Make supplies: Russia is preparing a new batch of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
The humanitarian crisis is growing in Afghanistan. The UN estimates that 17 million Afghans, including 3.7 million children, will face severe food shortages in 2026. Russia is already preparing a new shipment of food to the Emirate, Russian Presidential special envoy Zamir Kabulov told Izvestia. The situation is being exacerbated by natural disasters and a reduction in international support. And the war in Iran is blocking vital supply chains. Experts warn that further deterioration of the situation can increase the radicalization of the population and create new risks for regional security. The causes and consequences of the crisis are described in the Izvestia article.
Russia supports Afghanistan with food
Afghanistan remains an example of one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world: millions of the country's residents depend on international aid, which is declining from year to year. According to the World Food Program (WFP) According to the United Nations, 17.4 million Afghans — about 36% of the population — may face severe food shortages in 2026. Of these, 4.7 million are already in a particularly difficult situation.
For many large families, dry bread and tea are sometimes the only food. The food crisis is causing systemic malnutrition among children. The press drew attention to the story of a 2.5-year-old patient at the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, who weighed about 6 kg, about half the norm for his age. It is expected that 3.7 million children will face the problem of malnutrition this year.
The humanitarian situation has been greatly affected by the unemployment factor and the closure of the border with Pakistan due to the recent conflict, local resident Muhammad told Izvestia.
— Previously, you could buy fresh vegetables from Pakistan. An alternative was found in goods from Iran, but now there are problems with supplies there. In addition, people's purchasing power has decreased. Rice has risen in price. They usually buy a 25 kg bag from us. And the price for it has now increased by 1,000 Afghanis, which is about $15," he shared.
At the same time, basic goods are generally delivered to Kabul, although, of course, there is a slight shortage and the shelves are indeed lowered in places.
The grain harvest may temporarily stabilize the situation in the coming months. The first harvest is expected at the end of May, and the second in the fall, but after each such period, the food situation will worsen again, Zamir Kabulov, the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Afghanistan, told Izvestia.
In these circumstances, Moscow is helping the country. In April, Russia already sent almost 4,000 tons of wheat flour to Afghanistan, and is now preparing the next delivery.
—We have already provided [steps], there is a corresponding permission from the Russian leadership, which provides for such assistance in the second half of the year if the Afghan government requests it,— Kabulov said.
Over the past two years, Russia has transferred more than 5.2 thousand tons of flour through WFP. At the same time, Afghanistan is actively buying Russian food: in addition to the same flour, it is sugar and vegetable oil, and after the escalation around Iran, Kabul asked the Russian Federation to expand wheat supplies.
The reasons why Moscow is helping Kabul are obvious. The worse the humanitarian situation in the country, the more vulnerable society becomes to various forms of radicalization, Ilya Zimin, a junior researcher at IMEMO RAS, told Izvestia. It is no secret that Afghanistan is now acting as one of the bases for the infrastructure of the "Islamic State" — we are talking about the Wilayat Khorasan group (both are recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia).
"The Taliban, despite the odiousness of this regime and its ambiguous reputation, are still better than other groups and organizations that are present in Afghanistan," the expert said.
Russia proceeds from the fact that without cooperation with the current authorities of the country, it is impossible to resolve either humanitarian or regional security issues. If the situation worsens further, the Islamic Emirate may turn into an ungovernable space.
To stabilize the situation, Moscow is expanding cooperation with Kabul at the political level. On May 15, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk met with Afghan Minister of Higher Education Nida Muhammad Nadim in Kazan. The sides discussed the development of trade and economic ties and other issues of bilateral relations. According to Overchuk, mutual trade between the two countries increased 2.6 times in the first two months of 2026, to about $500 million. The desire of the Afghan authorities for mutually beneficial cooperation is beyond doubt. For example, the Taliban delegation participated in the SPIEF.
