Putin Evokes Tolstoy 26 Years After Soviet Troops Pulled Out of Afghanistan

Soviet Era Afghan Soldiers with Flag

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 16, 2015) President Vladimir Putin marked the 26th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan Sunday, vindicating his country’s involvement in the Afghan War and praising novelist Leo Tolstoy’s moral teachings. “When years pass and more facts become known, we more clearly understand the reason why Soviet troops were sent to Afghanistan,” Putin […]

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Interfax: Afghan heroin has “killed” at least 500,000 Russians since 2000 – drug watchdog head

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) – The director of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service, Viktor Ivanov, has said there have been at least 500,000 deaths in Russia caused by the use of Afghan heroin since 2000. “Over the past 14 years, since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghan heroin has killed more than one million people in Eurasia, including at […]

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Interfax: Russia free to suspend NATO transit to Afghanistan across its territory – official

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(Interfax – April 4, 2014) NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia gives Moscow the right to suspend NATO transit to Afghanistan across Russian territory, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov said. “NATO is transporting armaments, military hardware and servicemen to Afghanistan across our territory. If our cooperation comes to a halt, we will have the right […]

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Interfax: NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation will harm Afghanistan – Russian envoy

File Photo of U.S. NATO Troops Atop Ridge in Afghanistan

(Interfax – April 2, 2014) NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia will harm Afghanistan, Moscow’s envoy to NATO has said. Interfax news agency quoted Aleksandr Grushko saying: “Above all, NATO’s decision will harm Afghans.” He said that the decision was counterproductive. “As a member of the international community, we carry particular responsibility for the preservation of international peace and […]

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Leaving Afghanistan

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(opendemocracy.net – Artemy M. Kalinovsky – February 15, 2014) Artemy M. Kalinovsky is Assistant Professor of East European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and the author of A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Harvard University Press, 2011). Twenty five years ago today, Soviet General Boris Gromov oversaw the final withdrawal from Afghanistan. How will the International Security […]

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Turkmenistan: The Achilles Heel Of Central Asian Security

Map of Turkmenistan and Environs

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – February 16, 2014) Central Asian governments are already on heightened alert over the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. This sense of alarm is almost certain to increase in coming months. But in Turkmenistan there does not seem to be the same concern heard in the neighboring Central Asian states. Ashgabat seems content to rely on […]

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Divided by Borders, Afghan War Veterans Face Differing Challenges

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – D. Garrison Golubock – February 14, 2014) On Feb. 15, 1989, the last Soviet military formations departed from Afghanistan, leaving behind a country they had occupied for more than nine years and where more than 14,000 of their comrades-in-arms had died. Twenty-five years later, the Soviet Union has long since ceased to exist, and the […]

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NATO refuses to cooperate with CSTO in fighting Afghan drugs for ideological reasons – Lavrov

Afghanistan Map of Ethnicities

(Interfax – December 18, 2013) Moscow stands for NATO-CSTO cooperation in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during the Government Hour at the Federation Council on Wednesday. “We think it would be useful to finally start practical cooperation between the CSTO and NATO,” he said. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) give much […]

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Interfax: Afghanistan will pose drug threat for another century -FSKN director

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

MINSK/MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) – Russian Federal Drug Control Service Director Viktor Ivanov said Afghanistan may stay a source of large-scale drug trafficking for years ahead. “If no serious efforts are made by the world and the UN, all conditions and preconditions have been created for the prolongation of the large-scale drug production in the coming decades, if not a […]

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Interfax: NATO demonstrates touching care for “Afghan peasants” growing drug crops – FSKN chief

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

MINSK. Nov 28 (Interfax) – Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Director Viktor Ivanov says that NATO has failed to contribute to the fight against Afghan illegal drug business. “We can say that the hopes the world pinned on NATO in the suppression of Afghan drugs were crushed,” Ivanov said at a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Coordination […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia Concerned at US Plans for Bases in Afghanistan

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) ­ A senior Russian diplomat has voiced concerns over US plans to retain nine military bases in Afghanistan after their planned withdrawal from the country. Russia’s presidential envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, told RIA Novosti in an interview Wednesday that the bases would “exert a serious influence on the whole vast Asian region and become […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Afghanistan faces chaos

U.S. Troops Atop High Ridge in Afghanistan Looking Over Valley

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Ilyashenko, political analyst for Voice of Russia Radio, special to RBTH – November 5, 2013) With international forces leaving and an upcoming election looming in 2014, Afghanistan is looking at a very unstable future. On January 1, 2015, Afghanistan will say goodbye to the occupational armies of the United States and NATO, […]

