The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

The KGB Representative Office in Kabul was strengthened during this time.Wherever he found himself, Leonid Pavlovich Bogdanov had a habit of molding hissurroundings to his liking. He made the Center allocate a Mercedes-Benz to his office, whichwas delivered from Tehran shortly thereafter. In addition to the Mercedes, several carswere sent from the Soviet Union, along with a specially trained driver and an encryptionspecialist.Colonel Vladimir Chuchukin became the first deputy head of the KGB RepresentativeOffice in Kabul. Chuchukin had been working in the United States, but was forced to leavehis assignment because he had been compromised by an undercover CIA agent.Life in Kabul was evolving, and that life was not as bad as Bogdanov had anticipated.One of the reasons was that Kabul was visited regularly by Soviet leaders of the highestrank: vice-premiers, ministers, senior military figures, and party bosses. He was obliged toparticipate in all protocol meetings arranged for the high-ranking guests. Connections withthem could benefit Bogdanov in the future.In late September, the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, PolitburoCandidate B. N. Ponomaryov, arrived in Kabul. Because his visit was unofficial, his arrivalwas not marked by any official ceremony. A government airplane landed and parked at aremote runway. A small cortege of cars with Puzanov, Bogdanov, Sarwari, and Politburomember Shah Wali approached the airplane. As soon as he got into the car, Ponomaryovexplained the purpose of his visit. The Soviet leadership had tasked him to meet withTaraki and Amin and to convince them that the mass repressions and lawlessness in thecountry were pernicious to their socialist aspirations. Moscow seemed to be veryconcerned by the continuing persecution of Parchamis.229