Mad viper brigade. Mad company. Black headbands. Gyurza at rest

“According to some guesses, the commander with the nickname “Bad Soldier” is the same legendary Gyurza, whom even the Chechens were hysterically afraid of (his reconnaissance company was called “mad”) - if such a person began to fight against you...”

Alexey Viktorovich Efentiev was born in 1963 into the family of a hereditary military man.

He completed active military service in the Navy. Upon returning, he entered the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School, after which he voluntarily asked to serve in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Alexey served as commander of a reconnaissance group until 1988. Then there were Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh.

From 1992 to 1994, Captain Alexey Efentyev was the chief of staff of a separate reconnaissance battalion in Germany.

Since 1994, Efentiev has been in Chechnya. The unit he commanded was one of the best and most combat-ready units of our troops. Efentiev’s call sign “Gyurza” was known throughout the republic. "Gyurza" was a legend of the 1st Chechen War. He is responsible for dozens of raids on the rear of Dudayev’s supporters, the assault on Bamut and the release of the blockade of the Coordination Center surrounded in the center of Grozny, when many senior officials of the Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as a large group of Russian journalists, were rescued. For this feat in 1996, Alexey Efentyev was nominated for the title of “Hero of Russia”.

He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, Courage, and For Military Merit, two medals for Military Merit, the medal for Distinction in Military Service, 1st degree, and other awards. Efentiev was the hero of many television programs on central TV channels, and also became the prototype of “Gyurza” in Alexander Nevzorov’s film “Purgatory”.

From 1999 to 2000, Lieutenant Colonel Efentyev was the commander of the KFOR group of the Russian military contingent in Kosovo. The Serbian population of Kosovo, subjected to genocide, remembers with gratitude Alexey Efentyev, who showed courage in protecting civilians.

Today Alexey Efentyev is engaged in agriculture and is the general director of Donskoye LLC. Having taken the bankrupt collective farm under his leadership, in two years Alexey Viktorovich managed to achieve noticeable success.

Married, has three sons.

When contract soldiers who have not been shot at come to war, they don’t even know which direction the bullet is coming from. To prevent soldiers from shying away from shots, the commander equips Kalashnikovs with live ammunition and fires bursts of fire over the heads of his subordinates. If the staff finds out about such an original technique, the officer will be brought to justice. But in Chechnya they follow different rules. To win, you have to be desperate and merciless.

Chechen militants nicknamed this reconnaissance company the mad one. To avoid being confused with infantry, the special forces wore black armbands. There was a challenge in this, contempt for death, which was hunting on their heels. They always went first and took the fight, even when numerical superiority was not on their side. They could fight with seven of them against forty and emerge victorious from the battle. In April 1996, near Belgatoy, machine gunner Romka, shooting point-blank, went to the firing point at full height, like Alexander Matrosov. He, already killed, was pulled out of the battle by Kostya Mosalev, who would later be brought out by Nevzorov in the film “Purgatory” under the nickname Pitersky.

Twenty days later, as soon as the wound heals, Kostya will escape from the hospital in order to be in time for the second attack on Bamut. Former policeman, school teacher, gravedigger, miner. Who was there in this frantic reconnaissance company? The war brought them together, people of different professions and ages, like some kind of gambling without end or beginning. It’s a strange thing - they were homesick, but as soon as their wounds healed, they were drawn here again - to trudge through the mountains, to share a can of canned food with a friend, the last cartridge and their own lives

“Gyurza”: “I remember them all. By first and last names. Let them stay with me. To some extent, this is our common sin. But they were the best. I loved them and still love them. Even when they leave this life, no one takes their place. Someone has come and stands nearby, just like them, but it seems their place is not occupied. Someone came, stands next to you just like them, but, as it were, you don’t take their place...”

Alexey Efentyev was the last commander of the rabid company. This is him, the same legendary “Gyurza”.