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NATO Avoids ‘Costly’ Russian Transit Hub – Paper

NATO Meeting file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 15, 2013) A year after Russia opened a transit hub in Ulyanovsk to help in NATO’s pullout from Afghanistan, not a single alliance member has used it, a Russian newspaper said Thursday. “Russian authorities insisted, when opening the hub, that only Russian transport companies service its operations. And they hiked the prices so much that […]

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NATO Pullout From Afghanistan ‘Too Hasty’ – Russian Defense Official

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 14, 2013) ­ The intended pullout of the NATO-led forces from Afghanistan starting in 2014 is “too hasty,” Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister said Wednesday adding that Russia will reinforce its military bases in Central Asia ahead of the withdrawal. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has been fighting the radical Islamist Taliban movement in […]

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Afghan heroin flow to Russia has grown – drug control service head

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) The director of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN), Viktor Ivanov, has confirmed an upsurge in smuggling Afghan heroin to Russia. “We see a larger flow of Afghan drugs to Russian territory. (Drug hauls) intercepted by our services in the first half of the year increased 1.5-2 times as compared with the same […]

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Afghanistan Focus For Better Ties with U.S. – Moscow

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 3, 2013) Russia-US relations could be improved through collaboration in Afghanistan, despite having suffered a difficult phase recently, a senior Russian MP and foreign affairs spokesman said on Monday. Mikhail Margelov, head of the international affairs committee at the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, made his comments after a meeting with […]

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Russia Aims to Boost Security Alliance in Central Asia

Map of Central Asia, Including Commonwealth of Independent States Members

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – May 29, 2013) Ahead of NATO’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan next year, leaders of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization have pledged to pool their resources to counter any potential deterioration of the security situation in the region. In an effort to demonstrate the importance of the military alliance, President Vladimir Putin […]

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Interfax: Russia needs ‘clear and reliable’ missile defence guarantees

Missile Defense Control Room file photo

(Interfax – May 24, 2013) Russia needs “clear and reliable” guarantees that US missile defences will not be aimed against it and will take “military-technical” measures in response to their deployment, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev has told Interfax news agency. “They will be taken as required, as the USA progresses in the creation of its missile […]

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Senior Russian military official highlights positive cooperation with NATO

File Photo of Official at Podium in Front of Large NATO-Russia Council Signage

(Interfax – May 17, 2013) Russia and NATO are boosting their cooperation in a number of areas, however Russia still has concerns about US and NATO European missile defence plans, Russian Deputy Chief of General Staff Col-Gen Aleksandr Postnikov-Streltsov has said. Interfax news agency carried the comments that Postnikov-Streltsov made after a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council (RNC) in Brussels […]

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Russian Afghan veterans warn NATO against mistakes in pullout from Afghanistan

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

(Interfax – April 25, 2013) The Russian Union of Afghan War Veterans that unites many generals and officers who took part in the pullout of the Soviet limited contingent from Afghanistan are ready to respond to requests from NATO colleagues and share their materials, Union leader Frants Klintsevich told Interfax-AVN on Thursday. “I have learned about the NATO request from […]

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Russian ambassador to Afghanistan addresses security

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax – www.rbth.ru – Viktor Onuchko, Interfax – April 11, 2013) Ahead of the Russia-NATO Council meeting scheduled to take place in late April, Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan talks about the efforts of the international community and the Afghan government to pull that country out of its 12-year war. A meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the […]

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Afghan heroin claims over 1 mln lives since NATO operation began in 2001 – Russian drug control chief

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 3, 2013) Over one million people have died from Afghan heroin in the world since 2001 and the NATO operation against drug production in Afghanistan is ineffective, Russian Federal Drug Control Service Chief Viktor Ivanov said. “Since the 2000s, since the beginning of the Enduring Freedom operation in 2001, over one million people have died from […]

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Coalition force in Afghanistan has not carried out its tasks – Russian ambassador

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(Interfax – April 1, 2013 – Brussels) – One cannot speak of the fulfillment of the mandate issued by the UN Security Council to the coalition force in Afghanistan, Russian ambassador to Afghanistan Andrei Avetisian believes. “The mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was apparent – to fight terrorism. The result of 12 years of implementation of the […]

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Ulyanovsk Hub Not Getting Much Use by NATO

NATO Meeting file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – February 21, 2013) NATO and Russia pride themselves on cooperation over Afghanistan and the fight against terrorists and pirates, but a planned logistics hub to transport military hardware from Afghanistan is not taking off. Moscow and the Western military alliance will conduct a range of exercises this year, including a joint […]

