The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan has praised the Taliban's conduct saying the group had made Kabul safer in the first 24 hours; than the city had been before.

Dmitry Zhirnov described the Taliban’s overall approach as "good, positive and business-like." 

Speaking to Russian media, Zhirnov said "Taliban members are already guarding our embassy as Afghan security forces that used to protect us left earlier today”. He added that “the Taliban confirmed once again that no one will harm a hair on the heads of Russian diplomats, saying that ‘you can work undisturbed". 

Meanwhile, Russia's embassy in Britain has said that Washington's Afghan exit shows its geopolitical star is on the wane. The embassy said "The objective reality is that Washington’s comfortable position of U.S. hegemony is receding into the past against the backdrop of the strengthening political positions of Russia and China.” 

Also, Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin's special representative on Afghanistan, said Moscow's long campaign to build ties with the Taliban appeared now to be paying off. 

Kabulov noted "It's not for nothing that we've been establishing contacts with the Taliban movement for the last seven years… we saw that this force would in the end if not completely come to power would play a leading role in the future of Afghanistan in any case."