Russian Supreme Court to Review Taliban Ban Suspension

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Members of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, gathered for a session in Moscow, Russia on December 10, 2024. —Reuters

Next month, Russia’s Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to lift the Taliban’s designation as a prohibited “terrorist” organization, according to reports from Russian news agencies on Monday.

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in 2021, Moscow has sought to strengthen ties with their regime.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to address the Taliban’s status on April 17, as reported by the TASS news agency and confirmed by the court’s press service.

This private hearing could potentially lead to the removal of the Taliban from the banned list, following a formal request from the Prosecutor General’s Office.

In December, President Vladimir Putin enacted a law that opened the pathway for the Taliban’s removal from the list of banned organizations.

The legislation allows the court to act on the Prosecutor General’s assertion that the group has discontinued its “terrorist” activities. After a ruling, Russia’s FSB security service can proceed to remove the group’s designation.

However, this action would not constitute official recognition of the Taliban government or what they refer to as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” which has yet to be acknowledged by any other nation.

Since the U.S. withdrawal, Moscow has been improving its relationship with Afghanistan—a country with which it has a complicated history dating back to the Soviet invasion in the 1980s.

Before the U.S. exit, members of the Taliban had already visited Russia at the Kremlin’s invitation for discussions regarding Afghanistan, despite the existing ban placed on the group in 2003.

Putin characterized the Taliban as “allies” in the fight against terrorism, given their control over Afghanistan and shared interests in maintaining stability in the region.

For years, the Taliban has been engaged in conflict with the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), a rival jihadist group in Afghanistan.

In 2024, IS-K claimed responsibility for a tragic attack on a concert hall in Moscow that resulted in over 140 fatalities, marking the deadliest terrorist incident in Russia in nearly two decades.