Three Il-76 military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which arrived in Afghanistan to evacuate 380 citizens of the Russian Federation, delivered 108 tons of humanitarian cargo to the country. This was reported to journalists on Thursday, November 18, by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
It is noted that Russian planes delivered humanitarian cargo to the Kabul airport and are currently landing evacuated citizens from Afghanistan.
More than 380 citizens of the Russian Federation, CSTO member states (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Ukraine), as well as Afghanistan will be taken out of the country, the ministry noted.
Earlier in the day, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said that Russia will deliver about 100 tons of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. According to him, a large batch of humanitarian supplies formed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation will be delivered to the country. These are food, medicines, essential goods, the diplomat added.
On November 17, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said that Afghanistan should not again become "a testing ground for reckless geopolitical adventures of external players." He believes that events in Afghanistan could go according to a catastrophic scenario if the new authorities in Kabul fail to normalize the situation and the international community fails to support the Afghan people.
The situation in Afghanistan escalated in May 2021 after the start of the withdrawal of American troops who had been in the country since 2001. Members of the Taliban movement (the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) launched an offensive against major cities of the country and entered Kabul on August 15, announcing the end of the war.