As a result, humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan is becoming part of a broader approach to stabilizing the country. Amid declining international funding, the food crisis, and the risks of radicalization, Russia is striving to maintain working channels with Kabul and resolve humanitarian issues. The stability of Afghanistan depends not only on the internal situation in that country, but also on the security of Central Asia as a whole.
Why is the crisis in Afghanistan dragging on
Russia's assistance to Afghanistan is significant, but it is not enough to solve the problem entirely, Ilya Zimin noted.
— No country alone can cope with the humanitarian crisis. The situation can only be affected by the coordinated efforts of the international community. And even in this case, many underlying problems will have to be solved," he noted.
And the crisis, of course, is not limited to food shortages alone. There is a huge migration problem in the country. The situation is particularly difficult for those who have returned from Iran and Pakistan. According to the UN, more than 5 million people have arrived in Afghanistan since the end of 2023. It's not just about those who left after the Taliban came to power in 2021: many Afghans lived in neighboring countries for decades until local authorities tightened migration policies. The media regularly publish stories of such people.
The current crisis has erupted due to a combination of the most unfavorable circumstances. First, after the return of the Taliban, Afghanistan lost a significant part of external financing, which supported the budget, salaries of civil servants, education and social programs, as well as healthcare. According to the WFP, due to a lack of international funding, only one out of four children receives medical care. Journalists from Western countries pay attention to the fact that locals literally sell their daughters in order to provide treatment for at least one of the children. Medicines have really gone up in price, since now they are transported, again, not from Pakistan, but from Uzbekistan and Iran. At the same time, a "sale" is rather an extreme case when one realizes that he is unable to feed his family, while the other, for example, cannot have children in principle, Muhammad notes.
The country also lost access to the international banking system and foreign exchange reserves: about $9-9.5 billion of the Central Bank's funds were blocked abroad, of which about $7 billion were in the United States. Washington explained this by the non-recognition of the Taliban government and fears that funds could come under their control without guarantees of the independence of the Central Bank. Kabul, of course, demands the return of reserves, calling them the property of the Afghan people and one of the tools for stabilizing the economy.
However, the issue of assets is also related to human rights. Western countries believe that a full-fledged restoration of financial relations is impossible with the current policy of the Taliban inside the country, primarily taking into account restrictions on women. After 2021, the Afghan authorities banned girls from attending secondary schools and universities, and restricted women's work in NGOs and UN structures. And just a few days ago, in Afghanistan, the age of marriage for girls was lowered from 16 to nine years old.
The capabilities of international organizations are also being reduced. The UN system is under pressure from a general funding crisis related to a drop in contributions, including from the United States, which is the largest donor to many humanitarian programs. Due to a lack of funds, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs lowered its plan to raise money for humanitarian operations in 2026 to $33 billion from $47 billion a year earlier. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also warned of new staff cuts: in 2026, funding could be cut by another 15% after falling by 30% last year.
All of this has a direct impact on Afghanistan.: UN agencies are now able to provide food aid to 2 million people per month, compared to 6 million last winter. The future work of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, is also in question. In March 2026, the Security Council extended her mandate for only three months, until June 17. However, Moscow expects that the work of UNAMA will continue, Zamir Kabulov told Izvestia.
— Yes, of course, his (mandate. — Ed.) will be extended, but with certain conditions, because there are questions about the activities of this mission. We hope that all this will be taken into account," he said.
Additionally, natural disasters worsen the situation in the country. In late March and early April, heavy rains and floods affected all eight regions of Afghanistan, affecting more than 73,000 people. The water destroyed houses, damaged roads and farmland, making it difficult for people to deliver aid and access food.
The crisis around Iran is also contributing, primarily the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. Afghanistan has no access to the sea and depends on neighboring transit routes, including the Iranian route. Fuel, food, and other basic goods flow through it, so disruptions in the region increase the cost of transportation and make both commercial imports and the delivery of humanitarian aid more expensive. It is obvious that new global crises are overlapping with old ones inside the country, putting Afghanistan on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
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