Not at all similar to the cinematic image of a “special forces soldier” in Kevlar armor, as the author of the scandalous “Purgatory” sculpted him. These shots are seven years old. The group’s troops had just taken Bamut, the firefight had not yet died down, and the scouts stopped, not feeling much joy from the victory, because they had lost Pashka, the number two of the machine gun crew.

I’ve only recently been here, but I’m hanging out with the lads. Over the past 7 days, the people have been shocked... It’s a pity we just lost the lad...

Then, in 1995, Alexei had just accepted an army intelligence company, which became the meaning of his life, his destiny. Soon everyone in Chechnya knew the call sign “Gyurza” - both ours and the militants who put a lot of money on his head. Back in Afghanistan, he was nicknamed “Lesha - the golden hoof” because where he led his group, there were never losses on our part. Legends were formed about his supernatural sense of danger already in Chechnya - during his seventh war. In a second he could determine the place where a mine or shell would land. I could take a bottle of champagne to the mountains to give to a soldier on his birthday.

There was a real man in my company - Petrovich, he was both a father and a faithful comrade for me...

Here he is - Petrovich in footage filmed seven years ago in the vicinity of Bamut.

I'm from Smolensk.

I think we are fighting the right way.

What they did before this war will never be forgiven. Therefore, this scum should have been burned out with a hot iron long ago.

And there in Moscow the democrats stubbornly shout that the Chechens are fighting for their land, that they are good..?

“And these democrats need to be brought here someday so they can see what these militants are doing here.” Our fellow countryman from Smolensk was mutilated beyond recognition, tortured, and the skin was removed in patches from his back. How can we forgive them for this? There is no forgiveness for them.

Such men, wise in life, formed the backbone of his company. And in everyone he valued character most of all. The real Russian character, which I once read about in childhood, in the story of Alexei Tolstoy.

There was a moment when we captured a Chechen, a militant, well, at first we wanted... Well, like in wartime... And several days passed, Andrei himself, who was the most difficult towards them, said: “Come on, commander, let’s let him go, that he is our sweetheart?" Let him live - they let him go. Andryukha died at the hands of a sniper in Grozny - hit in the head. And there was a teacher who taught literature with the Russian language at a school in the Bryansk region. It’s a little hard for me to remember all this... But it’s just their character, burned winds of war, emerges as a true Russian character.

At the moment when we released this militant - he was a young 18-year-old guy, at first I thought that maybe my son would be spared on such fiery roads. To some extent, it seemed to me that I was also the father of this Chechen. I was sincerely pleased, putting my hand on my heart. I let him go and my soldiers wished him not to fight in the future. He owes us an unpaid debt. I was simply shocked, frankly glad that here he was - a real Russian character.

Alexey showed his true character in August 1996, when Grozny was in the hands of militants who had trapped administrative buildings and a hotel with journalists. Then “Gyurza” managed to unblock the passage to the Coordination Center without losses and remove people from there within a day of continuous fighting. And then, when the exhausted scouts were ordered to pull the infantry out of the ambush, the company suffered its heaviest losses. Every second was wounded, every third died...

It was hard... I even cried... I will say that the infantry fighting vehicle that I had received 8 holes from a grenade launcher. I lost my best people. It happened…

Alexey was nominated for the title of Hero, but the authorities wanted to forget about the shame of those days as quickly as possible, and this idea was lost in the Kremlin offices. Today it is bitter for him to remember that time. Because those who were spared by the war were not needed by the country. The special forces company, which he made the best special forces unit of the armed forces, was disbanded on the eve of the second Chechen campaign.

The failed Hero of Russia now breeds rabbits and dreams of feeding the army with them. All Alexey lives for now is children, family and his favorite job. “Gyurza” took off his shoulder straps, but retained the belief that his sons would soon take his place in the ranks. Who take turns trying on dad’s uniform, ringing with military awards.

“What do you want to become? Like dad - a scout. Sanka - the man is growing... "

I would like to remind everyone about the legendary reconnaissance “Mad Company” of the 166th separate motorized rifle brigade under the command of “Gyurza”. The fear of the Chechen fighters was so great that when the “Czechs” learned (usually through radio interception) that the “Mad Company” was moving into their area , then immediately abandoned their positions (no matter how strong they were) and fled (even if they outnumbered the “Mad Company” many times over).

