Contents tagged with Afghanistan

  • Putin simplifies process for residents of Syria and Afghanistan to obtain Russian passports

    Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the process for obtaining a Russian citizenship for the resident of several countries. The document is published on the Kremlin’s legal information website.

    Following the simplified procedure, citizens of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria will be able to apply for a Russian passport. The decree also extends to those born on the territory of the RSFSR, former citizens of the USSR, their children, spouses and relatives.

    In addition …

  • Russian Defense Minister explains need for reinforcement of Tajikistan military base

    The need to reinforce the Russian base in Tajikistan is due to its proximity to the Afghanistan border and the terrorist threat originating there, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu told an RBC correspondent.

    “On the Afghanistan border, from the side of the border where terrorists migrate from various regions of the world, in this case primarily from Syria. And in since the operation there has virtually finished, they [the terrorists] are moving to two places: Libya and Afghanistan. And of …

  • Moldova complains to UN about Russia’s failure to provide access to Moldovan pilots released from Taliban captivity

    The Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration wrote on Facebook that Moldovan authorities complained about Russia to a number of international organizations. 

    The reason for the appeal was the “unacceptable actions” of the Russian Federation against two Moldovan pilots Lionel Buruiana and Mihail Crihan, who was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan and released with the assistance of Igor Chaika, a member of the council of All-Russian public organization “Business Russia”. …

  • Russia and Pakistan conduct joint military exercises

    Pakistan and Russia began annual joint military exercises to strengthen cooperation in the war against terrorism and the growing threat from the Islamic State group in neighboring Afghanistan.

    According to officials, the Friendship III exercise began on Monday at the National Center for Counterterrorism in the mountain city of Pabbi. A Pakistani Special Forces headquarters is also located there.

    The official representative of the Pakistan army, Major General Asif Ghafoor, said that this was …

  • Afghan ambassador demands an apology from Russia for deployment of Soviet troops

    Abdul Qayoum Kochai, an ambassador of Afghanistan in Russia, stated during a meeting of the Afghanistan ambassador with LDPR party in the Russian lower house of a parliament that Kabul expects the Russian authorities to apologize for deploying Soviet troops in Afghanistan in 1979.

    Qayoum Kochai said that what happened in 1978-1979 was a mistake. “The Left party came to power [in Afghanistan] in 1978 but it wasn’t a real left-wing. The only thing they wanted was power,” RIA Novosti quotes him …

  • Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to send 16 troops to Afghanistan and two to Mali

    The Ukrainian ministry of defense will send additional sixteen troops for the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan until the end of 2018, said, at the briefing on Tuesday, Valentin Levchik, acting head of the Main Directorate for Military Cooperation and Peacekeeping Operations of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

    He noted that this is in accordance with the previous agreement. “To send the personnel to the NATO mission Resolute Support in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, …

  • Ukraine may increase its contingent in Afghanistan

    Ukrainian servicemen will continue to participate in the NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, and the Ukrainian contingent may be increased three-fold, Ukraine's Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak reported.

    "The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been performing tasks in the Republic of Afghanistan for eleven years; we will also continue to participate in the mission’s operation. We are willing to increase contribution and to provide additional personnel to the headquarters of the mission – …

  • Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov requests US explanation of 'unidentified helicopters' in Afghanistan

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that Moscow is awaiting the US’s comments on the fact that there are helicopters flying in militant-controlled regions of Afghanistan, RIA Novosti reports. According to Lavrov, “the leaders of several Afghan provinces” have reported on such helicopters.

    “… the unidentified helicopters are in all likelihood helicopters that NATO forces have some kind of connection to, and that carry out flights in the regions where the militants are based. Currently …

  • Six Ukrainian citizens among the victims of the attack on the hotel in Kabul

    Six Ukrainian citizens were killed during the attack of militants at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul as reported on Sunday, January 21, on Twitter by the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Pavlo Klimkin. "I reported to the President about the death of 6 Ukrainian citizens as a result of the attack on the hotel in Kabul," the minister wrote.

    Later, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and instructed the government to provide …

  • Ukraine to increase number of its troops in Afghanistan

    Ukraine will increase its contingent in Afghanistan, said Vadym Prystaiko, the Head of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO, to reporters in Brussels, as a correspondent of LB.ua reports.

    Prystaiko did not specify how many Ukrainian troops are already in Afghanistan or how many people would be added. He did say that it would be less than a hundred.

    “It might be military, including, for example, military instructors and not just coaches. It might be police coaches, it might be security forces, and it …