The following CPSU Central Committee document, dated 1 April 1979 and signed by Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, Defense Minister Dmitrii Ustinov, KGB chief Yurii Andropov, and CC International Department head Boris Ponomarev, provides a strikingly candid assessment of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan that the Soviet Politburo confronted in spring 1979. The report attributes the increasing success of the Islamic opposition (i.e., the Afghan Mujaheddin) to the “miscalculations and mistakes” of the PDPA (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) regime that seized power following the April 1978 “revolution.”

The USSR and Afghanistan formed a permanent relationship to combat counter-revolutionaries who attempt to undo the April Revolution. This relationship began with the Treaty of Friendship in 1978.

A congratulatory note from L. Brezhnev to Karmal Babrak,Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, General Secretary of the PDPA CC, and Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, thanking Babrak for his efforts to defend the gains made in the April Revolution.

CPSU CC Politburo Member Chernenko states that Soviet invervention in Afghanistan will lead to accussation of Soviet aggression

This document provides information for the leaders of the progressive Afghan political parties; and results of the CC elections.

This document illustrates Moscow's fear regarding the instability and infighting among Afghan political parties, and its corresponding consequences for Soviet involvement in the Middle East.

CPSU CC Plenum meeting (excerpt) concerning the deterioration in relations with the US and NATO countries. Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko describes the altruistic nature of Soviet intentions in aiding Afghanistan.

This CC CPSU document discusses the anti-Soviet and anti-Afghan movements that interfered with the establishment of an Afghani parliament.

The violent actions by the DRA, led by H. Amin, to de-stabilize the Afghan government, dissolving the gains made in the April Revolution, causes the Soviet Union to place military detachments in Afghanistan.

Meeting of Kosygin, Gromyko, Ustinov, and Ponomarev with Taraki in Moscow to discuss the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan and expressing Soviet support for Afghanistan.