2023-10-30 12:52:10
Dozens of people entered the runway at Makhachkala airport on Sunday evening, surrounding a plane they believed was carrying Israelis. Moscow claims to have regained control of the site.
Chaos upon landing. On Sunday October 29, in the early evening, demonstrators entered the airport grounds of Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, in large numbers, completely paralyzing its activities. Several dozen of them even managed to invade the tarmac and rushed on a plane possibly coming from Tel Aviv (Israel), shouting slogans hostile to the Jewish state and its war once morest Hamas in Gaza.
For several hours, the authorities of this predominantly Muslim Caucasian republic were overwhelmed by the rioters. The latter were able to freely control numerous vehicles and places in search of Israeli travelers. While no acts of violence once morest passengers have so far been reported, nine police officers were injured, the Russian Interior Ministry said on Monday, specifying that the police had regained control of the airport. Here is what we know regarding the situation.
Plane in transit from Tel Aviv to Moscow targeted
The attackers at Makhachkala airport targeted a plane from the Russian company Red Wings, which was operating flight WZ4728 from Tel Aviv. According to the specialized site Flightradar24, this flight landed shortly following 7 p.m. in Makhachkala. The plane had to leave for Moscow Two hours later. Until Sunday, the connection with Tel Aviv was provided every two days.
Sunday’s theft was spotted in the middle of the day by several Telegram online messaging channels, including the “Outro Dagestan” channel, followed by 65,000 people, where pro-Hamas publications as well as messages mixing Islam circulate. radical and anti-Semitism. “No car should leave the airport without our inspection”urged messages posted on this channel, opposing any landing of “Jews” in Makhachkala. Massed around the airport, the demonstrators quickly managed, according to Russian media, to force the barriers and enter a terminal, while chanting “Allah Akbar”.
The hunt for passengers continued outside the airport
In the evening, numerous vehicles leaving Makhachkala airport were checked by groups of individuals, presumably looking for passengers on the flight from Israel. Videos published on Telegram show occupants of cars and minibuses forced to show their passports, the vast majority Russian. In one of the extracts, the crowd attacks a man describing himself as a caregiver from Uzbekistan, whom they think is Jewish. The attackers’ suspicions also focused on a bus, parked in a protected parking lot.
On another video the author declares “this is the Jewish bus, this is where they are all”, he thinks he has found the place where the passengers from Tel Aviv would have taken refuge.
— Luc Lacroix (@lacroixluc) October 29, 2023
Images broadcast on Telegram also showed dozens of people gathered in front of the kyiv and Flamingo hotels, two establishments in Khasavyurt, around thirty kilometers from Makhachkala airport. In one of the videos, the crowd can be heard asking to be allowed to inspect the first hotel, looking for “Israeli refugees” allegedly housed there.
While these clashes were still ongoing, Israel called on Russia on Sunday evening to “protect all Israeli citizens and all Jews”. In a message published on X (ex-Twitter)the chief rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Azman, denounced attempts to “pogrom” and accused local police of inaction. For their part, the United States condemned “anti-Semitic demonstrations”through the voice of the spokesperson for the National Security Council of the White House, Adrienne Watson, on.
Fate of passengers on flight from Israel remains unclear
Alongside this intrusion, the Russian air transport authority initially announced on Telegram that Makhachkala airport would remain closed until Tuesday morning. It finally reopened at midday on Monday. On the airport website, however, all flights on Monday appeared, at midday, as canceled or suspended. If the flights scheduled for Sunday evening were diverted, little information has filtered out on the plane that arrived from Tel Aviv, which did not leave, and on the condition of its passengers.
“They were mainly women and children, including one in a wheelchair who had to hide like everyone else”clarified on Telegram Monday morning the general director of Makhachkala airport, Said Ramazanov, quoted by RGVK Dagestan radio. According to his account, the crowd surrounded a bus with passengers inside, but Russian MP Khizri Abakarov, dispatched to the scene, prevented any violence. “It is largely thanks to his efforts that there were no casualties”, he assured. The possible presence of Israeli citizens among these passengers has not yet been confirmed by the Russian authorities.
The deployment of law enforcement finally allowed calm to return in the evening, but not without some damage. According to the regional Ministry of Health, cited by the Russian agency Interfaxat least 20 people were injured, two of whom remain in condition “extremely serious”. As for the police, nine police officers were also injured. In total, “more than 150 active participants in the unrest have been identified” et “sixty of them were arrested”said the Russian Interior Ministry.
Moscow denounces “external interference” and accuses Ukraine
Reacting to these clashes, Monday morning, the leader of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, assured, without providing evidence, that they had been organized “from a distance” from Ukrainian territory, in the midst of the armed conflict between kyiv and Moscow. He notably accused the Telegram channel “Outro Dagestan” of being administered by “traitors” from Ukraine.
For its part, Moscow first castigated Monday “external interference”, without specifying its origin, through the voice of the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov. Then Russian diplomacy directly accused Ukraine of having played a role “key and direct” in the airport attack, according to the words of its spokesperson Maria Zakharova. The Kremlin has announced that Vladimir Putin will hold a “big meeting” on these clashes, which the Russian autocrat describes as ““Attempts by the West to use events in the Middle East to divide Russian society”.
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