According to the decision of the Supreme Court, the ban on the activities of the Taliban in Russia has been suspended. The court made this decision upon the request of the prosecutor’s office. After 20 years, the Russian Supreme Court has suspended the ban on the activities of the Taliban in Russia, following the group’s second takeover of Afghanistan’s administration in 2021. According to the TASS news agency, the Supreme Court made this decision upon the request of the Russian Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecution had requested the suspension of the ban on the Taliban’s activities in Russia. Judge Oleg Nefedov, after the hearing where the prosecution’s request was discussed, stated, “The decision of the Russian Supreme Court has suspended the previously imposed ban on the activities of the Taliban, a group included in the united federal list of terrorist organizations.” It was reported that the hearing, which a Taliban representative also attended, was closed to the press. Although the Taliban is listed as a “terrorist organization” in Russia, this decision practically suspends that designation.

PUTIN HAD SIGNED THE DECISION Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved a law on December 28, 2024, that introduced a mechanism for suspending bans on the activities of any terrorist organization. This led to the removal of the Taliban from the list of banned groups. With the regulation signed by Putin, the activities of any organization, including those included in the terrorist list by a court decision based on the statement of the Prosecutor General or Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, could be temporarily suspended.