1960s marked the transition from open confrontation (the Caribbean crisis) of the two superpowers to hidden opposition in different regions of the world; Soviet military experts took part in a number of local wars on the side of Algeria (1962-1964), the Yemen Arab Republic (1962-1963), Egypt (1962- 1974), Vietnam (1965–1974), Syria (1967–1973), Mozambique (1967–1979), Angol (1975–1979) and Ethiopia (1977–1990).

Total losses, excluding those who died from illnesses and as a result of accidents, of the Soviet soldiers-internationalists amounted to 145 people, 7 people were missing. A considerable part of the USSR’s military support to developing countries was provided through the mediation of the socialist allies of the Soviet Union (Cuba, Vietnam).

The assistance of the USSR, which came to power in 1978 to the government of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), took the largest scale. On December 5, 1978, the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood, and Cooperation was concluded between the governments of the USSR and Afghanistan, and Article 4 of this provided for the possibility of military assistance.

The revolution in the leadership of the PDPA (October 1979), the death of the former head of state Taraki and the coming to power of Amin, who carried out repressions in the party, the strengthening of the Islamic opposition forced the Soviet Union to take a forceful decision.

On December 25, 1979, a gradual entry into Afghanistan of separate units of the 40th Army began. On December 27, 1979, the Amin Palace was stormed and the main subunits were brought into the territory of a country neighboring the Soviet Union.

The Soviet leadership failed to create a stable Afghan government: the new leader B. Karmal held on only thanks to the military support of the USSR. The planned one-time action turned into long-term large-scale hostilities (1979-1989). If during the introduction of troops (December 1979 - February 1980) losses amounted to 239 people, by April 1985 they had reached almost 9 thousand, and in total during the military conflict - 14 453 killed (including 4 generals) 417 were captured or missing, 53,753 wounded. In total, about 620 thousand people passed through Afghanistan, the average number of troops was 80-104 thousand soldiers at various periods of the war.

The introduction of Soviet troops in Afghanistan dramatically changed the attitude of Western countries to the USSR. Many previous agreements remained on paper. The Moscow Olympics-80 took place in the situation of a boy-cat from the majority of capitalist countries.