Russia — along with Pakistan, China, Iran, Turkey and Qatar — was on a fairly short list of states invited by the Taliban to inaugurate their new government in Kabul on Sept. 11. The Speaker of the Federation Council (Russia’s upper house of Parliament) Valentina Matviyenko, said in a statement before the inauguration that diplomats would likely attend on behalf of Russia. According to her, representation was expected to be “at the level of ambassadors or other members of the diplomatic corps, no higher than that.” The Russian president's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, confirmed that the Russian ambassador in Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, would come to the ceremony. However, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that the Russian delegation would attend the event only if the Taliban government is inclusive.

Ultimately the question of whether Russian officials would arrive in Kabul was resolved by the Taliban themselves, who decided against an inauguration ceremony, instead just raising their flag over the presidential palace.

However, that Russia was invited to such an event indicates a special relationship has developed between Moscow and the Taliban. In addition, another sign hinting at the confidential nature of contacts between Moscow and the Taliban was the presence in early September of pro-Kremlin journalists from the Ministry of Defense’s pool in Kabul: Yevgeny Poddubny of VGTRK /Russia24 and Alexander Kots of Komsomolskaya Pravda. Both are known for their support of Russia's military operations in Syria and the activities of the forces allied with Moscow in Libya. 

There was a political strategist in Afghanistan, Maxim Shugaley, who is associated with affiliates of Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin (who for a long time was held prisoner in a Libyan prison in Tripoli on charges of having ties to Seif al-Islam Gaddafi). The timing suggests they were tasked with creating a positive image of the Taliban movement among the Russian public.