During the struggle to fight the Afghan Mujahedeen 15,000 Soviet soldiers died. Though their mission failed, veterans believe they have valuable advice to give. 'You can't force the Afghans into another way of life. It's the same thing all over again' says Serget Sokolov, a former pilot. 'What I feared most was being captured. They killed prisoners of war, and would exchange corpses afterwards.' 'We lived through it,' says Serget, 'and learned our lesson.' But veterans have been silenced by a society keen to forget. 'It may well be that our government wants to forget', says Igot Irin, 'but we can't. Because the war in Afghanistan still goes on.'