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The world has repeatedly found itself on the brink of nuclear war. He was closest to it in November 1962, but then the sanity of the leaders of the great powers helped to avoid disaster. In Soviet and Russian historiography, the crisis is called Caribbean, in American - Cuban.

Who started first?

The answer to this everyday question is unequivocal - the US initiated the crisis. There they perceived "with hostility" the coming to power in Cuba of Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries, although this was an internal affair of Cuba. The American elite was categorically not satisfied with the fall of Cuba out of the zone of influence, and even more so with the fact that among the top leaders of Cuba were communists (the legendary Che Guevara and then still very young Raul Castro, the current Cuban leader). When Fidel declared himself a communist in 1960, the United States turned to open confrontation.

Castro's worst enemies were received and supported there, an embargo was imposed on leading Cuban goods, attempts on the life of the Cuban leader began (Fidel Castro is the absolute champion among politicians in the number of assassination attempts, and almost all of them were related to the United States). In 1961, the United States financed and provided equipment for an attempted invasion by a military detachment of Cuban emigrants on Playa Giron.

So Fidel Castro and the USSR, with whom the Cuban leader quickly established friendly relations, had every reason to fear US military interference in Cuban affairs.

Cuban "Anadyr"

This northern name was used to refer to a covert military operation to deliver Soviet ballistic missiles to Cuba. It was held in the summer of 1962 and became the USSR's response not only to the situation in Cuba, but also to the deployment of American nuclear weapons in Turkey.

The operation was coordinated with the Cuban leadership, so that it was carried out in full accordance with international law and the international obligations of the USSR. She was provided with strict secrecy, but still US intelligence was able to get pictures of Soviet missiles on Liberty Island.

Now the Americans have reason to fear – less than 100 km separates Cuba from fashionable Miami in a straight line… The Caribbean crisis has become inevitable.

One step away from war

Soviet diplomacy categorically denied the existence of nuclear weapons in Cuba (and what was it supposed to do?), but the legislative structures and the US military were determined. As early as September 1962, calls were made to resolve the Cuban question by force of arms.

President J.F. Kennedy wisely abandoned the idea of ​​an immediate pinpoint strike on missile bases, but on November 22 he announced a maritime "quarantine" of Cuba in order to prevent new deliveries of nuclear weapons. The action was not very reasonable - firstly, according to the Americans themselves, it was already there, and secondly, the quarantine was just illegal. At that time, a caravan of more than 30 Soviet ships was heading to Cuba. personally forbade their captains to obey the requirements of quarantine and publicly declared that even one shot in the direction of Soviet ships would immediately cause decisive opposition. Approximately the same he said in response to the letter of the American leader. On November 25, the conflict was transferred to the UN rostrum. But that didn't help resolve it.

let's live in peace

November 25 proved to be the busiest day of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Since Khrushchev's letter to Kennedy on November 26, tensions have subsided. Yes, and the American president did not dare to give his ships an order to open fire on the Soviet caravan (he made such actions dependent on his personal order). Overt and covert diplomacy began to work, and the parties finally agreed on mutual concessions. The USSR undertook to take missiles out of Cuba. For this, the United States guaranteed the lifting of the blockade of the island, pledged not to invade it and to remove its nuclear weapons from Turkey.

The great thing about these decisions is that they were almost completely implemented.

Thanks to the reasonable actions of the leadership of the two countries, the world has again moved away from the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis proved that even complex disputes can be resolved peacefully, but only if all the parties concerned want it.

The peaceful resolution of the Caribbean crisis was a win for all the people of the planet. And this is despite the fact that the United States still continued to illegally infringe on Cuban trade, and in the world, no, no, but they are wondering: did Khrushchev leave a couple of missiles in Cuba, just in case?

Caribbean crisis

On October 28, 1962, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Nikita Khrushchev, announced the dismantling of Soviet missiles in Cuba - the Caribbean crisis was over.

Fidel Castro takes office as prime minister

On January 1, 1959, the revolution won in Cuba. The civil war, which lasted from July 26, 1953, ended with the flight of the dictator from the island Fulgencio Batista y Saldivara

and the coming to power of the July 26 Movement, led by 32-year-old Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, who entered Havana on January 8 on a captured tank Sherman just as General Leclerc entered liberated Paris in August 1944.

At first, Cuba did not have close relations with the Soviet Union. During his struggle with the Batista regime in the 1950s, Castro approached us several times for military assistance, but was consistently refused. Fidel made his first foreign visit after the victory of the revolution to the United States, but then President Eisenhower refused to meet with him. Of course, Eisenhower would have done the same with Batista - Cuba had to know its place. But, unlike Batista - the son of a soldier and a prostitute - the noble Fidel Angelevich Castro, who came from a family of wealthy latifundists who owned sugar plantations in the province of Oriente, was not the kind of person who could simply swallow this insult. In response to Eisenhower's trick, Fidel staged an undeclared war on American capital: the telephone and electric companies, oil refineries, and 36 largest sugar factories owned by US citizens were nationalized.

The answer was not long in coming: the Americans stopped supplying oil to Cuba and buying sugar from it, spitting on the long-term purchase agreement that was still in force. Such steps put Cuba in a very difficult position.

By that time, the Cuban government had already established diplomatic relations with the USSR, and it turned to Moscow for help. In response to a request, the USSR sent tankers with oil and organized the purchase of Cuban sugar.

Realizing that Cuba was getting out of control, the Americans decided to act militarily, and on the night of April 17 they landed in the Bay of Pigs the so-called brigade 2506, which consisted of Batista's supporters who had dug in in the United States.

Before that, for two days, American aircraft bombed the locations of Cuban troops. but knowing that the barracks are empty, and the tanks and planes have already been replaced with mock-ups.

At dawn, the Cuban government aircraft, which the Americans could not destroy by bombing, inflicted several blows on the landing forces and managed to sink four transports of emigrants, including the Houston, on which the Rio Escondido infantry battalion was in full force, transporting most of the ammunition and heavy weapons of the 2506 brigade. By the middle of the day on April 17, the offensive of the paratroopers was stopped by the superior forces of the Cuban government, and on April 19, the 2506 brigade capitulated.

prisoners from the brigade 2506

The Cuban people rejoiced at the victory, but Castro understood that this was only the beginning - from day to day one should have expected the open entry of the US army into the war.

By the beginning of the 60s, the Americans were completely insolent - their U-2 scouts flew wherever they wanted, until one of them was shot down by a Soviet missile over the Sverdlovsk region. And in 1961 they went so far as to place their missiles in Turkey PGM-19 Jupiter with a range of 2400 km, directly threatening cities in the western part of the Soviet Union, reaching as far as Moscow and the main industrial centers. Another advantage of medium-range missiles is their short flight time - less than 10 minutes.

PGM-19 "Jupiter" at the starting position

America had every reason to be impudent: the Americans were armed with approximately 183 Atlas and Titan ICBMs. In addition, in 1962, the United States was armed with 1,595 bombers capable of delivering about 3,000 nuclear charges to the territory of the USSR.

