A violent group of protesters broke into the Makhachkala international airport, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, in search of Jews precisely after the landing of a plane that came from Tel Aviv. Dagestan is a Muslim-majority Russian region. At least 60 people were arrested and more than twenty were injured. Among the injured are nine police officers, two of whom had to be hospitalized, according to the Interior Ministry department for the North Caucasus federal district, which added that more than 150 participants in the riots have been identified.
The tumult reached the airport runways and the passengers of the designated flight had to return to the aircraft before the threat of the rioters, according to Russian media and videos published on social networks. The Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed the airport closure and two other flights from Nizhnevartovsk and Moscow have been redirected to Mineralnie Vodi and Vladikavkaz.
Finally, the security forces used means riot gear to dissolve the protest and the federal Infestation Committee has announced the opening of a criminal investigation under Article 212 of the Penal Code for “massive riots with violence.” This article also includes intentional fires, destruction of property, the use of firearms, explosives or armed resistance to government agents and also pogroms.
Hundreds of people have broken into the Makhachkala-Uytash airport in Dagestan🇷🇺 to lynch Israeli passengers from a flight from Tel Aviv🇮🇱.
The airport is currently closed to air traffic.https://t.co/p6lWupYh2T pic.twitter.com/AWYTzG7COe— Niporwifi © (@niporwifi) October 29, 2023
I was flying from Israel
Red Wings airline flight WZ 4728 from Isarel’s Ben Gurion Airport was the aim of the violent ones, who checked the passports of some of the passengers on the plane and of the people leaving the airport in cars, according to the Russian news portal Baza.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Dagestan government has warned that all participants in these riots may be prosecuted under Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code for violation of the established procedure for the organization of demonstrations or concentrations. Likewise, incitement to riots or ethnic hatred will also be prosecuted.
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In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry have called on Russian authorities to protect Israeli citizens and Jews in Dagestan in a joint statement. “Israel expects Russian legal authorities to safeguard the well-being of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they are and to take strong measures against the rioters and against the savage hatred directed against Jews and Israelis,” he noted.
For all these reasons, “the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council are following the events in the south of Russia, in the Dagestan district.” In addition, the Israeli ambassador in Moscow, Alex Ben Zvi, “is working with the Russian authorities to ensure the well-being of Jews and Israelis there.”