Missing Soviet soldier in Afghanistan found working as a healer
The city of Herat, Afghanistan where A Soviet soldier who went missing three decades ago was found alive recently.
A Soviet soldier who went missing in Afghanistan three decades ago was found alive living in the Afghan city of Herat.
Bakhretdin Khakimov was last seen in September 1980, during the first year of the Soviet invasion of the country.
The 20-year-old was serving with a motorized rifle unit near Herat when he was seriously wounded during a battle, said RIA Novosti.
He was presumed dead until now.
Sheikh Abdullah, as he is now called, was found by a group of Russia war veterans that tracks soldiers lost in the near decade-long war.
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Abdullah was taken in by Afghans after he was wounded and adopted local dress and customs, reported said RIA Novosti.
He even became a healer.
The Uzbekistan-native apparently forgot most of his Russian and never contacted his relatives.
Reuters reported that the committee of war veterans has found 29 of the 264 Soviet soldiers listed as missing in Afghanistan.
About 15,000 Soviet troops were killed in the war that briefly created a Communist government in Kabul before being defeated by Islamist militants.