Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia October 27, 2023.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting of top security and law enforcement officials on October 30, the day after a mob stormed the airport in the region of Dagestan after a plane from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv landed there.

Hundreds of angry men rushed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, late on October 29, looking for Israeli passengers, according to Russian news reports.

Dagestan’s Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. It said the injured included police officers and civilians. The local Interior Ministry said 60 people were detained in the unrest. It was not clear if charges had been filed against any of them, but Russia’s Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal probe on charges of organizing mass unrest.

The crowd broke out onto the landing field and surrounded the airliner belonging to the Russian carrier Red Wings, with seemingly little resistance from the police, Russian news outlets reported.

Video and photos on social media showed some in the crowd waving Palestinian flags and some trying to overturn a police car. Others held hand-written banners saying “Child killers are not welcome in Dagestan” and “We’re against Jewish refugees.”

Some in the crowd examined the passports of arriving passengers, apparently in an attempt to identify those who were Israeli. The riot was later broken up.

The Makhachkala airport was to remain closed until 3 a.m. on October 31, Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said.

The Kremlin on October 30 blamed the unrest on “outside interference,” and Mr. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting will discuss “attempts by the West to use the events in the Middle East to divide the (Russian) society.”

“It is well known and obvious that yesterday’s event around the Makhachkala airport is largely the result of outside interference, including information influence from outside,” Mr. Peskov told reporters at his daily news conference.

Also on October 30, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti cited Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov as saying that the unrest was coordinated in a Telegram channel run by “traitors” based in Ukraine, with the goal of destabilising the situation in Dagestan and fueling unrest.

According to Russia’s independent news site Mediazona, local Telegram channels had said before the unrest that “refugees from Israel” were about to arrive in Dagestan. One such channel, Mediazona said, was founded by former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, who currently resides in Ukraine and claims to be involved with a guerilla movement inside Russia.

The Associated Press could not independently confirm the report. Mr. Ponomaryov has said he no longer has ties with the channel.

Russia has issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the war between Israel and Hamas, a conflict that is giving Moscow bold new opportunities — to advance its role as a global power broker and challenge Western efforts to isolate it over Ukraine.

Following the Dagestan unrest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s office added that the Israeli Ambassador to Russia was working with Russia to keep Israelis and Jews safe.

While voicing support for Palestinians in Gaza, the regional Dagestani government appealed to citizens to remain calm and not take part in such protests. The Supreme Mufti of Dagestan, Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, also appealed for peace.

“We understand and perceive your indignation very painfully. … We will solve this issue differently. Not with rallies, but appropriately. Maximum patience and calm for you,” he said in a video published to Telegram.

Dagestan Gov. Melikov promised consequences for anyone who took part in the violence, and wrote on Telegram that what happened at the airport was “outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies!”

People in the crowd walk shouting antisemitic slogans at an airfield of the airport in Makhachkala, Russia, Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Russian news agencies and social media say hundreds of people have stormed into the main airport in the Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner coming from Tel Aviv, Israel.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sixty people were detained after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed an airport in Russia’s predominantly Muslim Dagestan region on Sunday, the RIA news agency reported on Monday.

RIA said the identity of 150 of what it called the most active protesters had been identified. It said nine police officers had received injuries in the incident, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

The protesters stormed into the main airport in Dagestan region and onto the landing field to protest the arrival of an airliner from Tel Aviv, Israel, Russian news agencies and social media reported.

Russian news reports said people in the crowd were shouting antisemitic slogans and tried to storm the airliner belonging to Russian carrier Red Wings.

Video on social media showed some in the crowd on the landing field waving Palestinian flags, protesters attempting to overturn a police car and others checking the passports of passengers who had arrived in Makhachkala.

In a statement released Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.” Netanyahu’s office added that the Israeli ambassador to Russia was working with Russia to keep Israelis and Jews safe.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs for Russia’s North Caucasian Federal District, where Dagestan is located, stated that CCTV footage would be used to establish the identities of those who stormed the airport, and that those involved would be brought to justice.

While voicing support for Gaza, the regional Dagestani government appealed to citizens to remain calm and not take part in such protests.

“We urge residents of the republic to treat the current situation in the world with understanding. Federal authorities and international organizations are making every effort to bring about a ceasefire against Gaza civilians … we urge residents of the republic not to succumb to the provocations of destructive groups and not to create panic in society,” the Dagestani government wrote on Telegram.

The Supreme Mufti of Dagestan, Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, called on residents to stop the unrest at the airport.

“You are mistaken. This issue cannot be resolved in this way. We understand and perceive your indignation very painfully. … We will solve this issue differently. Not with rallies, but appropriately. Maximum patience and calm for you,” he said in a video published to Telegram.

Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov was more assertive in his criticism of the protesters, and promised consequences for anyone who took part in the storming of the airport.

“The actions of those who gathered at the Makhachkala airport today are a gross violation of the law!… what happened at our airport is outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies! And this will definitely be done!” he wrote on Telegram.

He called the protests a “knife in the backs of those who gave their lives for the security of the Motherland,” referring to the 1999 war in Dagestan and troops currently fighting in Ukraine.

Russia’s civilian aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, later reported that the airfield had been cleared of unauthorized people, but that the airport would tentatively remain closed to incoming aircraft until Nov. 6.