Does Russia have a new strategy for Afghanistan?

Moscow will seek ‘pragmatic’ engagement with the Taliban after the armed group seized control of Afghanistan, analysts say.

Nearly 40 years ago, the Friendship Bridge was unveiled with much pomp to link the USSR with its new satellite – the fledgling, socialist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. But Pyotr Gavrilenko thought the 800 metre-long steel-and-concrete construction divided two radically different worlds. In May 1982, he was a frightened, sweating 19-year-old in a badly fitting uniform and oversized boots who crossed the bridge from the town of Termez in what is now southern Uzbekistan.