Alexey Viktorovich Efentyev, the son of a hereditary military man, was born in 1963. He served in the ranks of military sailors. After demobilization, he entered the famous Baku Higher Military Combined Arms Command School, and immediately after graduating with the rank of lieutenant he was sent to Afghanistan. During his service in war-torn Afghanistan, Alexey Efentyev went from platoon commander to head of an intelligence group. After that there was Nagorno-Karabakh. From 1992 to 1994, Captain Alexey Efentyev was the chief of staff of a separate reconnaissance battalion in Germany.
Since 1994, Alexey Efentyev has been in Chechnya. The military unit he commanded was one of the best and most combat-ready units of the Russian troops. A. Efentyev’s call sign “Gyurza” was well known. "Gyurza" was a legend of the first Chechen war. His combat record included dozens of dangerous raids behind the rear of Dudayev’s army of militants, the assault on Bamut and the lifting of the blockade from the special Coordination Center surrounded in the center of Grozny, when, thanks to the heroism of “Gyurza”, many high ranks of the Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as a large group of Russian correspondents, were saved . For this feat in 1996, A. Efentyev was nominated for the title “Hero of Russia”.

During his service in hot spots, he was awarded the Order of Military Merit, the Red Star, and the Order of Courage, the medal "For Distinction in Military Service, First Class", two medals "For Military Merit" and other awards and insignia. A. Efentyev was the hero of numerous television programs on central television channels, and also became the prototype of “Gyurza” in Alexander Nevzorov’s film “Purgatory”.
After the first Chechen war, “Gyurza” recruited into his company more than half of the army men with whom he fought in the separate 166th motorized rifle brigade. He pulled some out of deep drinking, some he literally picked up on the street, some he saved from being fired. The “special forces”, led by their commander, themselves erected a monument to their comrades who died in Chechnya. We used our own money to order a granite monument and built the foundation for it ourselves.

The reconnaissance unit commanded by “Gyurza” was nicknamed “mad” by Chechen fighters. So that they would not be confused with ordinary infantry, the special forces tied black bandages on their heads, taken from the killed "Czechs", it was something like an initiation: each new arrival had to remove the black bandage from the "Czech" he killed and cut off his ears (according to Karan, it is considered that Allah draws you into heaven by the ears and by cutting off the ears of the killed special forces, they thereby deprived the Muslim militant of the opportunity to get into heaven. This had a huge psychological impact on the enemy). They invariably went first and entered into battle, even when the numerical advantage was far from being on their side. In April 1996, near Belgatoy captured by militants, machine gunner Romka, without stopping firing, at point-blank range, at full height, without hiding, went to the firing point, like Alexander Matrosov. The hero died, and his body was pulled out from under the fire of the Chechens by his comrade Konstantin Mosalev, whom A. Nevzorov would later show in the film “Purgatory” under the pseudonym “Pitersky”.
..Bamut was taken by the reconnaissance company of the 166th brigade, which bypassed Bamut through the mountains from the rear. On the approach to Bamut, the advanced scout patrol encountered a detachment of militants who were also heading to Bamut. During the battle, 12 militants were killed (the bodies were left abandoned). Private Pavel Naryshkin was killed and junior sergeant Pribylovsky was wounded. Naryshkin died saving the wounded Pribylovsky. The retreating Chechens took a roundabout route to Bamut and panic began there about the “Russian special forces brigade in the rear” (radio interception). After which the militants decided to break into the mountains along the right slope of the gorge, where they came upon the advancing battalion of the 136th MSBr. In the oncoming battle, about 20 militants were killed, the losses of the 136th brigade were 5 people killed and 15 people were wounded. The remnants of the militants were partially scattered, partially broke through and went into the mountains. About 30 more were captured within 24 hours during pursuit by aircraft and artillery. It was the reconnaissance detachment of the 166th brigade that was the first to enter Bamut. It was these contract soldiers who were filmed in Nevzorov’s report.

