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Author : M. Konarovsky
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, leading researcher at the Center for East Asia and
SCO, Institute for International Studies, Moscow State Institute (University) for International Relations,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
SOVIET RUSSIA was the first to hail the proclamation or,
more precisely, the restoration of Afghan independence in
1919. After her having in 1921 signed a bilateral political
agreement with Kabul, so did Persia and Turkey, and, by the
end of the same year, London reluctantly set up formal rela-
tions with the country. In this connection, a story is still cur-
rent among Turkish and Iranian diplomats in Kabul that the
Afghan reformist Amir, Amanullah Khan, made a handsome
gesture towards Moscow, Ankara and Tehran by offering a
part of his royal gardens, next door to the Victory Arch com-
plex, for their embassies.
The first building of the Soviet embassy stood opposite the mosque, on the other side of the river. Previously,
the manor belonged to a wealthy grandee during the reign of Amirs Abd al-Rahman and Habibullah in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A two-story house with small columns, a traditional massive wooden entrance gate, a wicket gate likewise
built of timber, and with tall façade windows - all in the style of Kabul architecture of the early 20th century.
In the backfront of the picture, an extensive garden and some other buildings were clearly discernible.
According to eyewitness accounts, in the middle of the large embassy courtyard - Chaman - there once stood
an old Oriental plane tree, on one of the strong branches of which the mustoufie an embezzler was allegedly
hanged. By the irony of fate, his son later became a prominent Afghan politician, a famous poet and historian.
THE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE of the Soviet embassy compound in the movie "Mission to Kabul,"
released on Soviet screens in 1970, has long become history, and the compound no longer exists, although
the new compound, more modern and practically built anew, is much like the previous one. Moving the em-
bassy in 1964 into the new compound, situated on the wide avenue of Dar-ul-Aman, at the end of which on
sunny days one could see the outlines of the eponymous grand palace, became a huge holiday for employees.
With the expansion of economic and trade relations with Afghanistan, the embassy took a lease from Kabul
authorities of an additional plot adjacent to the main one, for a compound for the staff of the economic ad-
viser. It also became the site for a new medical station which gradually evolved into a full-fledged clinic with
several hospital beds, where even surgical treatment in case of emergency could be provided.
The Russian embassy only resumed work in late 2001, after the Northern Alliance, supported by international
coalition forces, drove the Taliban from the Afghan capital. Almost immediately after arriving in Kabul in
early 2002 as Russian ambassador, I inspected the compound in Dar-ul-Aman, or rather, what was left of it.
We had to decide how and where to accommodate the embassy and staff in the future but meanwhile we
rented several small two-story houses in the neighborhood of Wazir Akbar Khan, little fitted for the normal
activities of the embassy...
The Mansion of the Mustoufie