In the early evening of Sunday, October 29, dozens of men stormed the tarmac and terminal of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim Russian republic of Dagestan, apparently in search of passengers from a flight from Tel Aviv, Israel.
“Since 10:20 p.m., thanks to the work of law enforcement, the airfield has been emptied of citizens who had infiltrated there without authorization,” announced the Russian aviation agency, Rossaviatsia, on Telegram, adding that Makhachkala Airport would, however, remain closed until November 6. By mid-evening, the Dagestan authorities announced that the situation was “under control”, while specifying that the police were deployed in the airport, and after calling on the crowd to put an end to their “illegal acts”. The airport was closed and flights redirected to other airfields, according to Rossaviatsia.
According to the Dagestan Ministry of Health, at least ten people were injured, two of whom are in “critical condition.” Among the injured are police officers and civilians.
For its part, Israel called on Russia to “protect all Israeli citizens and all Jews.” The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed in a statement that Israel “views with seriousness attempts to attack Israeli citizens and Jews around the world.”
Washington also “vigorously” condemned the incidents. “The United States unequivocally stands with the entire Jewish community as we witness a global rise in anti-Semitism,” Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the Council of Justice, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). national security from the White House.
Palestinian flags
According to the specialized site Flightradar, a flight from Tel Aviv of the Russian company Red Wings landed at 7 p.m. (local time) in Makhachkala. According to the independent Russian media Sota, it was a transit flight which was due to take off again for Moscow at 9 p.m. It was currently impossible to know whether the plane was still on the tarmac and what the situation of its passengers was.
According to Sota, after the arrival of this flight from Israel was announced, men first gathered in front of the airport to check the passports of people leaving, looking for Israeli citizens. According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia and the pro-Kremlin channel RT, they then burst onto the roof of the airport and onto the tarmac. Videos posted on Telegram show them breaking down barriers, trying to control cars leaving the airport or forcing doors into the terminal. One of the videos shows a man posted on one of the wings of a Russian Red Wings plane. Agence France-Presse was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of these videos.
A video shows one of the men holding a sign: “Child killers have no place in Dagestan” and others shouting “Allah Akbar.” Some in the crowd waved Palestinian flags.
” You are wrong “
While expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza, the Dagestani regional government called on citizens not to take part in these protests. “We ask the people of the republic to show understanding regarding the current situation in the world. The federal authorities and international organizations are doing everything possible to establish a ceasefire in Gaza (…) We urge the inhabitants of the Republic not to succumb to the provocations of destructive groups and not to sow panic in the society,” wrote the Dagestani government on Telegram, while the governor, Sergei Melikov, promised consequences for anyone who took part in the violence.
The Supreme Mufti of Dagestan, Akhmad Afandi, called on residents to end the unrest at the airport. ” You are wrong. This question cannot be resolved in this way. We understand and perceive your indignation very painfully (…) We will resolve this issue differently. Not with gatherings, but in an appropriate way,” he said in a video posted on Telegram.
The information minister of Chechnya, the neighboring republic, Akhmed Dudayev, had called earlier in the day on Telegram for calm in the face of rising tensions in the Russian Caucasus, and to avoid “provocations”. Attacks targeting Jews “will play into the hands of our enemies who are deliberately provoking the world in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said in a video.
Chechnya and Dagestan are two unstable republics in Russia whose populations are predominantly Muslim.
