A Russian ethnographer detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan for about six weeks has been released and returned to Moscow on Monday, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The researcher, Svyatoslav Kaverin, works at the Center for Paleoethnographic Research and is affiliated with the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He was arrested by Taliban authorities in Kunduz on July 19 on accusations of attempting to smuggle jewelry and later transferred to Kabul, according to his own Telegram posts at the time.
Sources told RIA Novosti that Kaverin has sent a voice message to his family confirming his release. One source said simply: “He is flying to Moscow.”
Neither Taliban officials nor Russian authorities have released details about the legal proceedings in his case or the circumstances of his release.
