Russia rules out military technical cooperation with Taliban
The Hindu
It is a prohibited movement, says official
The Taliban movement is prohibited in Russia and so they will not have any military technical cooperation with such a movement, said Dmitry Shugaev, Director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation of Russia. Russia supplied Mi-17 helicopters to Afghanistan in the past but the contract was with the U.S. and they did not service the helicopters. They were serviced by European enterprises without our consent, Mr. Shugaev said. “We bear no responsibility for these aircraft. We will not take them back from Afghanistan and we will not even try doing this because the Taliban movement is a prohibited movement in Russia. And we have no military technical cooperation with such a movement,” he told a group of visiting journalists at the ongoing Army 2021 exhibition.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.