B-52 “Stratofortress”

The Soviet leadership was extremely concerned about the presence of 15 missiles in Turkey, but could not do anything. But then one day, when Khrushchev, while on vacation, was walking with Mikoyan along the Crimean coast, he came up with the idea to put a hedgehog in America's pants.

Military experts have confirmed that it is possible to effectively achieve some nuclear parity by deploying missiles in Cuba. Soviet medium-range R-14 missiles stationed on Cuban territory, with a range of up to 4,000 km, could keep Washington and about half of the air bases of US Air Force strategic bombers at gunpoint with a flight time of less than 20 minutes.

R-14 (8K65) / R-14U (8K65U)
R-14
SS-5 (Skean)

On May 20, 1962, Khrushchev held a meeting in the Kremlin with Foreign Minister Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko and the Minister of Defense Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky,

during which he outlined his idea to them: in response to Fidel Castro's constant requests to increase the Soviet military presence in Cuba, place nuclear weapons on the island. On May 21, at a meeting of the Defense Council, he raised this issue for discussion. Most of all Mikoyan was against such a decision, however, in the end, members of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU, who were members of the Defense Council, supported Khrushchev. The ministries of defense and foreign affairs were instructed to organize the covert movement of troops and military equipment by sea to Cuba. Due to the special haste, the plan was adopted without approval - implementation began immediately after obtaining Castro's consent.

On May 28, a Soviet delegation flew from Moscow to Havana, consisting of the USSR Ambassador Alekseev, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Marshal Sergei Biryuzov,

Sergei Semyonovich Biryuzov

Colonel General Semyon Pavlovich Ivanov, as well as the head of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sharaf Rashidov. On May 29, they met with Fidel Castro and his brother Raul and outlined to them the proposal of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Fidel asked for a day to negotiate with his closest associates.

Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara

It is known that on May 30 he had a conversation with Ernesto Che Guevara, but nothing is known about the essence of this conversation.

Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidel Castro Ruz

On the same day, Castro gave a positive answer to the Soviet delegates. It was decided that Raul Castro would visit Moscow in July to clarify all the details.

The plan envisaged the deployment of two types of ballistic missiles in Cuba - R-12 with a range of about 2000 km and R-14 with a range twice that. Both types of missiles were equipped with 1 Mt nuclear warheads.

Intermediate range ballistic missile
R-12 (8K63) / R-12U (8K63U) R-12 SS-4 (Sandal)

Malinovsky also specified that the armed forces will deploy 24 R-12 medium-range missiles and 16 R-14 intermediate-range missiles and leave half of the number of missiles of each type in reserve. It was supposed to remove 40 missiles from positions in Ukraine and in the European part of Russia. After the installation of these missiles in Cuba, the number of Soviet nuclear missiles capable of reaching US territory doubled.

It was supposed to send a group of Soviet troops to Cuba, which was supposed to concentrate around five divisions of nuclear missiles (three R-12s and two R-14s). In addition to missiles, the group also included a Mi-4 helicopter regiment, four motorized rifle regiments, two tank battalions, a MiG-21 squadron, 42 Il-28 light bombers, 2 units of cruise missiles with 12 Kt nuclear warheads with a range of 160 km, several batteries of anti-aircraft guns, as well as 12 S-75 installations (144 missiles). Each motorized rifle regiment consisted of 2,500 people, tank battalions were equipped with tanks T-55 .

In early August, the first ships arrived in Cuba. On the night of September 8, the first batch of medium-range ballistic missiles was unloaded in Havana, the second batch arrived on September 16.

missile ships

The headquarters of the GSVK is located in Havana. Battalions of ballistic missiles deployed in the west of the island - near the village of San Cristobal and in the center of Cuba - near the port of Casilda. The main troops were concentrated around the missiles in the western part of the island, but several cruise missiles and a motorized rifle regiment were transferred to the east of Cuba - a hundred kilometers from the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. By October 14, 1962, all 40 missiles and most of the equipment had been delivered to Cuba.

On October 14, 1962, a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft of the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, piloted by Major Richard Heizer, photographed the positions of Soviet missiles. In the evening of the same day, this information was brought to the attention of the top military leadership of the United States. On the morning of October 16 at 8:45 a.m., the photographs were shown to the President.

After receiving photographs showing Soviet missile bases in Cuba, President Kennedy called a special group of advisers to a secret meeting at the White House. This 14-member group, which later became known as the "Executive Committee" of EXCOMM. The committee consisted of members of the US National Security Council and several specially invited advisers. Soon, the committee offered the president three possible options for resolving the situation: destroy the missiles with pinpoint strikes, conduct a full-scale military operation in Cuba, or impose a naval blockade of the island. The military proposed an invasion, and soon the deployment of troops to Florida began, and the Air Force Strategic Command relocated B-47 Stratojet medium-range bombers to civilian airports and transferred the fleet of B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers to constant patrol.

On October 22, Kennedy declared a naval blockade of Cuba in the form of a 500 nautical mile (926 km) quarantine zone around the coast of the island. The blockade went into effect on October 24 at 10:00.

180 ships of the US Navy surrounded Cuba with clear orders not to open fire on Soviet ships in any case without a personal order from the president. By this time, 30 ships and vessels were going to Cuba, including Aleksandrovsk with a cargo of nuclear warheads and 4 ships carrying missiles for two IRBM divisions. In addition, 4 diesel submarines were approaching the Island of Freedom, accompanying the ships. On board the "Alexandrovsk" were 24 warheads for the IRBM and 44 for cruise missiles. Khrushchev decided that the submarines and four ships with R-14 missiles - Artemyevsk, Nikolaev, Dubna and Divnogorsk - should continue on their previous course. In an effort to minimize the possibility of a collision of Soviet ships with American ones, the Soviet leadership decided to deploy the rest of the ships that did not have time to reach Cuba home. At the same time, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to put the armed forces of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries on high alert. All layoffs have been cancelled. Conscripts preparing for demobilization are ordered to remain at their duty stations until further notice. Khrushchev sent an encouraging letter to Castro, assuring him of the unshakable position of the USSR under any circumstances.

On October 24, Khrushchev learned that Aleksandrovsk had reached Cuba safely. At the same time, he received a short telegram from Kennedy, in which he called on Khrushchev to "show prudence" and "observe the conditions of the blockade." The Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU gathered for a meeting to discuss the official response to the introduction of the blockade. On the same day, Khrushchev sent a letter to the US President, in which he accused him of setting "ultimatum conditions." Khrushchev called the blockade "an act of aggression pushing humanity towards the abyss of a world nuclear missile war." In the letter, the First Secretary warned Kennedy that "the captains of Soviet ships will not comply with the orders of the US Navy" and that "if the United States does not stop its piracy, the government of the USSR will take any measures to ensure the safety of the ships."

In response to Khrushchev's message, the Kremlin received a letter from Kennedy, in which he pointed out that the Soviet side had broken its promises regarding Cuba and misled him. This time, Khrushchev decided not to go for a confrontation and began to look for possible ways out of the current situation. He announced to the members of the Presidium that "it is impossible to store missiles in Cuba without going to war with the United States." At the meeting, it was decided to offer the Americans to dismantle the missiles in exchange for US guarantees to stop trying to change the state regime in Cuba. Brezhnev, Kosygin, Kozlov, Mikoyan, Ponomarev and Suslov supported Khrushchev. Gromyko and Malinovsky abstained from voting.

