Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Nikolai Tarbaev and Mikhail Frolov with the detachment's banner
February 17th marks Russian Student Team Day, a holiday established in 2004 to commemorate the founding of the youth organization "Russian Student Teams." On this day, it's customary to speak about the traditions, continuity, and significance of the student movement for the country. However, behind these words lie real human destinies and stories, one of which is connected to the All-Union Student Team "Druzhba," which included students from the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute (LISI, as SPbGASU was then known).
In the spring of 1966, Tashkent experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes in its history. The city was only partially rebuilt: the center remained intact, while the adobe neighborhoods on the outskirts were completely destroyed. The entire country rallied to rebuild the capital of the Uzbek SSR—student brigades headed south alongside professional construction workers. Among them was a LISI detachment, dubbed "Tashkent-66."
Sixty years later, detachment members Mikhail Ivanovich Frolov and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tarbaev returned to their native university to share their memories with current students.
From Leningrad to ruined Tashkent
Initially, the LISI student construction team was formed for a trip to Kazakhstan, but after the Tashkent earthquake, the decision was changed. Through the Komsomol, the team was urgently reoriented to reconstruction work in Central Asia.
"There were forty-three of us: thirty-seven boys and six girls," Nikolai Alexandrovich recalls. "We lived in army tents in the area known as the Bolgar Gardens. There was so much work that at first it was complete chaos."
Two months after the disaster, the students found themselves in a city where the destruction had not yet been fully cleared. In temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius, without established logistics or clear management, they were forced to literally rebuild their workflow from scratch.
Five meters by hand
The team's main task was to construct earthquake-resistant foundations for five-story apartment buildings. These involved enormous pits up to five meters deep, initially dug by hand with crowbars and shovels.
"First we dug, then we installed formwork and rebar, and poured concrete layer by layer," says Nikolai Tarbaev. "When the equipment arrived, things became a little easier, but we did the bulk of the work ourselves."
The work was hard, but it brought the team together. The students insisted on changing the work organization system: instead of disjointed "quotas," they proposed assigning permanent teams to specific sites. This proved to be a game-changer: the work became rhythmic, meaningful, and truly productive.
It was thanks to this that, in two months, the "Tashkentites" laid the foundations of a fifty-sixty-apartment building and completed a project that another unit had been unable to complete before them.
Heat, watermelons, and a feeling of a shoulder
Besides the grueling work, another side of that life remains in my memory: evening bonfires, songs, trips to the oriental bazaar, watermelons with which the merchants thanked the students for impromptu concerts.
"It wasn't just a job—it was a sense of celebration, youth, and being needed," says Mikhail Ivanovich. "You knew you were doing something important, and you were doing it with others."
When the mission ended, the team was asked to stay for another two weeks to finish the foundations left behind by their neighbors. They stayed. Then they returned to Leningrad on a special flight, with thanks, banners, and a welcome at the airport that the participants still remember.
The squad that didn't fall apart
But the most important consequence of "Tashkent-66" became apparent later: for many, this trip became a defining moment in their professional lives. The forty-three fighters grew into distinguished builders, heads of major construction organizations, and bridge builders. Entire families of engineers, architects, and designers emerged.
"Tashkent taught us how to work with people and be responsible for a common cause," Nikolai Tarbaev emphasizes. "After such a hard-working summer, you enter the profession no longer as a 'young specialist,' but as someone with life experience."
The detachment didn't disband even after graduation. At first, meetings were infrequent, then became regular. Today, the participants of "Tashkent-66" gather at least twice a year, including every year on May 9th, the anniversary of the detachment's formation. They published their own book of memories and preserved photographs, emblems, and traditions.
Memory that the future needs
The story of "Tashkent-66" isn't just a piece of the past. It's a conversation with current students about choosing a profession, about the path that shapes their entire lives.
"You've chosen the right path," Nikolai Tarbaev tells the students. "I sometimes think: if I were working in a pizzeria somewhere, what would I remember today? But as I drive around the city, I know: these bridges, these roads, these buildings are my work. We've chosen a profession that allows us to leave a mark on the earth."
According to Mikhail Frolov, "Being a builder isn't just a profession, it's a responsibility. It's an opportunity to create something that will outlast you. And university is the first step toward this great endeavor."
Tashkent-66 is more than just a post-earthquake construction project. It's an example of how choosing the right profession, an active student life, and working side by side can shape one's destiny and create lifelong friendships.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.