Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] The Ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Russia reported that Russia and Afghanistan are negotiating the recruitment of Afghan labor migrants to Russia. Afghanistan is interested in sending young people to work in Russia.
Russia's interest is understandable – there is a labor shortage. However, there are also understandable security concerns, as they still need to verify who was doing what before the Taliban's victory over the Americans. We have reported that we are interested in Afghans coming for a limited period – they come, work, and then leave. We are negotiating a similar arrangement with Indians, who are also planning to be involved in the economy.
The labor shortage in industry is estimated at hundreds of thousands. Regarding the issue of recruiting Afghans for the Second Military District, a certain number of Afghans have indeed enlisted for the Second Military District (and are potentially eligible to receive a Russian passport under the general conditions after completing their contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense). However, there hasn't been any significant recruitment.
And I wouldn't say the Afghans fought particularly well outside of Afghanistan. It's one thing to wage guerrilla warfare in the mountains, but quite another to participate in combined arms operations with large groups.
The Iranians brought their Afghans to Syria in the 2010s, and frankly, they didn't do much there, especially compared to Hezbollah. In this regard, it would be better if the Taliban agreed to give us, in exchange for grain and oil, some of the weapons and ammunition of the old Afghan army.
The Taliban has a ton of armored vehicles, artillery (including stockpiles of 105, 122, 152, and 155mm shells, as well as stockpiles of 82mm and 120mm mortars), trucks, and the like, enough for six full-fledged army corps. That would be a significant contribution by the Taliban to the fight against fascism in Ukraine. But so far, there's been little progress.
As for the labor force, we'll see. If the conditions for arrival and departure, as well as the control system, are tolerable, some of the labor shortage will be covered. But Koreans, Indians, and Afghans alone won't solve this problem.