On the morning of October 26, Khrushchev set to work drafting a new, less bellicose message to Kennedy. In a letter, he offered the Americans the option of dismantling the installed missiles and returning them to the USSR. In exchange, he demanded guarantees that "the United States will not invade Cuba with its troops and will not support any other forces that would intend to invade Cuba." He ended the letter with the famous phrase "You and I should not now pull the ends of the rope on which you tied the knot of war." Khrushchev wrote this letter alone, without gathering the Presidium. Later, in Washington, there was a version that Khrushchev did not write the second letter, and that a coup d'état might have taken place in the USSR. Others believed that Khrushchev, on the contrary, was looking for help in the fight against hardliners in the ranks of the leadership of the Soviet Armed Forces. The letter arrived at the White House at 10 am. Another condition was conveyed in an open radio address on the morning of October 27, calling for the withdrawal of American missiles from Turkey, in addition to the requirements specified in the letter.

On Friday, October 26, at 13:00 Washington time, a message was received from ABC News reporter John Scali that he had been approached with a meeting proposal by Alexander Fomin, the KGB resident in Washington. The meeting took place at the Occidental restaurant. Fomin expressed concern about the escalating tensions and suggested that Scali approach his "high-ranking friends in the State Department" with a proposal to find a diplomatic solution. Fomin conveyed an unofficial offer from the Soviet leadership to remove the missiles from Cuba in exchange for refusing to invade Cuba.
The American leadership responded to this proposal by conveying to Fidel Castro through the Brazilian embassy that in the event of the withdrawal of offensive weapons from Cuba, "an invasion would be unlikely."

Meanwhile, in Havana, the political situation escalated to the limit. Castro became aware of the new position of the Soviet Union, and he immediately went to the Soviet embassy. Comandante decided to write a letter to Khrushchev to push him to take more decisive action. Even before Castro had finished the letter and sent it to the Kremlin, the head of the KGB station in Havana informed the First Secretary of the essence of Comandante's message: "According to Fidel Castro, intervention is almost inevitable and will take place in the next 24-72 hours." At the same time, Malinovsky received a report from the commander of the Soviet troops in Cuba, General I. A. Pliev, about the increased activity of American strategic aviation in the Caribbean. Both messages were delivered to Khrushchev's office in the Kremlin at 12 noon, Saturday, October 27th.

Issa Alexandrovich Pliev

It was 5 pm in Moscow when a tropical storm raged in Cuba. One of the air defense units received a message that an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was seen approaching Guantanamo Bay.

The chief of staff of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division, Captain Antonets, called Pliev's headquarters for instructions, but he was not there. Major General Leonid Garbuz, deputy commander of the GSVK for combat training, ordered the captain to wait for Pliev to appear. A few minutes later, Antonets called the headquarters again - no one picked up the phone. When U-2 was already over Cuba, Garbuz himself ran to the headquarters and, without waiting for Pliev, gave the order to destroy the plane. According to other sources, the order to destroy the reconnaissance aircraft could have been given by Pliev's deputy for air defense, Lieutenant General of Aviation Stepan Grechko, or the commander of the 27th Air Defense Division, Colonel Georgy Voronkov. The launch took place at 10:22 local time. U-2 was shot down.

wreckage of U-2

The pilot of the spy plane, Major Rudolf Anderson, was killed.

Rudolf Andersen

On the night of October 27-28, on the instructions of the president, his brother Robert Kennedy met with the Soviet ambassador in the building of the Ministry of Justice. Kennedy shared with Dobrynin the president's fears that "the situation is about to get out of hand and threaten to give rise to a chain reaction."

Robert Kennedy said that his brother was ready to give guarantees of non-aggression and the speedy lifting of the blockade from Cuba. Dobrynin asked Kennedy about the missiles in Turkey. "If this is the only obstacle to reaching the settlement mentioned above, then the president sees no insurmountable difficulties in resolving the issue," Kennedy replied. According to then US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, from a military point of view, the Jupiter missiles were outdated, but during private negotiations, Turkey and NATO strongly opposed the inclusion of such a clause in a formal agreement with the Soviet Union, as this would be a manifestation of US weakness and would put questioned US guarantees for the protection of Turkey and NATO countries.

The next morning, a message came to the Kremlin from Kennedy stating: “1) You agree to withdraw your weapons systems from Cuba under the appropriate supervision of UN representatives, and also to take steps, subject to appropriate security measures, to

stopping the supply of the same weapons systems to Cuba. 2) We, for our part, will agree - provided that a system of adequate measures is created with the help of the UN to ensure the fulfillment of these obligations - a) quickly lift the blockade measures introduced at the moment and b) give guarantees of non-aggression against Cuba. I am sure that other states of the Western Hemisphere will be ready to do the same.”
At noon, Khrushchev gathered the Presidium at his dacha in Novo-Ogaryovo. At the meeting, a letter from Washington was being discussed, when a man entered the hall and asked Khrushchev's assistant Oleg Troyanovsky to answer the phone: Dobrynin was calling from Washington. He conveyed to Troyanovsky the essence of his conversation with Robert Kennedy and expressed his fear that the US President was under strong pressure from Pentagon officials. Dobrynin transmitted word for word the words of the brother of the President of the United States: “We must receive an answer from the Kremlin today, on Sunday. There is very little time left to resolve the problem.” Troyanovsky returned to the hall and read out to the audience what he managed to write down in his notebook while listening to Dobrynin's report. Khrushchev immediately invited the stenographer and began to dictate consent. He also dictated two confidential letters personally to Kennedy. In one, he confirmed the fact that Robert Kennedy's message reached Moscow. In the second, that he regards this message as an agreement to the USSR's condition for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba - to remove missiles from Turkey.
Fearing any "surprises" and disruption of negotiations, Khrushchev forbade Pliev to use anti-aircraft weapons against American aircraft. He also ordered the return to airfields of all Soviet aircraft patrolling the Caribbean. For greater certainty, it was decided to broadcast the first letter on the radio so that it would reach Washington as soon as possible. An hour before the broadcast of Nikita Khrushchev's message, Malinovsky sent Pliev an order to begin dismantling the R-12 launch pads.
The dismantling of Soviet rocket launchers, their loading onto ships and their withdrawal from Cuba took 3 weeks.

Chronicle of the operation "Anadyr"

On the deployment of strategic nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba

April 1962 Nikita Khrushchev expresses the idea of ​​deploying strategic missiles on the island of Cuba.

May 20. At an expanded meeting of the Defense Council, which is attended by the entire Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, the secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense, a decision was made to prepare for the creation of a Group of Soviet Forces on the Island of Cuba (GSVK).

May 24th. The Minister of Defense presents to the country's leadership a plan for the creation of the GSVK. The operation is called Anadyr.

