Russian Embassy spokesman, while claiming that President Ghani took the money said that “four cars were full of money. They tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. Some of the money left lying on the tarmac”.
On Sunday 15th August, Taliban militants circled around and attacked the city of Kabul. Kabul, the last thread keeping the Ghani government then felled into the hands of Taliban. Soon after the capture of Kabul, former president Ghani fled the country. In a Facebook post he announced that his reason to leave was to avoid bloodshed in Afghanistan.
While Ghani was fleeing the country, some Russian embassy personnel’s claims to have seen him take 4 cars and a helicopter full of cash. They also claimed that when Ghani and his men were not able to fit all of it inside the vehicles. Thus, they even left some cash behind.
‘Nikita Ishchenko’, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy was the one who confirmed the news of Ghani taking money filled vehicles with him. He said that this information was given to him by eye witnesses. Ishchenko talking to the media said that “Four cars were full of money. They tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac”.
Ishchenko also talked to the media about the current situation and Ashraf Ghani’s decision to leave the country. He said that “as for the collapse of the (outgoing) regime. It is most eloquently characterized by the way Ghani fled Afghanistan”.
The Taliban-Russia relationships
Soon after the capture of Afghanistan, there has been a pressure on all Afghan neighboring and even South Asian countries about deciding whether or not to recognize Taliban government. South Asian countries however have advocated for peace in the region. Most of them including Pakistan have already recognized Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Russia also had to make the decision of recognizing or not recognizing the Taliban government. Russia however, have said that they will retain a diplomatic presence in Kabul, while it looks forward to developing strong ties with Taliban. However, Russian officials said that there is no rush to recognize Taliban and that it will first observe their rule closely.
Russia after comments to strengthen relationships with Taliban and its decision to keep Afghan embassy opened, received a lot of international criticism. People alleged that Russia was already involved in supporting Taliban and that it was amongst the countries that funded Taliban.
[…] President Ghani fled with 4 cars full of money: says Russia […]