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No Plans to End US Cargo Transit via Russia – Deputy FM

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has no plans to end US cargo traffic to Afghanistan via its territory despite differences in relations between the two states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Tuesday. “Cargo transit [to Afghanistan] via Russian territory is an important aspect of our cooperation, and we have no plans to end it,” Gatilov […]

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Afghanistan may be threat to Russia’s security after 2014 – analyst

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Interfax – interfax.ru – February 14, 2013) After the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan, this country could become a source of a terrorist threat for Russia and the countries of the region, Army Gen. Anatoly Kulikov, the president of the Club of Commanders, told […]

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NATO pullout from Afghanistan to change Central Asian strategic configuration – CIS ATC

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(February 12, 2013 – Interfax) The terrorist activity level on the space around CIS member states is the highest in Afghanistan, CIS Anti-Terrorist Center Head Andrei Novikov said at the sixth meeting of center senior officials. “Afghanistan, a country bordering on CIS member countries, has the highest level of terrorist activity,” he said. The decision to pull out NATO forces […]

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Reflecting on 2012: A year in Moscow as the U.S. Ambassador

Ambassador Michael McFaul file photo

(Ambassador Michael McFaul – Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – February 8, 2013 – Michael Mcfaul is the U.S. Ambassador in Russia) A year ago, I arrived in Moscow to represent my country as the U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation. This is a good moment to reflect on the state of U.S.-Russian relations and my role in developing […]

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Washington Attempts to Put Relations with Moscow ‘Back on Track’

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 23 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – February 7, 2013) According to Russian diplomatic sources, during a meeting last weekend in Munich on the sidelines of the annual international security conference, United States Vice President Joseph Biden assured Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Washington wants to put bilateral relations “back […]

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General: NATO Air Hub Being Tested

NATO Meeting file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – Dec. 17, 2012) A planned air cargo route for NATO countries’ military equipment from Afghanistan via Ulyanovsk is being tested and should be operating soon, a top general for the alliance said. General Knud Bartels, who chairs the alliance’s military committee, told reporters Friday that containers are being shipped from Afghanistan […]

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NEWSLINK: Dialogue with the Taliban unavoidable: New approaches are needed to regulate Afghanistan post-2014.

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

[Dialogue with the Taliban unavoidable: New approaches are needed to regulate Afghanistan post-2014 – Russia Beyond the Headlines/VPK Daily – Anatoly Kulikov – Anatoly Kulikov is an army general and chairman of the Military Chiefs Club of the Russian Federation. – Dec. 10, 2012 – http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/12/10/dialogue_with_the_taliban_unavoidable_20987.html] Russia Behind the Headlines features commentary by Gen. Anatoly Kulikov discussing the situation on […]

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NATO’s Volga Airport Hits Snarl

NATO Meeting file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – Dec. 12, 2012) Five months after Moscow finalized an agreement with NATO to use Ulyanovsk’s airport for transporting military equipment from Afghanistan, not a single flight has been carried out. National media have speculated that money is an issue and that Volga-Dnepr, the freight company that would handle the flights from […]

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NEWSLINK: US Senate forbids Pentagon to cooperate with Rosoboronexport

File Photo of U.S. Capitol Dome

[U.S. Senate forbids Pentagon to cooperate with Rosoboronexport – ITAR-TASS – RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW – Dec. 3, 2012 – http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/587557.html] Itar-Tass reports on U.S. Senate approval of sanctions against Russia for supplying weapons to Syria, in the form of a prohibition on the U.S. Department of Defence buying weapons from Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport. Meanwhile, Russia argues that it is […]

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Central Asia, the Power-Contest

U.S. Troops Atop High Ridge in Afghanistan Looking Over Valley

Paul Rogers – www.opendemocracy.net – October 4, 2012 Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy’s international-security editor, and has been writing a weekly column on global security since 28 September 2001; he also writes a monthly briefing for the Oxford Research Group. His books include Why We’re Losing the […]

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RUSSIA, NATO AND AFGHANISTAN: International operation in Afghanistan: preparations for termination continue

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

RUSSIAN AVIATION WILL BRING NATO’S NON-LETHAL CONSIGNMENTS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN –  Izvestia – August 30, 2012 –  Aleksei Mikhailov [no direct link available to English translation of article] Izvestia reports that Russian pilots from the the Russian 224th Flight Group will help bring non-lethal NATO consignments out of Afghanistan.  Included will be the property of 50 countries participating in the […]

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