On October 1, 2013, Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Viktorovich Efentiev celebrated his fiftieth anniversary - a man about whose life and military path many in our country know, but, which is also true, many have no idea about this man and his services to the Fatherland. Apparently, the latter include those persons who make decisions in our country on awarding the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

The fact is that Alexey Efentyev is a unique officer of his kind, who has behind him such a number of effective combat operations, which, as they say, would be enough to receive a good half-dozen of the above-mentioned ranks. Footage of his participation in military operations in various hot spots appeared in dozens of news releases, interviews with Alexey himself and his colleagues are widely presented on the RuNet, data about his military achievements can be found on the pages of publications read in Russia. But only by a strange coincidence of circumstances, the military exploits of “Gyurza”, and this is exactly the call sign that officer Efentyev had at one time, continue to remain unappreciated by statesmen, despite the fact that Alexei Viktorovich has already tried four times to be nominated for an award by both his immediate superiors and various public organizations. Four times! And all in vain! Amazing thing...

One of those combat operations for which “Gyurza” should have received the well-deserved Gold Star of the Hero is the operation to break the blockade of the Grozny Coordination Center in the summer of 1996. The militants then practically easily entered the city, in which rumors had already begun to spread that the Kremlin was going to surrender both Grozny and all of Chechnya in exchange for the so-called “security in the Caucasus.” In principle, over time these rumors were confirmed...

After the militants entered Grozny, the military situation in the city, according to participants in those same hostilities, began to resemble Olivier salad. The reason for such an apt definition is that groups of federal troops and dispersed groups of extremists were mixed up so that there was no need to talk about compliance with certain dispositional plans. Under such conditions, numerous command representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense found themselves virtually blocked in the central part of Grozny. People with big stars fell into a ring that was shrinking with amazing speed. Along with the officers, journalists from various television companies and news agencies were also present at the special Grozny Coordination Center of Federal Forces.

The situation was complicated by the fact that it was not possible to bring large forces to the Coordination Center for the simple reason that the militants offered fierce resistance, occupying key positions in the area. In such conditions, an assault group led by Alexey Efentyev advanced to help people caught in the ring of fire. By that time, most Chechen militants already knew very well who “Gyurza” was and what threat his unit posed to them (at that time Alexey Efentyev was the commander of a reconnaissance company of one of the most combat-ready brigades of the 1st Chechen - 166th motorized rifle). The militants called the reconnaissance company itself “mad” for the reason that Efentiev’s fighters and he himself were ready to rush into battle even when they were opposed by an enemy many times superior in numbers, and, most importantly, they won such a battle.

In the photo - Alexey Efentyev (second from right) with comrades

We won this time too, by unblocking the Coordination Center and freeing a large number of hostages (there is still no exact data on the number of those taken out of the ring, but it is known that the Gyurza unit freed several dozen journalists alone). The lightning speed of the operation and its largely positive outcome were the reasons for nominating Alexey Efentyev for the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. As it later turned out, numerous released people also expressed their warm support for this decision of the Gyurza commanders, including through the media. But the show was lost in the endless corridors and dark corridors of government buildings. It got so lost that even the next three attempts to nominate Alexey Viktorovich for the title of Hero of Russia (not only for breaking the blockade of the Coordination Center in Grozny, but also for the storming of Bamut, a unique operation for a “hot meeting” of militants in their own lair - covered with “green paint” mountains) were not successful.

So for what reason was the Gold Star not awarded to Alexey Efentyev then? There are several versions on this matter. Let's present one of them here. According to it, the plans of the official command of the federal troops, which (the federal troops) began to develop their military success in Chechnya in 1996, did not include coverage of the events regarding the blockade of high-ranking military personnel in the Coordination Center. It was not included, since then it would have to be explained how militant groups were able to reach this center in a fairly short time and take it into their fist. After all, the explanations in this case would boil down to the fact that the people in the center were actually surrendered, relying on future agreements with the militants, and these agreements, as practice later showed, turned out to be (at least on the part of Maskhadov’s followers) nothing more than a piece of paper. And so, the famous “Peace of Khasavyurt” was already looming before the Russian leaders, which later entered Russia as one of the darkest and, let’s be honest, shameful pages.

