In Dagestan, Russia, a crowd breaks into Makhachkala airport in search of Israeli citizens – Russian authorities do not intervene
On the evening of October 29, a flight from Israel landed at the airport in Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. Locals staged riots at the airport, looking for Israeli citizens and demanding that Jews be “expelled” from the republic.
According to Moscow media, the airport is currently closed, and planes that were supposed to land in Makhachkala have been diverted to alternate airports.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Makhachkala airport before the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv. This happened after calls spread in telegram channels to participate in the rally near the airport and check cars near the building, UkrayinskaPravda reports.
The crowd stopped cars leaving the airport. They checked the passports of the people who were there and looked for Jews.
A few hours later, protesters broke into the airport building.
According to telegram channels, the protesters entered every room, shouting anti-Semitic slogans. The airport employees tried to hide in their offices, as can be seen in the videos posted on social media.
Later, some of the people ran to the runway and tried to get on a plane arriving from Tel Aviv.
Rosaviatsiya reported that the airport was closed “until the situation is normalized” for receiving and departing flights “due to the entry of unknown persons onto the airport apron.”
The Investigative Committee of Dagestan has opened a criminal case over the seizure of the airport in Makhachkala by local residents, RIA Dagestan reports. The case was initiated under Article 212 of the Russian Criminal Code on mass riots. The penalty is imprisonment for a term of eight to fifteen years.
However, Medusa writes that the police did not interfere with the crowd in any way. They merely called through a megaphone to refrain from pogroms and road blocking, and said that they “understand” the protesters and were ready to “stand up and chant” with them. It was only when the protesters broke through to the runway, crushing the airport guards, that the special forces arrived at the scene – but even then, the security forces did not disperse anyone.
Dagestan’s Minister of National Policy Enrik Muslimov and Minister of Youth Affairs Kamil Saidov arrived at the airport and began negotiations with the audience. According to Russian Telegram channels, communications were also jammed near the airport, allegedly to prevent the crowd from coordinating their actions.
Most of those who arrived did not seem to leave the airport, Sota writes. The publication notes that the Tel Aviv flight is mostly used as a connecting flight to Moscow, as direct tickets to the Russian capital from Israel are very expensive.
Over the past 24 hours, a number of anti-Semitic actions have taken place in the North Caucasus, mostly involving the Muslim population. In Khasavyurt, Dagestan, a crowd gathered outside a hotel because of rumors that refugees from Israel had allegedly been accommodated there. The police allowed some of those present to go inside to make sure that this was not the case. A rally was held in the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, where participants demanded that Jews be “evicted.” The Ministry of Internal Affairs later claimed that 34 of the 80 attendees were detained and reported for participating in unauthorized rallies. In the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, unknown persons set fire to a Jewish cultural center under construction and left an anti-Semitic inscription on its wall.
The President of Ukraine has already reacted to the incident in his evening address and stated that “This is not an isolated case in Makhachkala, but rather part of the culture of hatred towards other nations that is widespread in Russia.”
Late in the evening, detentions began in Makhachkala
