Russia issues first fine for criticising the Taliban, one year after lifting its terrorist designation

A 19-year-old Russian man has been fined 10,000 rubles (€120) for a social media comment about the Taliban, in what appears to be the first prosecution for criticising the group since Russia's Supreme Court lifted its terrorist designation earlier this year. 

According to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti, a court in Rostov-on-Don heard the case on 5 June, after a man identified as Yegor A. posted a comment under a VKontakte post about the Taliban. “What the fuck are they doing in Russia, cave-dwelling fuckers,” he wrote. The court ruled the comment constituted incitement of ethnic hatred. Prosecutors also cited two additional posts by the defendant calling for violence against migrants.

Yegor pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.

Russia first banned the Taliban as a terrorist organisation in 2003. In December 2024 — more than three years after the group seized power in Afghanistan following the U.S. military’s withdrawal — the State Duma passed legislation enabling its removal from the terrorist registry. The Supreme Court formally delisted the movement in April 2025, against the backdrop of Russia's efforts to build diplomatic relations with Taliban-governed Afghanistan. Russia's ambassador to Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, has said the movement has since arranged exports to Russia of soft drinks, energy drinks, spices and other goods.

In past cases, Russians have been prosecuted for the opposite: in March 2025, a military court convicted journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova for “justifying terrorism” for two social media posts, one of which concerned the Taliban.