Apparently, the attempts to “wash” their suits and uniforms by the then top leadership of the state turned out to be higher than recognition of the merits of the Russian officer. The “Big Washing” was undoubtedly more important than “some kind of” Russian officers who risked their lives saving the lives of other people. And then, you know, there was also the inauguration of President Yeltsin, who was entering his second term after the elections, the results of which were far from being as clear as the official statistics of the Central Election Commission indicate. In general, what kind of Golden Star “Gyurze” is there, when those in power first of all needed to save their own “stars”...

Well, yes, okay - it was, as they say, a completely different era. Much water has passed under the bridge since then, and the country’s leadership has completely changed. Officer Efentyev became a more than successful agrarian, taking up the revival of a collapsed state farm in the Voronezh region together with his former colleagues (if the word “former” is even appropriate here). By the way, a real person, he is real everywhere - even in battle, even when cultivating the land and growing grain: from the moment the retired lieutenant colonel arrived at the mentioned state farm, this agricultural enterprise (with the new name Donskoye LLC) turned into a developed enterprise supplying agricultural products to consumer tables are far from only the Voronezh region. Residents of the village of Bogdanovo, Ramonsky district, in which Donskoye LLC is located, call it a “special purpose village,” meaning those fighting guys who practically restored the farm from scratch. They restored it like an officer: with discipline, with a ban on “shkalik at work,” with sports grounds built with their own money, and a restored medical center.

So - a lot of water has passed under the bridge, but the cart with the unassigned title of hero to the real hero Efentiev, without any doubt, is still there... What is stopping the current authorities from raising the personal file of a Russian military officer and studying it in detail, what is stopping them from taking into account the opinion of “Gyurza’s” comrades? and those people whom he and his fighting friends brought out of the heat alive and unharmed? Are there really such obstacles? I would like to know in which exact offices such two-legged “interference” sit today, so that justice can still be restored.

We congratulate Alexey Viktorovich on his 50th birthday, and we hope that he will celebrate his next birthday in a uniform on which a Golden Star will be attached by the hands of government officials as evidence of recognition of the merits of this heroic man.

Excerpts from an interview with the legendary special forces lieutenant colonel, known by the call sign "Gyurza" - Alexey Efentyev.

...
- After serving in the navy, I entered the Baku Combined Arms Command School at the air assault department. Many of its graduates distinguished themselves in Afghanistan and prepared us conscientiously. There was a training center in the mountains with conditions similar to those in Afghanistan. There we learned to shoot like cowboys and run like their horses. I took two Stechkins with 40 rounds of ammunition and shot with both hands, without aiming from 30 meters. If you missed three times, it was a bad result.

Comment: this is about whether it is possible to learn special forces skills “in civilian life.” Even if we are not talking about shooting or running over rough terrain, but about the notorious hand-to-hand combat. Think about how much and how you need to study in order to shoot like that (even if it’s embellished).
...

- Did karate classes help you in hand-to-hand fights?

When you run 50 kilometers with 30 kilograms on your back, then jump in the air shouting “Kia!” hard. Because your legs, even if they were straight, later turn into a wheel. The old Cossack Plastun type of fighting is suitable here: fighting in an enclosed space, for example, in a trench, using a shovel, knife, machine gun and other improvised means.

Comment: the difference between combat sports and sports fights, and hand-to-hand combat - to the death, with the use of firearms and knives - is clearly shown. Hand-to-hand combat is not two men on a tatami in helmets. This is a fight to the death, several people at once.

The worst thing in hand-to-hand combat is when it ends - your hands tremble, you feel sick; there have been cases when a light wound received the day before, which the fighter himself bandaged, begins to hurt so much that death occurs from painful shock. I always forced my subordinates in training exercises to engage in hand-to-hand combat with weapons, when bruises appear from any blow. After a week or two of such training, fear is lost.