May 27th. To agree with the Cuban leadership on the deployment of Soviet strategic missiles, a delegation headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Sh. Rashidov, flew to Cuba. The military part of the delegation was headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Biryuzov.

June 13th. The directive of the Minister of Defense of the USSR on the preparation and redeployment of units and formations of all types and branches of the Armed Forces is issued.

June 14th. The directive of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces defines the tasks for the formation of the 51st Missile Division (RD) to participate in the Anadyr operation.

July 1. The personnel of the Directorate of the 51st RD begin to fulfill their duties in the new states.

5'th of July. The directive of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces defines specific measures to prepare the 51st RD for redeployment abroad.

July, 12. A reconnaissance group led by the commander of the 51st RD, Major General I. Statsenko, arrives in Cuba.

August 10. The loading of the first train echelon in the regiment of Colonel I. Sidorov begins for the redeployment of the division to Cuba.

9th of September. With the arrival of the ship "Omsk" in the port of Kasilda, the concentration of the division on the island begins. This flight delivers the first six missiles.

The 4th of October. The diesel-electric ship "Indigirka" delivers nuclear munitions for R-12 missiles to the port of Mariel.

October 14. American intelligence, based on aerial photography, concludes that there are Soviet missiles in Cuba.

October 23. Martial law has been declared in the Republic of Cuba. The military units of the 51st Soviet missile division were put on high alert. Combat packages with flight missions and combat orders for launching missiles were delivered to the command post. The ship "Aleksandrovsk" arrives at the port of La Isabela with warheads for R-14 missiles. In the USSR, by decision of the government, the dismissal of servicemen to the reserve was suspended and planned holidays were stopped.

October 24th. The commander of the missile division decides to prepare new positional areas in order to perform a maneuver. An order was given to disperse equipment in positional areas.

the 25th of October. The missile regiment of Colonel N. Bandilovsky and the 2nd division of the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Yu. Solovyov were put on alert.

October 26th. In order to reduce the time for preparing the first salvo of missiles, warheads from the group warehouse were transferred to the position area of ​​the regiment of Colonel I. Sidorov. The 1st division of the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Yu. Solovyov was put on alert and fully completed the check of the missile ammunition. US Air Force spy plane shot down over Cuba.

28 of October. The directive of the Minister of Defense of the USSR on the dismantling of starting positions and the redeployment of the division in the USSR is brought to the attention of the commander of the RD.

Nov. 1. The directive of the Minister of Defense of the USSR is issued, which determines the procedure for sending strategic missiles to the Soviet Union.

November 5. Motor ship "Divnogorsk" leaves the port of Mariel with the first four missiles on board.

November 9. Motor ship "Leninsky Komsomol" from the island of Cuba transports the last eight missiles.

October 1, 1963. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the participants in the Anadyr operation were awarded orders and medals of the USSR for their skillful actions during the period of fulfilling a particularly important government task to protect the gains of the Cuban revolution.

Convinced that the Soviet Union had removed the missiles, President Kennedy on November 20 gave the order to end the blockade of Cuba. A few months later, American missiles were also withdrawn from Turkey.

The most dangerous invention of mankind - nuclear weapons have repeatedly put the planet on the brink of death. The world was closest to the end of the world in the fall of 1962. The attention of the international community in October was riveted on the events unfolding in the Caribbean. The confrontation between the two superpowers was the pinnacle of the arms race and the highest point of tension in the Cold War.

Today, the Cuban crisis, as it is known in the United States, is viewed differently. Some see Operation Anadyr as a brilliant piece of work by the Soviet secret services and organization of military supplies, as well as a risky but smart political move, while others stigmatize Khrushchev for shortsightedness. It is not true to say that Nikita Sergeevich foresaw absolutely all the consequences of the decision to deploy nuclear warheads on the Island of Freedom. The cunning and experienced politician certainly understood that the reaction from the United States would be decisive.

"Nikolaev" in the port of Kasilda. On the pier, the shadow of the RF-101 Voodoo, the reconnaissance aircraft that took the picture, is visible

The actions of the Soviet military leadership in Cuba should be considered taking into account the prehistory of the development of the crisis. In 1959, the revolution finally won on the island, and Fidel Castro became the head of state. During this period, Cuba did not receive special support from the USSR, since it was not considered as a stable member of the socialist camp. However, already in the 1960s, after the introduction of an economic blockade by the United States, deliveries of Soviet oil began to Cuba. In addition, the Soviets are becoming the main foreign trade partner of the young communist state. Thousands of specialists in the field of agriculture and industry were drawn into the country, and large investments began.

The interests of the Union on the island were dictated by far from ideological convictions. The fact is that in 1960 the United States managed to deploy its medium-range nuclear missiles in Turkey, which caused extreme indignation in Moscow. A successful strategic position allowed the Americans to control vast Soviet territories, including the capital, and the speed of launching and reaching the target for this weapon was minimal.

Cuba was located in close proximity to the borders of the United States, so the deployment of an offensive weapon system with a nuclear charge could to some extent compensate for the prevailing advantage in the confrontation. The idea of ​​placing launchers with nuclear missiles on the territory of the island belonged directly to Nikita Sergeevich, and was expressed by him on May 20, 1962 to Mikoyan, Malinovsky and Gromyko. After the idea was supported and developed.

Cuba's interest in locating Soviet military bases on its territory was obvious. From the moment he was established as a political leader and head of state, Fidel Castro became a constant target for various kinds of American provocations. They tried to eliminate him, and the United States was openly preparing a military invasion of Cuba. Evidence of which was, albeit an unsuccessful attempt to land troops in the Bay of Pigs. The increase in the Soviet contingent and the buildup of weapons on the island gave hope for the preservation of the regime and the sovereignty of the state.

Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy

With Castro's consent, Moscow launched a wide-ranging covert nuclear transfer operation. Missiles and components for their installation and combat readiness were delivered to the island under the guise of trade cargo, unloading was carried out only at night. In the holds of ships, about forty thousand military men dressed in civilian clothes, who were strictly forbidden to speak Russian, left for Cuba. During the journey, the soldiers could not go out into the open air, as the command was seriously afraid of being exposed ahead of schedule. The leadership of the operation was entrusted to Marshal Hovhannes Khachaturyanovich Baghramyan.

The first rockets were unloaded by Soviet ships in Havana on September 8, the second batch arrived on the 16th of the same month. The captains of transport ships did not know about the nature of the cargo and its destination; before sending them, they were given envelopes, which they could open only on the high seas. The text of the order indicated the need to follow the coast of Cuba and avoid meetings with NATO ships. The main part of the missiles was placed in the western part of the island, where the overwhelming majority of the military contingent and specialists were concentrated. Part of the missiles was planned to be installed in the center, and a few in the East. By October 14, forty medium-range missiles with a nuclear charge were delivered to the island and they began to install them.

