According to the Kremlin spokesman, on October 30, a meeting was held to discuss “Western attempts to exploit events in the Middle East to divide Russian society.”
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| Hundreds of people stormed the main airport in the Dagestan region and its runway to protest the arrival of a plane from Tel Aviv, Israel, Russian news agencies and social media reported. (Source: AP) |
The meeting, convened by Russian President Vladimir Putin and including security and law enforcement officials, came a day after a crowd stormed an airport in the southern region of Dagestan after a flight from Israel landed there.
Hundreds of angry people, some carrying banners with anti-Semitic slogans, stormed the airport runway in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, starting on the evening of October 29 to search for Israeli passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv, according to Russian media.
Dagestan's health ministry said more than 20 people were injured, including two in critical condition. The injured included police officers and civilians.
At least 60 people were detained during the unrest, according to the local Interior Ministry. It is unclear whether any of them have been charged, but Russia's Investigative Committee said it has opened a criminal case into organizing mass disturbances.
An exploitation of the conflict in the Middle East?
On the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russia has offered carefully measured criticism of both sides. The conflict is seen as offering Moscow new opportunities to enhance its role as a global power broker, challenging Western efforts to isolate it over Ukraine.
Russian news agencies reported that a crowd that rushed onto the runway on the evening of October 29 surrounded the Russian airline Red Wings jet and appeared to meet little resistance from security forces.
Videos and photos on social media showed some in the crowd waving Palestinian flags and some trying to overturn police cars. Others held handwritten signs reading “We oppose Jewish refugees.”
Some in the crowd checked the passports of arriving passengers, apparently trying to identify Israelis. The riot was later dispersed.
Russia's civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia said Makhachkala airport would resume operations at 2 p.m. on October 30, adding that flights from Tel Aviv to Makhachkala and Mineralnye Vody, a city in the neighboring Stavropol region, would be redirected to other cities.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the security meeting would discuss “Western attempts to exploit events in the Middle East to divide (Russian) society.”
“It is clear that the events that occurred in the area near Makhachkala airport were largely the result of outside interference,” he said at a daily press briefing, without elaborating on the incident.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Dagestan Governor Sergei Melikov as saying that the disruptive activities were coordinated on a Telegram channel run by "traitors" based in Ukraine, aiming to destabilize Dagestan and fuel unrest across the country.
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| People in a crowd chant anti-Semitic slogans at the airport in Makhachkala, Russia, on October 30. (Source: AP) |
Reaction from Israel
According to the independent Russian news site Mediazona , local Telegram channels have reported that “refugees from Israel” are about to arrive in Dagestan. Mediazona said the refugee channel was set up by former Russian MP Ilya Ponomaryov, who is now residing in Ukraine and claims to be involved in a guerrilla movement inside Russia.
In response to the unrest in Dagestan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that Israel "expects Russian law enforcement agencies to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they can and to act decisively against rioters and indiscriminate incitement against Jews and Israelis."
Netanyahu's office added that the Israeli ambassador to Russia is working with the Russian side to protect Israelis and Jews.
While voicing support for Palestinians in Gaza, the Dagestani regional government has called on people to remain calm and not participate in such protests. Dagestan's Islamic jurist, Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, has also called for peace.
There will be consequences for anyone involved in the violence, Mr Melikov said, writing on Telegram that the scenes at the airport were “outrageous and should receive appropriate warnings from law enforcement agencies!”
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