Comment: I remember the German legend about a knight who galloped to the castle on the thin ice of a lake. When he learned that he could fall through the ice at any moment, he died of a heart attack. In an extreme situation, the body releases special stimulating hormones - they also “freeze” sensitivity and pain. But then their effect wears off. However, Gyurza worked on this using the best method - prevention.

- Does a sense of danger save you in war?

Every person has it, it just needs to be developed a little, and good commanders are important here. I had such people, one of them was Oleg Aleksandrovich Shelukhin - he had a fist as big as my head and two meters tall.

At first I thought about him: “You would burn with a blue flame, and I would light a cigarette from you and drag myself!” And then he became a favorite commander. I was introduced several times to “Zvezda” (Hero of Russia Alexey, who was not always convenient for his superiors, was never given - O.S.), and I decided: “I’ll call first not my parents, but him, I’ll say: Oleg Alexandrovich, you made me real officer!

Learning from such people, you begin to anticipate unpleasant events. For example, one day we walked all night. Rain, cold, dark - one passion. If someone tells you that we are not afraid, it is not true. Only crazy people in mental hospitals are not afraid. All normal people are afraid. Fear comes in two main categories. There is one that strikes and makes you motionless - this is a bad fear. And there is fear that makes you think, get out of it and survive - this is normal fear. When sometimes the wind blows from the mountains, I say: this is what fear smells like. The “favorite” bird of a special forces soldier is a lark, which can fly out from under his feet like this: “Trrr!” And you can’t imagine: these are all heroes, but they fall quickly. And they lie there without moving. Because this also happens on intuition.

So, we walked, and once we stopped at some hill. And for some reason I didn’t like her. I decided to ask the artillerymen to fire a salvo of eight shells there. They answer: “There are not enough shells, two - and we won’t give more. What if the Chechens go on the attack, and we won’t have anything to shoot back with!” I agree, well, let's have two. Meanwhile, the fighters are organizing breakfast on the stump, and I feel really bad: goosebumps are running down my spine. I tell them: “Come on, get out of here over there, under the tree!” They went, and I heard one shell coming - well, it was coming normally, judging by the sound. Then I hear that something else is going wrong somehow. I just had time to shout: “Get down!”, fell into a puddle, five more bodies crushed me, mud filled my eyes and ears, and then an explosion was nearby. We get up, and instead of a stump there is a crater.

Original taken from masterok in Legend of the first Chechen

Efentiev Alexey Viktorovich (Gyurza)

From the left is Vlad Shurygin (journalist), then Nikolay “Svyaz”, followed by Max,
And then the guys from the third platoon of the “Mad Company”. photo by aventure56:

From the left of Lech “Shvets” died in August 96. in Grozny, on the right is Nikolai “Svyaz”.
photo by aventure56:

Nikolay “Communication”, I don’t know the name of the guy in the background yet. photo by aventure56:

Nikolay “Communication” again, followed by a scout from the third platoon of the “Mad Company” photo aventure56:

For soldiers and officers of the 90s, “Gyurza” is the same symbol of military honor and hero,
as once upon a time there was political commissar Klochkov for the front-line soldiers of the Great Patriotic War
or senior lieutenant Konstantin Olshansky.

Throughout his years of service, Efentiev invariably refused staff positions,
remaining a combat officer, remaining faithful to his beloved “special forces”...

He left the army against his own will.

When the bureaucrats from GOMU disbanded a separate “special forces” company,
to which Alexey devoted all his last years, creating it virtually from scratch, from scratch,
and making it the best “special forces” company of the Ground Forces,
he was once again offered an official chair at headquarters,
but Efentyev did not accept the “consolation” position and wrote a letter of resignation...