The actions of the USSR in Cuba were closely monitored from Washington. The young American president, John F. Kennedy, convened the ex-Committee of National Security every day. Until September 5, the United States sent U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, but they did not bring any information about the presence of nuclear weapons. It became more and more difficult to hide, however, further the intentions of the USSR. The length of the rocket, together with the tractor, was about thirty meters, so their unloading and transportation was noticed by local residents, among whom there were many American agents. However, the assumptions alone seemed not enough to the Americans, only photographs taken on October 14 by Lockheed U-2 pilot Heiser left no doubt that Cuba had become one of the strategic Soviet bases equipped with nuclear missiles.

Kennedy considered the Soviet leadership incapable of such decisive action, so the pictures were somewhat of a surprise. From October 16, reconnaissance aircraft begin to fly over the island up to six times a day. The Committee put forward two main proposals: start hostilities, or organize a naval blockade of Cuba. Kennedy immediately reacted critically to the idea of ​​an invasion, as he understood that such a thing could provoke the start of the Third World War. The president could not take responsibility for the consequences of such a decision, so American forces were sent to blockade.

The first image of Soviet missiles in Cuba, received by the Americans. October 14, 1962

The intelligence activities of the Americans in this incident showed their worst side. The information provided by the secret services to the president turned out to be far from the truth. For example, the number of the USSR military contingent, according to their information, in Cuba was no more than ten thousand people, while the real number had long ago exceeded forty thousand. The Americans also did not know that the island had not only medium-range nuclear missiles, but also short-range nuclear weapons. The bombardment so insistently proposed by the US military could not be carried out already, since four launchers were ready by October 19th. Washington was also within their reach. An amphibious landing also threatened with catastrophic consequences, as the Soviet military was ready to launch a complex called "Luna".

The tense situation continued to escalate, as neither side was willing to make concessions. For the United States, the deployment of missiles in Cuba was a security issue, but the USSR was also under the gun of the American missile system in Turkey. The Cubans demanded to open fire on reconnaissance aircraft, but were forced to obey the decisions of the USSR.

On October 22, Kennedy made a public statement to the Americans that offensive weapons against the United States were indeed being installed in Cuba, and that the government would consider any act of aggression as the start of a war. This meant that the world was on the verge of destruction. The international community supported the American blockade, largely due to the fact that the Soviet leadership for a long time concealed the true meaning of their actions. However, Khrushchev did not recognize it as legal and declared that fire would be opened on any of the ships that showed aggression towards Soviet maritime transport. Most of the ships of the USSR nevertheless obliged to return to their homeland, but five of them were already approaching their destination, accompanied by four diesel submarines. The submarines carried weapons capable of destroying most of the American fleet in the region, but the United States was not informed about this.

On October 24, one of the Alexandrovsk ships landed, but a telegram was sent to Khrushchev with an appeal for prudence. The day after the scandalous revelation at the UN meeting, the US issued the first ever alert order 2. Any careless action could start a war - the world froze in anticipation. In the morning, Khrushchev sent a conciliatory letter offering to dismantle the missiles in exchange for a US promise to refrain from invading Cuba. The situation eased somewhat, and Kennedy decided to postpone the start of hostilities.

The crisis escalated again on October 27, when the Soviet leadership put forward an additional demand for the dismantling of American missiles in Turkey. Kennedy and his entourage suggested that a military coup had taken place in the USSR, as a result of which Khrushchev was removed. At this time, an American reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over Cuba. Some believe that this was a provocation on the part of the commandant, who advocated a categorical refusal to withdraw weapons from the island, but the majority calls the tragedy the unauthorized actions of Soviet commanders. On October 27, the world came closest in its history to the brink of self-destruction.

On the morning of October 28, the Kremlin received an appeal from the United States, in which it was proposed to resolve the conflict peacefully, and Khrushchev's first proposal became the conditions for the resolution. According to unconfirmed reports, the liquidation of the missile system in Turkey was also verbally promised. In just 3 weeks, the USSR dismantled nuclear installations, and on November 20, the blockade of the island was lifted. A few months later, the Americans dismantled the missiles in Turkey.

The radius of coverage of missiles deployed in Cuba: R-14 - large radius, R-12 - medium radius

The twentieth century was the most dangerous moment in human history, but it was also the end of the arms race. The two superpowers had to learn to find a compromise. Modern politicians often try to regard the outcome of the Cuban crisis as a defeat or victory for the Union. From the point of view of the author of this article, it is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion in this case. Yes, Khrushchev was able to achieve the liquidation of the American base in Turkey, but the risk was too great. The prudence of Kennedy, who was under the strongest pressure from the Pentagon, demanding to unleash a war, was not calculated in advance. Attempts to preserve the missile base in Cuba could become tragic not only for the Cubans, Americans and Soviet people, but also destroy all of humanity.

It has been 55 years since the world was on the brink of nuclear war. These historical events have been called the Cuban Missile Crisis. What did the whole world learn in 1962? Did you manage to unravel the mystery of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy and find out why the resignation of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took place? And what after many years did not manage to finish Obama?

Victims of the Caribbean Crisis

The Caribbean crisis of 1962, which took place between the USSR and the USA, not only brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war, but caused a change in the leaders of both states. On November 22, 1963, the 35th President of the United States of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was blamed for the murder. But a growing body of evidence suggests that it was a planned conspiracy involving the CIA and top Pentagon officials. It is believed that they could not forgive John F. Kennedy for weakness in dealing with the Caribbean crisis.

Many could not forgive Kennedy for bringing relations with the Soviet Union to such an acute state, says Natalya Tsvetkova, Doctor of Historical Sciences. - And also the fact that America has shown itself to be the losing side. Because it was Kennedy who first picked up the phone to call Khrushchev. And the words "I agree that we will remove the missiles from Turkey if you remove yours from Cuba" - sounded from Kennedy. Many experts believe that this was one of the reasons for his murder a year later.

And in the fall of 1964, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was removed from all posts. He was removed from the political arena by his own associates, who became afraid to live in the conditions of the unpredictable and adventurous policy of their leader. The Caribbean crisis was by no means the last reason that pushed the members of the Central Committee to a desperate step - the removal of the party leader from power.

Khrushchev "flew into the chimney," says Vladimir Fortunatov, doctor of historical sciences. - And the only winner in this game was the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. According to various estimates, he received up to 37 billion dollars, and then he successfully ruled the country until 2006. True, there is an opinion that only Fidel Castro himself won, and the Cuban people lost very much, because life did not get better under him.

Fidel Castro's big game

In fact, Cuba in the first time after the revolution and Fidel's coming to power did not arouse great sympathy in the Soviet Union. The fact is that Fidel Castro was not a communist in the Soviet sense, most likely he could be considered a Cuban nationalist, a Latin American freedom fighter. And at first, the USSR did not pay much attention to Cuba, it was believed that it was too close to the United States and was an unpromising country.

Here's what it says Doctor of Historical Sciences Natalya Tsvetkova:

When Fidel Castro emerged as the leader who wanted to overthrow the bloody Batista regime in Cuba, he contacted the CIA. Many colorful stories are associated with this period, films have been made, books have been written. He had agents, connections, and not without women: many of the beauties around him were connected with the CIA. Through these channels, President Dwight Eisenhower was informed that Fidel Castro would like to meet with him and get help to eliminate the Batista regime. The United States faced the prospect of having its leader on this island in his person. And here Eisenhower made a mistake - he did not help Castro, deciding to support Batista to the end. Such a phrase of his is known: “He, of course, is a son of a bitch, but this is our son of a bitch!”.

