Ten Russian Soldiers Who Died For Their Faith in Afghanistan

By Pamela Schuffert presenting investigative journalism from a Biblical Christian perspective-

As I type this article for you, I have before me a photograph of a Russian soldier, Kolya Rizhkov of Kazakhstan, taken while he was a prisoner of war in Afghanistan. Sitting next to him is his translator, Ludmilla. He is in a grey POW uniform. This photograph was taken during the previous Russian military invasion of Afghanistan for oil.

I met Kolya (Nicholai) at a Russian Orthodox church (St. John the Baptist)in Washington DC while visiting their priest, Father Potopov of Voice of America broadcasting in Russian at that time. The church members introduced me to Kolya after the broadcast, during lunch being served there that day. I sat down next to Kolya, and he told me a most fascinating account of his time in Afghanistan while serving in the Red Army.

http://www.stjohndc.org/

"It was a terrible war...a dirty, dirty war..." he informed me, shaking his head. He shared how many Russian soldiers actually defected to the mujaheddin while fighting in Afghanistan, in hopes of being able to leave communist Russia. He and one of his friends, Peter, or Petya, decided it was time to defect as well, and they found themselves in the hands of their mujaheddin captors. To understand more about the brutal Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, read the following link:

http://www.rense.com/general61/hate.htm

He recounted how they were put into small cages to be held in confinement. They were also given drugs to keep them somewhat sedated. American military were smuggled in, who offered them their freedom in America, if they were willing to be debriefed about all they know about Russian military and intelligence. Kolya and his friend Petya accepted the offer eagerly. Ludmilla provided the translations for the American interrogators in Afghanistan.

Kolya was then brought to Washington DC and debriefed and then given his freedom. It was at this point I met him at St John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Washington DC. He gave me the picture I now have before me.

Kolya then spent time with me as we traveled around Washington DC. A Russian Christian friend of mine translated for me. He then told me a most amazing account of TEN RUSSIAN SOLDIERS WHO DIED AS MARTYRS IN AFGHANISTAN.

"I will never forget these brave men, " he told me as he shook his head in disbelief. "Our platoon surrounded an Afghan village. We were ordered to massacre every man, woman and child in the village. Suddenly, there were ten Christians in our platoon who came forward. They said, 'we are CHRISTIANS first, and Russian soldiers secondly, and what you have asked us to do, WE CANNOT DO!'"

Kolya paused, then continued. " I and the men in my platoon watched as our commanders became angry, and ordered them to be lined up AND SHOT BY A FIRING SQUAD! But not one of them denied their faith...I will never forget this." And after I heard this account from Kolya many years ago, I have never forgotten this either.

I warned Kolya that he needed to leave the Washington DC area soon, or KGB would move in on him and he would be "disappeared" for his debriefing to US military. He nervously agreed with me, and I suggested that I bring him to the Russian Baptist Christian camp in Connecticut where I worked with Russian Christians every summer. They would provide safe haven for him. I later drove him up to the camp where I would work that summer.

Kolya worked there for them as well that summer, and told me one day, "NEVER have I heard such preaching about Jesus Christ in my life!" But tragedy was to follow. Kolya became homesick for family and friends in Kazakhstan. Playing on his weakness, the KGB approached him and told him he would suffer no repercussions if he returned to Russian voluntarily. Sadly, Kolya fell into this trap, and was taken back to Russia to become a prisoner. I never saw him again, and presumed at one point he may have been executed.

Imagine my amazement, when only weeks ago (2010), I met a woman who had worked with the US military/CIA involvement in Afghanistan, and with Russian POW's there, and who knew both KOLYA and his translator, Ludmilla! And even more amazing, it was during a luncheon following the Jewish Orthodox Shabbat service I attended at Lubavitch Chabad house in Asheville, NC!

As I sat down to eat at CHABAD HOUSE in Asheville, I noted this one woman in particular sitting across from me at the table,with a beautiful Afghani vest on, and we began a conversation. She mentioned her involvement in Afghanistan with POW's and I mentioned Kolya and Ludmilla, and she gasped in amazement: we both knew the same people! And now, years later, here we were meeting face to face!

I was able to fill in many of the missing pieces for her. She knew Kolya had been taken out of the Washington DC area, but did not know I was the one who had done this, nor to where. And she filled in many missing pieces for me as well.

And now, you also know the true and inspiring story about the TEN RUSSIAN SOLDIERS WHO DIED AS CHRISTIAN MARTYRS IN AFGHANISTAN.

Pray for Kolya: he may still be alive. He accepted Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior when I prayed with him, as I took him up to the Russian Christian camp that summer. He may still be alive to this very day. And if not, he is with Jesus Christ his Savior, which is even better.

-Pamela Schuffert

Postscript-PRAY for the salvation of the many foreign troops that the UN/NATO forces plan to use in our nation under martial law, to arrest us, fire upon us , seize our weapons and take us to the camps. And also to behead us as well. Many of these foreign forces are already stationed throughout North America, trained and prepared for that hour of MARTIAL LAW. They include Russian, Chinese, German and many more multinational forces working for the world globalists.

Christians, REMEMBER-A SAVED soldier is one who cannot then turn to commit these NWO crimes against humanity in our nation in the future. Just as these Russian soldiers could not brutally fire upon women and children in the Afghan village that day, and chose to die for their faith instead.-Pamela Schuffert