While Afghanistan is licking its wounds after being abandoned by the United States, Russian government officials and government-run media are quick to heap praise on the Taliban -- the new sheriff in town.
On Tuesday, an article by state news outlet Vesti enthused that the insurgents are showing "unprecedented liberalism" toward women by giving them the freedom to work in television and other media outlets.
The article said the West had it all wrong when they expected the Afghan women would be among the first to get a taste of the Taliban's wrath.
Dmitry Zhirnov, Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, said the country's capital city is much more peaceful now that the Taliban has regained control, state TV channel Rossiya-24 anchor Stas Natanzon said Monday.
Rossiya-24 TV showed a video of what looked like Taliban members enjoying themselves at an amusement park -- bouncing on trampolines, taking a spin on a carousel, and riding in bump cars.
The Bokhdi Amusement Park was set on fire by Taliban insurgents in Begha, Sheberghan. The reason is that the statues/idols standing there are in Public access Idols are illegal in Islam, This is the logic of the Taliban's brutal emirate. The homeland is occupied.#Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/MBuYsQQbxk — Ihtesham Afghan (@IhteshamAfghan) August 17, 2021
The Russian state television Channel 1 used the same jolly clips Tuesday, with journalist Yulia Olkhovskaya saying the atmosphere in Kabul is so peaceful that Taliban fighters are riding carousels "like children and jumping around on trampolines."
Then on Wednesday, Vesti News reported that the Taliban insurgents set on fire the amusement park.
In the latest video being shared on social media, an entire amusement park is engulfed in massive flames covering the area at night. A Twitter user who shared the footage said it is of the Bokhdi Amusement Park in Sheberghan.
The Taliban burned down the amusement park because it has statues that violate Islamic practices, the video poster said.
According to Vesti, the Taliban had announced amnesty and promised peace in all of Afghanistan. "But then they set on fire the amusement park where they just had so much fun," The Daily Beast quoted the news outlet as saying.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov told radio station Ekho Moskvy that the atmosphere in Kabul has greatly improved under Taliban rule.
The Russian diplomat said he's very impressed with the Taliban because they are "very reasonable and well-armed people."
