Russia is ready to render “civil aviation services” on the evacuation of Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban and seeking asylum elsewhere, Russian ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova said on Thursday. The offer follows intensive diplomatic efforts that involved telephone talks between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his counterparts in Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, France, and Italy.
“In the view of the worsening situation in the Kabul international airport and the inability of the Western powers to take their citizens and servicemen out—not to mention the Afghan nationals and their family members who served them over the past years—we are ready to help them out. To prevent worsening of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, we are ready to provide services of the Russian civil aviation sector to carry any number of the Afghan citizens, including women and children, from Kabul to any foreign country willing to accept and settle them,” Zakharova said during the ministry’s regular press briefing.
At the same time, Russia itself will accept only those Afghans who have a documented connection with Russian citizens or successfully applied for asylum beforehand. About 100 Russian citizens residing in Afghanistan have registered with the Russian embassy in Kabul, mostly ethnical Afghans educated at Soviet or Russian universities and who married Russians but chose to return to their country of origin. “The embassy’s consular service is now focused on these kinds of applicants,” Zakharova said. The Russian immigration authorities called on them to declare readiness to leave Afghanistan against a deadline of August 22.
“The new Afghan authorities have ensured the Russian side that they have no principal objections on inbound and outbound flights to be made by the Russian civil airplanes,” added Zakharova. “They have also promised to guarantee safety and security of the aircrews and the passengers.”
Zakharova explained that the ministry previously used the services of local carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines. ”Since this option is no longer available, we plan to organize special charters, including for Russian citizens wishing to leave Afghanistan,” she said.
The Taliban recently has refused a number of requests for landing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport to various applicants, including Ukraine, which sent an Ilyushin Il-76MD military heavy-lifter to evacuate Ukrainian servicemen and civilians. Taliban gunmen positioned a number of anti-aircraft rapid-fire guns and shoulder-launched missiles around the airport fence to support the flight ban. Taliban authorities make exceptions on a case-by-case basis and have exempted the U.S. Air Force until August 30, although a possible extension could last for another 10 days in September.
