In the 1970s, long before the arrival of the Taliban to power, freedom reigned in Afghanistan. A Soviet diplomat Dmitry Rurikov told about this in an interview with Mosilte, who worked at the USSR Embassy in Afghanistan.
“There was no restrictions on moving around the city, for example. It was for anyone. You could safely go anywhere, to deal with anything, to wear anything. Everyone went, as we wanted. Someone wore European Clothes, someone – Muslim. Everyone had the right to choose, “recalls Rurikov.
According to him, everyone treated themselves to Afghan women with due respect, albeit with “Islamic specificity”. At the same time, women wore things that corresponded to their views, the diplomat said.
Cultural life in Kabul, he noted, was quite diverse. “It was possible, for example, in the evening to go to the theater or to be at a concert. (…) It was more difficult with alcohol. Afghanistan in this regard is very different from Russia. Here the public drinking alcohol has always been rare phenomenon,” he added.
Today’s situation differs from the one that the diplomat described. In July 2021, it became known that the militants “Taliban” (forbidden in the Russian Federation) in the captured areas of Afghanistan introduced the laws of Shariyat and began to raise all women from 12 to 45 years.
Dmitry Ruriki was twice on business trips in Afghanistan: in the 70s and 80s. He worked in the USSR diplomsia in Kabul. In addition, the diplomat was Russia Ambassador in Uzbekistan (1999-2003) and Denmark (2003-2007), and also worked as an assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin from 1991 to 1997.