On the morning of September 16, the scouts were preparing to fly to Kabul, from where they were supposed to evacuate about 100 people – Ukrainians and Afghans who are at risk. The military has carried out such rescue missions since the Taliban seizure of the capital of Afghanistan, but this was the first since the American troops left the country.
Ukrainian intelligence officers faced problems from the very beginning of the operation. As soon as the plane landed in Kabul, Taliban officials said they would not allow evacuees on board without a written request from the Ukrainian government to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The Ukrainian side refused to do this, as it could be interpreted as an act of recognition of the Taliban government.
As a result, the plane returned to Kiev, and on September 19 headed back to Kabul. There he stood while the team on the ground and officials in Ukraine negotiated with an ever-changing composition of the Taliban, each of whom claimed to be in charge of the evacuation.
One of the Ukrainians involved in the operation says the biggest challenge was the lack of hierarchical authority on the part of the Taliban. Because of this, he said, it took a very long time to solve each problem.
For example, Ukraine has compiled a list of names for evacuation, in which each family is highlighted in a different color. The Taliban refused to accept it, unexpectedly demanding that the printout be in black and white.
During the whole week that the Ukrainian side was trying to negotiate with the Taliban, people on the evacuation list arrived at the airport every day, hoping to catch a flight and waiting at the airport until 12 noon. As soon as they reached the gate with boarding passes in hand, they were told that the flight would not take off.
One of the evacuees, on condition of anonymity, said that Taliban officials twice called and threatened him. He changed his location every 24 hours for security reasons and was afraid of being recognized every time he went to the airport.
Ukrainian officers said the rescue mission nearly collapsed on the evening of September 22, when Afghan security officials at the airport said the plane should take off in 30 minutes without evacuees or it would be confiscated.
The Ukrainian military did not provide details of the solution to this situation, but referred to assistance from Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar, as well as the ambassador to Ukraine from the previous Afghan government, Wali Monawar.
On the evening of September 23, the plane with the evacuees landed in Kiev. The Ukrainians have evacuated 96 Afghans, including a group of students from a Vatican-sponsored university and a three-year-old boy injured in a terrorist attack last month at the gates of Kabul airport.
The evacuation from Afghanistan began due to the deteriorating security situation in this country against the background of the withdrawal of American troops, which started in April 2021 year. By August 15, the Taliban had taken control of virtually the entire country. including the capital Kabul… Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad on the same day.
Several countries (including USA, France, Germany, Great Britain) sent their troops to Afghanistan to ensure the safety of the evacuation.
The head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak said on August 28 that all Ukrainian citizens, who expressed their desire to leave Afghanistan, were evacuated, but on August 30, the media reported that about 100 people with a residence permit in Ukraine waiting for evacuation. On September 1, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that about 200 people ask Ukraine to evacuate them from Afghanistan, and noted that this number is constantly changing.
To the State Migration Service of Ukraine with an application for recognition as a refugee 370 Afghan citizens applied… None of them as of September 9 this status has not yet been received, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Ukraine has organized six evacuation flights from Kabul. Total from Afghanistan to Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until September 23 evacuated more than 650 citizens.
September 23 to Ukraine another board has arrived with 96 evacuees from Kabul. 30 of them are Ukrainians and their family members, nine people with the right to permanent residence in Ukraine, 18 people at the request of the Vatican and two people at the request of Canada.
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