Zamir Kabulov - RBC: "The situation in Afghanistan is even worse than the UN thinks"

“The Taliban will have to create conditions in the country that are normal for most citizens”

- More than five months have passed since the US left Afghanistan and representatives of the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) came to power there. The UN noted the dramatic situation in humanitarian terms, the growth of unemployment and the country's dependence on humanitarian aid. Do your assessments of the situation differ from those of the UN?

- No, they don't. I think the UN's assessment is somewhat overstated. The situation is actually getting worse. We talked about this more than once in previous months, and not only with your TV channel, but also with others. Here is the most cutting example. Last week, 135 children died in Afghanistan, according to an international organization. From hunger. This is inaccurate information, there is simply no more complete data. I think this example illustrates the situation more vividly than anything else.

- The UN Secretary General's report on Afghanistan says that the Taliban have killed about a hundred representatives of the previous government since they came to power. The Taliban themselves refute this figure, but do not exclude the possibility that revenge killings were possible. Does Moscow have any information in defense of the position of one of the parties?

- We do not act in this case either as defenders or opponents of any of the parties. We have heard information that we do not have the opportunity to double-check through our own sources. But we are talking about still ongoing civil war, and such things, unfortunately, happen there. I can neither confirm nor rule out this message.