Soviet Commando Remembers Afghan Winter: MOSCOW, Oct. 25 -- As a special operations commander with Soviet military forces trying to subdue Afghanistan in the early 1980s, Sergei Goncharov's mandate was to capture or kill Afghan guerrilla leaders. He has some advice for Americans as they try to do the same thing: Hurry up. Winter is coming. Goncharov, who was deputy head of a unit within the KGB's elite anti-terrorist Alpha group, warns that four months of winter that should begin next month will be as formidable a foe as any Taliban warrior.