Russia sides with Taliban against Pakistan — and suddenly has concerns about civilian casualties

WASHINGTON — Russia is siding with the Taliban in its escalating fight with Pakistan — and lecturing Islamabad about civilian casualties along the way.

The Russian Embassy in Kabul weighed in on the latest round of fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Saturday — claiming they’re suddenly concerned about civilians.

“We are seriously concerned about the ongoing military confrontation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which affects civilians, including children,” the embassy said in a post to X.

While the message did not explicitly state that Moscow wants Pakistan to stand down, it’s pretty clear that’s what they’re saying behind the diplomatic language.

The concern for children was particularly rich coming from Moscow, whose war on Ukraine has killed at least 17,257 civilians and injured 53,693, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OHCHR).

Going further, Moscow made no mention of Islamabad’s central complaint — that Kabul is harboring Pakistani Taliban militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks across the border.

Instead, its embassy focused on the civilian toll inside Afghanistan — the same issue the Taliban has seized on to condemn Islamabad.

Moscow’s connections with the Taliban are deep. Russia became the first country in the world to formally recognize the Taliban government in July 2025, just four years after it swept back into Kabul following the US withdrawal.

That move capped a dramatic turnaround for Moscow, which had previously designated the Taliban a terrorist organization.

Since then, the relationship has only grown closer, with Moscow and Kabul expanding diplomatic, economic and security ties. And now, Russia is on Kabul’s side in one of the Taliban’s most serious regional confrontations.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out deadly attacks inside Pakistan.

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Kabul denies the accusation and insists it’s Pakistan’s job to counter the terrorist — while accusing Pakistan of aggression and violating Afghan sovereignty.

Still, Russian officials have previously acknowledged the presence of TTP militants in Afghanistan and raised concerns about terrorist groups operating from the country.

That makes Moscow’s latest intervention all the more eyebrow-raising: Russia knows militants threatening Pakistan are operating in Afghanistan, but when Islamabad strikes across the border, Moscow is publicly echoing Kabul’s grievance instead.

Pakistan says its latest operations targeted terrorist positions. Afghanistan claims civilians were among those killed.

Now, Russia did not directly endorse every Taliban claim or directly condemn Pakistan in its statement, but diplomacy is often about what governments choose to emphasize — as well as what they don't say.

Russia chose to publicly spotlight the consequences for Afghanistan while saying nothing about the attacks Pakistan says are coming from Afghan soil.

And Moscow — the nation killing civilians at an industrial rate and kidnapping Ukrainian children into Russia — is invoking the children caught in the middle.