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Russia Offers to Repair Soviet-Era Military Hardware for Taliban
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Russia has proposed restoring Soviet-made military equipment currently held by the Taliban as the initial step in a new defense cooperation agreement.
The deal, which may eventually lead to the supply of new weapons systems, was announced by Zamir Kabulov, the Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan, following the formal signing of a military-technical partnership, according to The Moscow Times on June 1.
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The Afghan Ministry of Defense currently holds significant quantities of legacy hardware, including dozens of T-55 and T-62 tanks, BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, and Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters. According to The Military Balance, the Taliban’s arsenal also includes three An-26 transport planes, one An-32, and a variety of artillery pieces such as 122-mm D-30 howitzers, 122-mm BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems, and 82-mm 2B14 Podnos mortars, alongside hundreds of thousands of pieces of light and small arms.
The Taliban reclaimed control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces. In the summer of 2025, Russia became the first nation to officially recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, removing the group from its list of terrorist organizations and accepting its ambassador in Moscow.
Since taking power, the Taliban have engaged in military operations against domestic opponents, including ISIS, and have exchanged artillery and air strikes with neighboring Iran and Pakistan. By February 2026, Pakistan declared an “open war” against the Taliban, citing the group's alleged protection of militants responsible for cross-border attacks.
Mohammad Omar Nessar, a researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, has described the Taliban's military as a conglomerate of armed factions currently struggling to establish centralized control. Experts suggest that Kabul is prioritizing the repair of its helicopter fleet to monitor its airspace in the face of regional tensions.
Yuriy Lyamin, a senior researcher at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, noted that the Taliban are particularly interested in acquiring spare parts, ammunition, gear, low-cost drones, and air defense systems.
The cooperation agreement was finalized on May 27 at an international security forum held in the Moscow region. While such agreements typically involve the exchange of technology and joint development, analysts remain cautious about the scale of the partnership.
Eastern studies expert Ruslan Suleymanov suggested that the deal is largely “symbolic,” noting that a military alliance similar to the one between Russia and North Korea “will definitely not happen.” However, he noted that Moscow might still deploy military specialists to Afghanistan or conduct “local drills and briefings” within the country.
The Russian military appeared to be reactivating T-55AM tanks from the Cold War era, as evidenced by recent imagery showing the vehicles fitted with improvised armor and overhead frames at a repair facility.
Although these tanks underwent modernization packages in the 1980s, the platform remained fundamentally constrained by its mid-20th-century architecture, which lacked the survivability and sensor capabilities required for the modern battlefield during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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