As you know, the American authorities made several attempts to overthrow Fidel Castro by force,” says Ivan Tsvetkov, Associate Professor at the Department of American Studies at St Petersburg University. - The CIA and other departments have already put on John Kennedy's desk plans to eliminate Fidel Castro by October 1962. Of course, this information was only at the level of rumors, but Castro himself felt very uncomfortable.

The secret of Operation Anadyr. Rockets in Cuba.

The direct cause of the Cuban crisis, historians believe Khrushchev's sharp reaction to the deployment of American missiles in Turkey. By becoming a member of NATO, Turkey gave the Americans the opportunity to open their bases on the border with the USSR, and the flight time for American missiles to strategic facilities in our country was 10 minutes.

Tells Doctor of Historical Sciences Vladimir Fortunatov:

On May 20, 1962, Khrushchev held a meeting with Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, with First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Anastas Mikoyan and Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky. He outlined his idea: in response to Fidel Castro's request for an increase in military presence, deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba to counterbalance American missiles in Turkey.

Thus, it was decided to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. It seemed to Khrushchev that this would be a good subject for further blackmail and bargaining with the Americans.

The operation was prepared in deep secrecy. For disguise, the soldiers were even given winter coats and hats to confirm the name of the operation "Anadyr". The executioner of Novocherkassk, General Pliev, was appointed to command the troops in Cuba. The most difficult thing was to disguise missiles and other heavy equipment from American reconnaissance aircraft.

In almost three months, one and a half hundred voyages of merchant ships were made, which transported weapons and combat units of the army to Cuba: they were supposed to protect, "in which case", our nuclear weapons from the Americans. The missiles served and guarded more than 40,000 Soviet servicemen. The secrecy was absolute. Even now it is difficult to understand how the CIA and all US military intelligence missed the transfer of such a large military contingent across the Atlantic.

The acute phase of the crisis and general panic

“The CIA warned the US president that Russian submarines could come to Cuba,” says Natalya Tsvetkova. - There were also speculations about the possible installation of Soviet ballistic missiles. But President Kennedy didn't believe it. Well, it can't be that a few dozen miles from the state of Florida, the Russians would dare to do this! He did not believe that Khrushchev could be like today's Trump. But by August 1962, the first photographs appeared showing that Soviet submarines and ballistic missiles were already in Cuba.

The Americans received reliable data on the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba in mid-October 1962, when their U-2 reconnaissance aircraft photographed missiles deployed in combat positions.

The Americans came to their senses quite late, when the missiles had already been delivered and mounted, - says Vladimir Fortunatov. - Fidel Castro proudly said that Cuba went a meter under the water under the weight of Soviet weapons! On October 14, an American reconnaissance aircraft piloted by US Air Force Major Richard Heizer took off from a military air base in California, circled Cuba and photographed the rockets. On October 15, analysts determined what kind of rockets they were, and on October 16 at 8.45 am the photographs were shown to the president. After that, US Air Force flights over Cuba became 90 times more frequent!

Under international law, the USSR could place its missiles anywhere, but the operation was so secret that even Soviet diplomats did not know about it.

On October 22, 1962, US President John F. Kennedy delivered an address to the nation. “My compatriots. It is with a heavy heart and in fulfillment of my oath that I have given the order for the US Air Force to begin military operations with conventional weapons to wipe out the nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba."

He demanded that the USSR withdraw its missiles and announced the establishment of a naval blockade around Cuba. A real panic began in America, people frantically hid in shelters. The most acute phase of the Caribbean Missile Crisis began.

Fidel Castro believed that from October 27 to 28, a massive attack on Cuba and the bombing of Soviet military bases would begin, - says Vladimir Fortunatov. - He proposed to Khrushchev to launch a preventive nuclear strike on the United States and said that the Cuban people were ready to sacrifice themselves for the cause of victory over American imperialism.

Not a single ship could now enter Cuban ports without being inspected by American inspectors. 180 ships of the US Navy surrounded Cuba and began the blockade of Liberty Island. The armed forces of both states were brought to a state of full combat readiness. This meant that NATO planes received permission to fly to Moscow and drop bombs. The world was on the brink of nuclear war. Relations between states through official channels were terminated.

Our Resident in Washington and the Berlin Challenge

“At this time, a very important event is taking place related to the activities of the special services,” says Vladimir Fortunatov. “Our intelligence officer Alexander Feklisov, who at that time acted under the name Fomin, met with a correspondent from one of the American television companies.”

Alexander Semenovich Feklisov - legendary Soviet intelligence officer, Hero of Russia. At that time, he was in the United States under the surname Fomin and met with BBC columnist John Skyley, an American journalist, an unspoken representative of the Kennedy clan.

Already on October 2, when the possible consequences of this conflict were being discussed, Alexander Semenovich said that when the United States bombarded Cuba, the Soviet Union would have the opportunity to bring its tanks into the territory of West Berlin, - says Candidate of Historical Sciences Oksana Zaitseva.

After the resolution of the crisis, Skyley claimed that it was Feklisov who proposed the terms for resolving the conflict. Feklisov himself said that they were simply discussing possible options for the development of the situation.

In a conversation with the Soviet resident, Skylee said that the United States was ready to end Cuba within 48 hours, and that their troops were in full readiness. In response, Feklisov, on his own initiative, said that the USSR was capable of striking back at another vulnerable spot, for example, at West Berlin, which at that time was a sore point for the USSR.

This is how he recalls this historical conversation himself Alexander Feklisov:

“Skylie twitched and said:

Yes, all NATO troops will defend Berlin!

And who is there to defend? A thousand American soldiers? Or a battalion of English? Or a French company? Yes, Soviet tanks will go by the thousands, and bombers, attack aircraft above them. Behind motorized infantry. Yes, they will sweep away everything without stopping, it will not take even 24 hours!

Does that mean war is inevitable?

It all depends on our leaders!”

This information was reported to John Kennedy on the same day. On his instructions, Skyley met with Feklisov again and conveyed the American conditions for resolving the Caribbean crisis. Here is how it was according to Alexander Feklisov:

“We met again, ordered coffee, and he says without any preamble: here, the American side offers the following conditions. I write down what he says and ask the question: “I don’t understand what the highest authority in the USA is?” He minted: "President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy!"

On October 28, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended. The Americans fulfilled all the agreements and quietly withdrew their missiles from Turkey. The Soviet leadership could relax. Both Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev tried to appropriate all the laurels of winners, smart and sober politicians.

Soviet lecturers from the Central Committee explained the crisis in this way, says Vladimir Feliksov. - In the USA there is such a game - a duel: two cars accelerate and rush towards each other. Who turned away, he is a weakling. According to American ideologists, in this case, both sides decided to play the weakling, turned away in time, and this saved the world.

