The interior ministry announced on Monday that Russian police had seized control of an airport in the largely Muslim Dagestan area and detained 60 individuals after hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators stormed the facility on Sunday when an Israeli jet landed.
Videos from the airport in Makhachkala, the regional capital, showed the demonstrators, who were primarily young males, yelling “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is Greatest,” as they ran through the airport on Sunday evening, brandishing Palestinian flags and smashing glass doors.
A second gang was observed attempting to overturn a patrol truck.
Before security personnel put an end to the disturbances, twenty individuals were hurt at the airport, according to local officials. Security personnel said that the passengers aboard the aircraft were safe.
The disturbances in Russia’s North Caucasus area were a reaction to Israel’s battle against Hamas terrorists in Gaza and came after a number of other anti-Israel events in recent days.
There are over 3 million people living in the republic of Dagstan, and the local authorities there said yesterday that it was stepping up security measures throughout the territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is troubled by the disturbance in the area, where his security forces had previously put down an Islamist insurgency. Putin is fighting in Ukraine and wants to keep things stable at home before the anticipated presidential election that will take place next year.
Until security inspections are finished, the airport has been closed to aircraft by the Russian Aviation Authority.
In a statement, the interior ministry claimed to have identified 150 of the demonstrators who were deemed to be the most active. It said that all those involved were being sought after by the police.
Even though Dagestanis “empathise with the suffering of victims of the actions of unrighteous people and politicians, and pray for peace in Palestine,” their leader, Sergei Melikov, stated that the occurrence constituted a flagrant breach of the law.
Leaders in two other northern Caucasian regions issued calm appeals. The leading Muslim cleric in Dagestan, known as the mufti, made a comparable plea.
Israel asked the Russian government to defend Jews and Israelis within its borders.
According to emergency officials, a Jewish centre that was being built in Nalchik, the capital of the neighbouring Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria, was set on fire a few days ago. Social media has also revealed tales of small-scale anti-Israeli demonstrations that occurred over the weekend in Dagestan and other parts of southern Russia’s North Caucasus.
The incidents were attributed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Russia’s “widespread culture of hatred towards other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities”.
Russia has made an effort to keep in touch with all parties involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict, as it supports a two-state solution and an immediate truce in Gaza. However, by inviting a Hamas team to Moscow, Russia has infuriated Israeli officials. The Russian ambassador was called by Israel’s foreign ministry on Sunday.
