The capture of Kabul by the Taliban (the group is banned in the Russian Federation) was a kind of surprise for Russia, said the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation, director of the Second Department of Asia of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov.

The Armed Forces of Kazakhstan have taken measures to strengthen vigilance against the background of the aggravation of the situation in Afghanistan: the task has been set to monitor the situation in the region, organize round-the-clock duty of forces and means, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the republic reported.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called shocking the footage distributed on the Network, in which, presumably, two Afghans fell from a plane leaving Kabul.

The candidate for Chancellor of Germany from the Christian Democratic Union of the CDU, Armin Laschet, called the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban (the terrorist organization "Taliban" is banned in the Russian Federation) a defeat for NATO.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the operation of NATO forces in Afghanistan was not successful, lessons should be learned from what happened.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said that after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the British military had no real opportunity to stay there alone, without allies, Sky News reports.

US President Joe Biden, having failed to cope with the situation in Afghanistan, suffered one of the most brutal defeats in American history, former President Donald Trump said.

The Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan on Monday, August 16, confirmed the fact of the crash of an Afghan Air Force plane in the Surkhandarya region of the republic.

Two pilots are in a serious condition in the hospital

An Afghan Air Force plane that crashed in Uzbekistan was shot down while trying to illegally cross the border, two pilots are in a serious condition in hospital, the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan reported on Monday.

The United States military will respond in a mirror manner to any manifestation of aggression by the militants of the radical group "Taliban" (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) against the American population. This was announced on Sunday, August 15, by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

The militants of the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, congratulated the Taliban movement (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) on the rapid capture of Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

President Vladimir Putin held an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation in the format of a videoconference from his residence near Moscow, Novo-Ogarevo. It was about joining forces with partners to ensure the security of the country.

"Today we are planning to discuss issues of international cooperation in the field of defense and security," Vladimir Putin announced. "We have talked with you many times that it is impossible to effectively solve a number of issues in this area alone and it is necessary to combine efforts with our partners in order to ensure our own security," he stressed.

The columnist of the Popular Mechanics publication was amazed at the readiness of the special forces of the two countries to overcome any obstacles, including passing through "rings of fire" on the obstacle course.

In the Primorsky Territory, a joint Russian-Lao exercise "Laros-2021"is being held on the territory of the Sergeyevsky training ground of the combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District (VVO).

The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, highly appreciated the joint actions of Russian and Chinese servicemen during the Sibu/Interaction-2021 exercise, the active phase of which took place in the People's Republic of China at the Qingtunxia training ground.

The Russian-Chinese maneuvers were conducted to increase the ability to jointly respond to risks and challenges. China and Russia are able to jointly maintain peace and stability in the region.

Azerbaijan wants to sign a peace treaty with Armenia and start the process of delineating the border, but has not yet received a response from Yerevan to these proposals, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev said.

Baku expects Moscow to fulfill all the points of the trilateral statement on Karabakh, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

The Russian Federation avoids direct confrontation to strengthen its international role, but resorts to pressure against other countries and to cyber operations, the head of the US Strategic Command, Admiral Charles Richard, said on Thursday.

Residents of Poland could not come to a common opinion about the likelihood of a Russian attack on their country, the weekly newspaper Do Rzeczy writes with reference to the wPolityce portal.