Obama's Dreams and the "Dead Hand"

It has been 55 years since the Cuban Missile Crisis. After him, a telephone hotline began to operate between the leaders of the two countries. The crisis has taught our and American politicians that, with mutual desire, it is possible to reach agreements on any issue without resorting to the last atomic argument. But few people know that a similar crisis could happen in our time, after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, under President Obama.

“People who are thinking about turning to nuclear weapons should remember the Caribbean crisis,” says Vladimir Fortunatov. “Many people believe that in March 2014, after Crimea became part of Russia, Obama had an idea not to whether to bang in Russia. But they explained to him that in Russia there is a Dead Hand or Dead Hand system, and a Russian retaliatory strike would cause unacceptable damage to America.

“To imagine that the way out of the crisis marks a new era of peace is completely wrong!” The author of this phrase is Fred Kaplan, military publicist for Slate magazine and creator of the book Dark Territory.

55 years ago, on September 9, 1962, Soviet ballistic missiles were delivered to Cuba. This was the prelude to the so-called Caribbean (October) crisis, which for the first time and so close brought humanity to the brink of nuclear war.

"Metallurg Anosov" with deck cargo - eight missile transporters with missiles covered with tarpaulin. During the Caribbean crisis (blockade of Cuba). November 7, 1962 Photo: wikipedia.org

The Caribbean Crisis itself, or rather its most, lasted 13 days, from October 22, 1962, when a missile attack on Cuba, where an impressive Soviet military contingent was stationed by that time, was almost agreed in American political circles.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the eve published a list of official losses of Soviet citizens who died on the island from August 1, 1962 to August 16, 1964: there are 64 names in this mournful register.

Our compatriots died during the rescue of Cubans during the strongest hurricane "Flora", which swept over Cuba in the autumn of 1963, during combat training, from accidents and diseases. In 1978, at the suggestion of Fidel Castro, a memorial to the memory of Soviet soldiers buried in Cuba was built in the vicinity of Havana, which is surrounded by maximum care. The complex consists of two concrete walls in the form of mournfully bowed banners of both countries. Its content is supervised in an exemplary manner by the country's top leadership. By the way, the Soviet military, who, together with the Cubans, were involved in the coastal defense of the island in the fall of 1962, were dressed in Cuban uniforms. But on the most stressful days, from October 22 to 27, they took out vests and peakless caps from their suitcases and prepared to give their lives for a distant Caribbean country.

Khrushchev made the decision

So, in the autumn of 1962, the world faced the real danger of a nuclear war between the two superpowers. And the real destruction of mankind.

In official US circles, among politicians and in the media, at one time the thesis became widespread, according to which the cause of the Caribbean crisis was the alleged deployment of "offensive weapons" by the Soviet Union in Cuba, and the response measures of the Kennedy administration, which brought the world to the brink of thermonuclear war, were "forced" . However, these statements are far from the truth. They are refuted by an objective analysis of the events that preceded the crisis.

Fidel Castro inspects the armament of Soviet ships on July 28, 1969. A photo: RIA News

Sending Soviet ballistic missiles to Cuba from the USSR in 1962 was an initiative of Moscow, and specifically Nikita Khrushchev. Nikita Sergeevich, shaking his shoe on the podium of the UN General Assembly, did not hide his desire to "put a hedgehog in the pants of the Americans" and waited for a convenient opportunity. And this, looking ahead, he brilliantly succeeded - Soviet lethal missiles were not only located a hundred kilometers from America, but the United States did not know for a month that they had already been deployed on Freedom Island!

After the failure of the operation in the Bay of Pigs in 1961, it became clear that the Americans would not leave Cuba alone. This was evidenced by the ever-increasing number of acts of sabotage against the Island of Freedom. Moscow received almost daily reports of American military preparations.

In March 1962, at a meeting in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, according to the recollections of the outstanding Soviet diplomat and intelligence officer Alexander Alekseev (Shitov), ​​Khrushchev asked him how Fidel would react to the proposal to install our missiles in Cuba. “We, Khrushchev said, must find such an effective deterrent that would deter the Americans from this risky step, because our speeches at the UN in defense of Cuba are clearly not enough anymore.<… >Since the Americans have already surrounded the Soviet Union with their military bases and missile installations for various purposes, we must pay them in their own coin, give them a taste of their own medicine, so that they can feel for themselves what it is like to live under the gun of a nuclear weapon. Speaking of this, Khrushchev emphasized the need for this operation to be carried out in strict secrecy so that the Americans would not discover the missiles before they were put on full alert.

Fidel Castro did not reject this idea. Although he was well aware that the deployment of missiles would entail a change in the strategic nuclear balance in the world between the socialist camp and the United States. The Americans had already deployed warheads in Turkey, and Khrushchev's retaliatory decision to place missiles in Cuba was a kind of "missile leveling." A specific decision on the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba was made at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU on May 24, 1962. And on June 10, 1962, before the July arrival of Raul Castro in Moscow, at a meeting in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, USSR Minister of Defense Marshal Rodion Malinovsky presented a project for an operation to transfer missiles to Cuba. It assumed the deployment of two types of ballistic missiles on the island - R-12 with a range of about 2 thousand kilometers and R-14 with a range of 4 thousand kilometers. Both types of missiles were equipped with one-megaton nuclear warheads.

The text of the agreement on the supply of missiles was handed over to Fidel Castro on August 13 by the USSR ambassador to Cuba, Alexander Alekseev. Fidel immediately signed it and sent with him to Moscow Che Guevara and the chairman of the United Revolutionary Organizations, Emilio Aragones, ostensibly to discuss "topical economic issues." Nikita Khrushchev received the Cuban delegation on August 30, 1962 at his dacha in the Crimea. But, having accepted the agreement from Che's hands, he did not even bother to sign it. Thus, this historic agreement remained formalized without the signature of one of the parties.

By that time, Soviet preparations for sending people and equipment to the island had already begun and were irreversible.

The captains did not know about the purpose of the mission

Operation "Anadyr" for the transfer of people and equipment across the seas and oceans from the USSR to Cuba is inscribed in golden letters in the annals of world military art. Such a jewelry operation, carried out under the nose of a super-powerful enemy with his exemplary tracking systems at that time, world history does not know and did not know before.

The equipment and personnel were delivered to six different ports of the Soviet Union, in the Baltic, Black and Barents Seas, having allocated 85 ships for the transfer, which made a total of 183 flights. Soviet sailors were convinced that they were going to northern latitudes. For the purpose of secrecy, camouflage robes and skis were loaded onto the ships in order to create the illusion of a "sailing to the North" and thereby exclude any possibility of information leakage. The captains of the ships had the appropriate packages, which had to be opened in the presence of the political officer only after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. What can we say about ordinary sailors, even if the captains of the ships did not know where they were sailing and what they were carrying in the holds. Their astonishment knew no bounds when, after opening the package after Gibraltar, they read: "Keep a course for Cuba and avoid conflict with NATO ships." For camouflage, the military, who, naturally, could not be kept in the holds for the entire trip, went out on deck in civilian clothes.

