LONDON — The unfolding crisis in Afghanistan poses substantial risks to Russia and Central Asia, geopolitical experts have warned, even as the Kremlin seeks to claim a propaganda victory over the U.S.Initially, Russia’s response to the Taliban’s insurgence appeared to celebrate the defeat of the American-backed and trained Afghan government, as well as the U.S. departure. Russia’s ambassador to Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, praised the Taliban’s conduct and said the group had helped to make the Afghan capital safer in the first 24 hours after the U.S. exit. This is despite Russia officially recognizing the Taliban as a terrorist organization.“The Russians feel as though they have achieved a major triumph,” Kate Mallinson, associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, said during a webinar for think tank Chatham House.“They feel they are going to reassert their influence in Central Asia,” she said, noting that Russia was likely to try to further entrench its position as the region’s key security guarantor.Moscow has a significant military and economic influence over former Soviet republics in Central Asia, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, all of which directly border Afghanistan.“But I would say that this kind of propaganda victory is more pyrrhic than triumphant,” Mallinson added.Russia on Wednesday started its own evacuation plans, sending four military planes to evacuate 500 Russian citizens and those of its regional allies. The directive, which came on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, marked an abrupt shift in the Kremlin’s stance to the Taliban’s takeover.It came amid a massive withdrawal effort at Kabul airport, with countries scrambling to get people out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden.Tens of thousands of people had chaotically gathered at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the days since the Taliban took the capital, desperately seeking to secure safe passage out of the country.cnbc.com