It is more than 26 years since Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan. But today Russia, once again, is at war outside the former Soviet Union – in Syria.
The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow met some veterans of that Soviet war to find out what lessons were learnt.
Modern Russia often claims it has learnt the lessons of Afghanistan, and that never again will it allow itself to be sucked into a long bloody war, far from its borders.
Singer, songwriter and war veteran Vladimir Mazur hopes that is true.
“We lost so many young men in Afghanistan,” he sings, “but there’s no point grieving. We just have to make sure it never happens again.”
At a war veterans’ organisation in Moscow, he picks up his guitar and performs one of his songs. It’s called Afghanistan Statistics.
“None of the soldiers who were in Afghanistan,” he sings, “will ever forget it”.
“One in five of us have nothing now in their lives. One in seven is divorced.
“One in eight came back with medals, only to be told, later, they were no heroes.
“One in nine has nightmares still. One in ten never returned. But war always claims lives.”
Afghanistan claimed the lives of more than 15,000 Soviet soldiers. In his song, Vladimir Mazur describes the Afghan war as “a trap… a noose around our necks.”