The general plan of Moscow was to deploy in Cuba a group of Soviet troops as part of military formations and units of the Rocket Forces, Air Force, Air Defense and Navy. As a result, more than 43 thousand people arrived in Cuba. The basis of the Group of Soviet Forces was a missile division consisting of three regiments equipped with R-12 medium-range missiles, and two regiments armed with R-14 missiles - a total of 40 missile launchers with a range of missiles from 2.5 to 4.5 thousand kilometers. Khrushchev later wrote in his "Memoirs" that "this force was enough to destroy New York, Chicago and other industrial cities, and there is nothing to say about Washington. A small village." At the same time, this division was not tasked with delivering a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States, it was supposed to serve as a deterrent.

Only decades later, some, until then secret, details of the Anadyr operation became known, which speak of the exceptional heroism of Soviet sailors. People were transported to Cuba in cargo compartments, the temperature in which, at the entrance to the tropics, reached more than 60 degrees. They were fed twice a day in the dark. The food spoiled. But, despite the most difficult conditions of the campaign, the sailors endured a long sea passage of 18-24 days. Upon learning of this, US President Kennedy said: "If I had such soldiers, the whole world would be under my heel."

The first ships arrived in Cuba in early August 1962. One of the participants in this unparalleled operation later recalled: “The poor fellows went from the Black Sea in the hold of a cargo ship that had previously transported sugar from Cuba. The conditions, of course, were unsanitary: hastily knocked together multi-storey bunks in the hold, no toilets, underfoot and on teeth - remains of granulated sugar. From the hold they released to breathe air in turn and for a very short time. At the same time, observers were put on the sides: some watched the sea, others - the sky. The hatches of the holds were left open. In the event of the appearance of any foreign object, "passengers" had to quickly return to the hold. Carefully camouflaged equipment was on the upper deck. The galley was designed to cook for several dozen people who make up the crew of the ship. Since there were much more people, it didn’t matter, to put it mildly. About any hygiene, of course, there could be no question.In general, we spent two weeks in the hold with little or no daylight, noah food."

Slap for the White House

The Anadyr operation was the biggest failure of the American intelligence services, whose analysts kept counting how many people could be transported to Cuba by Soviet passenger ships. And they got some ridiculously small figure. They did not realize that these ships could accommodate significantly more people than it should be for a regular flight. And the fact that people can be transported in the holds of dry cargo ships could not even occur to them.

In early August, the American intelligence agencies received information from their West German colleagues that the Soviets were increasing the number of their ships in the Baltic and Atlantic almost tenfold. And the Cubans who lived in the United States learned from their relatives who were in Cuba about the importation of "strange Soviet cargo" to the island. However, until the beginning of October, the Americans simply "passed this information past their ears."

Hiding the obvious for Moscow and Havana would mean even greater American interest in sending cargo to Cuba and, most importantly, in their contents. Therefore, on September 3, 1962, in a joint Soviet-Cuban communiqué on the stay in the Soviet Union of the Cuban delegation consisting of Che Guevara and E. Aragones, it was noted that "the Soviet government met the request of the Cuban government to provide Cuba with arms assistance." The communiqué said that these weapons and military equipment are intended solely for defense purposes.

A list of official losses of Soviet citizens from August 1, 1962 to August 16, 1964 has been published. There are 64 names in the mournful register

The fact that the USSR delivered missiles to Cuba was an absolutely legal matter and permitted by international law. Despite this, the American press published a number of critical articles about the "preparations in Cuba." On September 4, US President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would not tolerate the deployment of surface-to-surface strategic missiles and other types of offensive weapons in Cuba. On September 25, 1962, Fidel Castro announced that the Soviet Union intended to establish a base in Cuba for its fishing fleet. At first, the CIA did believe that a large fishing village was being built in Cuba. True, later Langley began to suspect that, under his guise, the Soviet Union was actually creating a large shipyard and a base for Soviet submarines. American intelligence surveillance of Cuba was strengthened, the number of reconnaissance flights of U-2 aircraft, which continuously photographed the territory of the island, increased significantly. It soon became obvious to the Americans that the Soviet Union was building launch pads for anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAMs) in Cuba. They were created in the USSR several years ago in Grushin's highly classified design bureau. With their help, in 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, piloted by pilot Powers, was shot down.

The hawks were for hitting Cuba

On October 2, 1962, John F. Kennedy orders the Pentagon to put the US military on alert. It became clear to Cuban and Soviet leaders that it was necessary to accelerate the construction of facilities on the island.

Here, bad weather played into the hands of Havana and Moscow, concerned about the speedy completion of ground work. Due to heavy cloud cover in early October, U-2 flights, suspended for six weeks by that time, did not begin until 9 October. What they saw on October 10 amazed the Americans. The photographic reconnaissance data showed the presence of good roads where until recently there was a desert area, as well as huge tractors that did not fit into the narrow country roads in Cuba.

Then John Kennedy gave the order to activate photo reconnaissance. At that moment, another typhoon hit Cuba. And new pictures from a spy plane loitering at an extremely low altitude of 130 meters were taken only on the night of October 14, 1962 in the San Cristobal area in the province of Pinar del Rio. It took days to process them. U-2 discovered and photographed the starting positions of the Soviet missile forces. Hundreds of photographs testified that not just anti-aircraft missiles, but ground-to-ground missiles had already been installed in Cuba.

On October 16, presidential adviser McGeorge Bundy reported to Kennedy on the results of the overflight of Cuban territory. What John F. Kennedy saw fundamentally contradicted Khrushchev's promises to supply Cuba with only defensive weapons. The missiles discovered by the spy plane were capable of wiping out several major American cities. On the same day, Kennedy convened in his office the so-called working group on the Cuban question, which included senior officials from the State Department, the CIA and the Department of Defense. It was a historic meeting at which the "hawks" put pressure on the US President in every possible way, inclining him to an immediate strike on Cuba.

General Nikolai Leonov recalled how then Pentagon chief Robert McNamara told him at a conference in Moscow in 2002 that the majority in the US political elite in October 1962 insisted on a strike on Cuba. He even clarified that 70 percent of the people from the then US administration held a similar point of view. Fortunately for world history, the minority view prevailed, which was held by McNamara himself and President Kennedy. "We must pay tribute to the courage and courage of John F. Kennedy, who found a difficult opportunity to compromise in defiance of the vast majority of his entourage and showed amazing political wisdom," Nikolai Leonov told the author of these lines.

There were only a few days left before the climax of the Caribbean crisis, which RG will tell about ...

Nikolai Leonov, retired lieutenant general of state security, author of biographies of Fidel and Raul Castro:

The CIA frankly missed the transfer of such a large number of people and weapons from one hemisphere to another, and in close proximity to the coast of the United States. To secretly move an army of forty thousand, a huge amount of military equipment - aviation, armored forces and, of course, the missiles themselves - such an operation, in my opinion, is an example of headquarters activity. As well as a classic example of enemy disinformation and disguise. Operation "Anadyr" was designed and carried out in such a way that the mosquito would not undermine the nose. Already during its implementation, it was necessary to make urgent and original decisions. For example, rockets, already being transported on the island itself, simply did not fit into the narrow Cuban rural roads. And they had to expand.