What usually happens to former military personnel?
Some quiet private security company or a guardhouse at garages
- where, far from the bustle, retirees earn a little extra money for their pension.
But Alexey was not like that.
Well, it was impossible to imagine Efentyev guarding someone’s warehouse,
or dozing in a booth at the barrier.
And thirty-eight years is not the age of a pensioner,
even if by length of service you have long been an “old man”.

Probably, for many, six years ago was almost a shock
Alexey's decision to take up farming.
Well, the image of a brilliant officer, a real “special forces” dog of war, didn’t fit
- with peaceful digging in the ground, sowing, harvesting, traveling through the fields,
haymaking and fertilizers.

It seemed that Efentyev was simply deluded, confused by an empty hobby,
that it will pass soon.
But six months have passed, spring has passed, the time has come for the first harvest,
and at the granaries of the Donskoye farm in the Ramonsky district of the Voronezh region
Suddenly, as if by magic, mountains of selected grains grew.
His, Efentievsky, grain, planted and grown by him on this land.

And then suddenly it became clear with piercing clarity
— land for Efentiev is serious and for a long time.
And as once in the ranks, in the war he could not be “just a major,” but only the best,
only the first, only the very best, and on earth he could not afford to be
a random guest, a capricious hobby - only the best, only the first.
And now his desk is littered with books on agronomy, land use, and economics.
He wanders around exhibitions and elite seed farms.
The lights on his MTS do not go out until late in the evening - mechanics are sorting out and restoring
equipment, repair tractors, combines, seeders, reapers, mowers...

In just two years, the ruined, backward state farm turned into
to one of the best farms in the Voronezh region.

Yet even to many of his friends, his choice of work came as a surprise.

Why land, why agriculture? This is how he himself once answered this question:
“Retired in 2000. And I think: what next, where?
I started to think: my mother is an agronomist, my father-in-law was the chairman of a collective farm for many years.
I didn’t understand anything about agriculture. But I love my land.
The earth saved me many times during the war, I dug into it, pressed into it.
And how many times did I ask God for her to protect me?
From somewhere in my soul I heard the call of my ancestors and made up my mind.
Working on land is an interesting, creative endeavor. There is an opportunity to earn money.
You just need to plow it properly.
Life experience, including military experience, of course, came in handy.
The situation is generally similar. What is an army?
You get up early, go to bed late, you constantly work with people, you are under stress.
The same is true in agriculture.
And all the time with people and on the move: one field, another.
The problems with technology are the same as in the army. The same tracks and wheels...
So I became the director of an agricultural enterprise.”

Of course, one is not a warrior alone in the field.
Alexey did not come here to the former state farm, now Donskoye LLC.
He brought a whole team with him.
My former colleagues, brothers in war, with whom I walked along the front roads
Chechnya, Kosovo, Karabakh.
And it was with a team of like-minded people and friends that he was able to do the impossible
- revive the earth, raise fields overgrown with bushes and thistles,
bring life back to virtually dead villages

But not everyone liked this enthusiasm of the former intelligence officer.
For some, the poverty and hopelessness of the peasants was too profitable,
their degradation and savagery.

Not everything worked out right away; not everything he planned succeeded.
This is how Alexey speaks about this time and about himself:
“The most valuable thing is my, or rather our team,
with whom we all came to the village together, as we went on reconnaissance.
As you can see, the reconnaissance was a success and even went into a large-scale offensive!
An attack on drunkenness, unemployment, agrarian ignorance and devastation.

Of course, we came to the earth, not like an oil well
- Pump up some money for yourself and stuff it into your bills until the oil runs out.
And this is our main life position and moral principle.
We always remember that the earth is a Home, not a Store.
The main thing is not what we get on earth:
harvests, numbers, production indicators, but how we will live on it!”

Over the years, the farm has long since risen from its knees, from being unprofitable, deeply in debt,
has become a growing profitable business and has gained strength.
There are certain hopes in this regard in connection with the implementation
national project in the field of agriculture.

But profit is not the only thing on the CEO’s mind.
- this is now the name of Efentyev’s position.
While working on the land, Alexey does not forget about the people living on this land.
In its central branch, the village of Bogdanovo, he built sports towns,
two gyms, dance floor.
A building for a medical center, which has not been here since 1992, was purchased and renovated.

