On January 20, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the protests in northern Afghanistan had taken place over the detention of a Taliban commander of the Uzbek ethnic group on charges of committing illegal acts, reports 8am.af. “We hope that the new authorities will not succumb to provocations designed by destructive elements to incite ethnic hatred to destabilize the country at such a difficult time,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.