Russia is stepping into the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, with President Vladimir Putin looking to re-exert influence in central Asia and prevent Islamist extremism from spilling over the borders.

Moscow last week moved tanks to the Tajikistan-Afghanistan frontier for military drills to shield its ally from a possible collapse of the Kabul government, as the resurgent Taliban continues to advance and the US prepares to end a 20-year military mission that has failed to bring peace to the troubled country.

Russia, which has cheered a US exit despite parallels with the Soviet Union’s humiliating 1989 retreat from Afghanistan, was one of the first to publicly engage with the Taliban. It hosted a 2018 delegation to spur peace efforts, the start of a series of meetings since, despite the fact it considers the Taliban a banned terrorist organisation.