Efentiev Alexey Viktorovich,
- General Director of the agricultural enterprise Donskoye LLC.
Chairman of the Voronezh regional branch of the Agrarian Party.

Alexey Efentyev belongs to that unique stratum of our society,
which, without any doubt, can be called the “national elite”.
Whatever he does, he can do his job only perfectly,
only with superlatives of definition.
He doesn’t know how to be second, he doesn’t know how to give in to difficulties.
And his talent is not the talent of a destroyer,
although he spent almost ten years of his life in wars and “hot spots”.
Efentiev is a true harmonizer and creator.
And his choice of peaceful labor is only proof of that enormous
positive potential that lies within it.

And also Alexey - a true patriot of Russia.
How many times were tempting offers made to him to go abroad?
To Europe, Israel, Asia, where they were ready to take him on as a leading instructor
to large training centers for private security guards, to security companies,
but he stayed in Russia, chose probably the most difficult and thankless job
a farmer and built his future with his own hands...

He is a true hero of our time. Warrior, plowman, sage.

We are standing in a half-empty hangar, where last year’s harvest was recently stored.
Now there are only piles of elite seed wheat under the tarpaulin.
The one that will fall into the ground in the spring to become a new harvest by autumn.
Alexey scoops it up with his palm, carefully, like the fingers of a child,
kneads his fingers...

— Do you know that Russian grain feeds Afghanistan?
It is purchased through the UN and exported to Afghanistan. Maybe my grain...

Why are we still respected in Afghanistan?
Yes, because we have never fought against the people.
We did not organize any “crusades” for the “modernization” of Islam,
as Americans do today.
Yes, we fought with dushmans, sometimes very cruelly,
but we always saw Afghans as people, we were always ready to sit at the same table with them,
divide the bread, negotiate peace.
We built them schools, power plants, factories, brought them bread, flour, and medicines.
We tried to build a peaceful life. And the Afghans remember this...

I keep in my heart the names of all wonderful commanders,
those with whom I have been fortunate to serve and whom I am proud to know.
Generals Vasily Vasilyevich Prizemlin, Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov,
Vladimir Ilyich Moltenskoy, Valery Evgenievich Evtukhovich
- people who greatly influenced me.

I remember all my soldiers.
I was not a “kind” commander - I know that many soldiers were afraid of me
and they scolded me behind my back, but those who went through the war with me,
They now evaluate my exactingness and rigidity in a completely different way.
And I am not ashamed to look any of my subordinates in the eyes.
And I sincerely love and respect many of them.
In the Smolensk region lives a private from the Afghan war, Alexander Kiriyenko,
awarded the Order of the Red Star, Courage, and three medals “For Courage.”
He is disabled. Life is not easy for him.
It would seem that such people should be a guide for society.
However, it is often difficult for them to settle into a peaceful life...

I look at the golden stream of grain flowing through my fingers and remember
how in Bamut his palm lay heavily and rigidly on the steel of the Kalashnikov, and it seemed
the machine gun is simply an extension of his hand - tough, precise, merciless.
But now the grain, falling onto a high pile, suddenly softened it, made it
some kind of hard-working, peasant, solid, one with which they build and sow...

- ...Russia is a great power.
It is impossible to imagine it as a quiet provincial backyard of Europe.
Those who see such a future for her are simply naive and do not understand her energy,
nor its place in world history.
And no matter how today someone in Europe or overseas may cringe from hatred of us,
no matter how much some “political scientists” and “experts” bury us,
but Russia is rising, Russia is being reborn.
And it can only be a real Empire.
There simply cannot be any other Russia.

What's next? What will I do?

What I can do is to benefit my Russia. She is my main personal matter!

And also raise children.
I have three sons, and I want them to graduate from the special forces department,
became Russian officers, real defenders of Russia.
The place of a real man is in the army...

And we will remember the heroes of another war.