DUSHANBE, August 26. /TASS/. A Russian Ministry of Defense special flight evacuated 22 Tajik citizens from Kabul, delivering them to Dushanbe, the Tajik Foreign Ministry told TASS Thursday. 

"Twenty-two citizens of Tajikistan that stayed in Afghanistan were delivered to Dushanbe by a special flight of the Russian Ministry of Defense," the Ministry said.

The Ministry noted that the evacuation was done with the cooperation of the Tajik and Russian diplomatic missions in Kabul. According to the Foreign Ministry, a total of over 30 citizens who require special departure papers contacted the Tajik embassy with evacuation requests. The Ministry underscored that the Tajik diplomatic mission continues to operate "as usual."

Earlier, four Russian Defense Ministry planes evacuated citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine from Kabul. Overall, the Ministry plans to transport over 500 citizens of Russia, the CSTO member states (Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan), Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

After the US announced its intention to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) initiated a large-scale campaign to seize control over the republic. On August 15, President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country, while the Taliban entered the capital without fighting. Western states are in the process of evacuating their citizens, embassy employees and collaborating Afghan citizens. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Ministry of Defense to evacuate Russian, CSTO, and Ukrainian citizens.