The former Soviet soldier, who now goes by the name of Sheikh Abdullah, was rescued by Afghans after being seriously injured in 1980, as the invasion forces waged a bitter war against local guerilla fighters known as the Mujahideen.
Sheikh Abdullah - known as Bakhretdin Khakimov before his disappearance - was located in Afghanistan’s Herat province last month by a group of Russian war veterans.
A spokesman for the group said Abdullah/Khakimov, a native of the former Soviet state of Uzbekistan, had now mostly forgotten the Russian language, but remembers some Uzbek.
He was 20 years old when he went missing-in-action, after suffering a severe head injury during a battle in Shanind district.
“He now leads a semi-nomadic life with the people who sheltered him,” said a statement from the veteran’s group.
Abdullah still suffers from his war injuries, including a facial tic and muscle tremors. But he is “just happy he survived,” said the statement.