gun never fired a single burst.
Kozus! Cover up! - Babansky commanded hoarsely and crawled towards his group, lying down in the lowland. He crawled along a pitted island, blackened by fire and iron. Mines howled, whistled, explosions roared. It flashed in my head: “How are the guys? Are they alive? How much longer can they hold out? The main thing is ammunition...” The guys lay in the lowlands, pinned down by fire. Babansky did not have time to feel fear - there was only rage in him. I wanted to shoot, to destroy the killers. He commanded the border guards:
Razmakhnin, to the tree! Observe! Bikuzin! Fire towards the parapet!
The border guards lay down in a semicircle, six meters from each other. The cartridges were divided equally. Five or six per brother. Shells and mines exploded. It seemed as if you took off from the ground - and you were gone. One bullet whistled past Babansky's ear. “Sniper,” flashed through my head. “We need to be careful.” But Kozus, who was covering him, had already removed the Chinese shooter. Suddenly the fire died down. In preparation for a new attack, the Chinese regrouped. Babansky decided to take advantage of this:
One at a time, a distance of eight to ten meters, dashing to the leading signs! Yezhov - to the armored personnel carrier! Let him support!
Babansky did not yet know that the river bed was under fire. I didn’t know whether Eremin, who he sent to the outlet (“Let them send cartridges!”) managed to inform the outpost of the commander’s order. The Maoists pressed on. Five Soviet border guards led by junior sergeant Yuri Babansky against an enemy battalion. The border guards took a more advantageous position - at the leading signs. The Chinese are no more than a hundred meters away. They opened heavy fire. This fire was supported by a mortar battery from the shore. For the first time for twenty-year-old boys, armed combat became a reality: life next to death, humanity next to treachery. You are against the enemy. And you must defend justice, you must defend your native land.
Guys, help is coming! Bubenin should come up. We must stand, because our land!
And Bubenin came to their aid. Using his armored personnel carrier, he invaded the rear of the Chinese, caused panic in their ranks and essentially decided the outcome of the battle. Babansky did not see the armored personnel carrier, he only heard the roar of its engines on the river, right opposite them, and understood why the enemy faltered and retreated back.
Run after me! - Yuri commanded and led the fighters to the northern part of the island, where the Bubeninites who arrived in time were fighting. “Five machine guns is also strength!” Babansky fell, froze, then crawled. Bullets whistled from all sides. The body tensed. Even if there was some kind of pothole, crater - no, the snow-covered meadow spread out like a tablecloth. Apparently, Yuri Babansky was not destined to die; apparently, he was “born in a vest.” And this time the shells and mines spared him. He reached the bushes and looked around: the guys were crawling behind him. I saw: help was coming from the Soviet shore in a deployed chain. Babansky sighed with relief. I wanted to smoke. It took some time for someone to find two cigarettes. He smoked them one after another. The tension of the battle had not yet subsided. He still lived with the excitement of the fight: he picked up the wounded, looked for the dead, and carried them out of the battlefield. It seemed to him that he was numb, unable to feel. But tears came to my eyes when I saw the face of Kolya Dergach, a fellow countryman and friend, disfigured by the Chinese. Late in the evening, completely tired, he turned on the radio at the outpost. There was music on the air. It seemed unthinkable, impossible, unnatural. And then suddenly the meaning of the border service was revealed in a new way: for the sake of children sleeping peacefully, for the sake of this music to sound, for the sake of life, happiness, justice, guys in green caps stand at the border. They stand to death. The country did not yet know what happened at Damansky...
