Putin criticises Russian law enforcement after Dagestan chaos

Putin criticises Russian law enforcement after antisemitic Dagestan chaos, warning police chiefs they need to take ‘firm, timely and clear actions’ as White House said carnage was ‘Like a pogrom’

Hundreds of thugs descended on to the runway of Makhachlaka airport in Russia

Vladimir Putin has called on Russian law enforcement to take ‘firm’ actions after antisemitic rioters stormed an airport in Dagestan yesterday.

Screaming parents and their crying children were forced to run the gauntlet through an angry anti-Semitic mob that had stormed Makhachlaka airport last night to hunt down Jews after their flight from Israel landed in a Muslim-majority region.

The Russian President today responded to the chaotic scenes, saying: ‘I want to draw the attention of heads of all regions, heads of law enforcement agencies and special services to the need for firm, timely and clear actions to protect Russia’s constitutional order, the rights and freedoms of our citizens, inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony.’

It comes as US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the White House condemned the incident, which saw 60 people arrested and at least 20 injured, and said the events ‘looked like a pogrom to me.’

He added: ‘We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold anyone involved accountable and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia.’

Terrifying footage shows hundreds of thugs descending onto the runway of Makhachlaka airport in the Dagestan region in a sea of black as they screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ while waving Palestinian flags last night

People in the crowd walk shouting anti-Semitic slogans at an airfield of the airport in Makhachkala in the early hours of this morning

The protesters, some carrying Palestinian flags, broke through doors in the terminal building

The mob also prevented buses from leaving the airport, with video showing a group of men demanding to see the passports of terrified parents and their crying children to check if they were from Israel

The angry mob, who were heard screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ while waving Palestinian flags, was demanding the expulsion of Jews from the Dagestan region where they have lived for thousands of years.

As families started to disembark the flight from Tel Aviv , an aviation official screamed at them to get back on the aircraft as he saw the angry mob running towards them.

The captain of the plane warned his passengers to remain on the aircraft or they would ‘be crushed’ by the crowd, with some attempting to board the plane by climbing on its wings and roof.

Video shows hundreds of men crashing through the airport, breaking through glass doors and throwing rocks at Russian riot police officers who were trying in vain to hold the angry mob back.

The protesters, who had heard that a flight had landed from Tel Aviv, managed to break through the barriers and terrifying scenes show them sprinting towards the planes on the runway while screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they hunted down Jews. Another group was seen trying to topple over a patrol truck.

Video shows hundreds of men crashing through the airport, breaking through glass doors and throwing rocks at Russian riot police officers who were trying in vain to hold the angry mob back

The protesters, who had heard that a flight had landed from Tel Aviv, managed to break through the barriers and terrifying scenes shows them sprinting towards the planes on the runway while screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they hunted down Jews

A woman trapped on one arriving plane said children on board were crying and left terrified as they saw the angry mob descend onto the tarmac after the authorities lost control.

The angry mob was demanding the expulsion of Jews from the Dagestan region where they have lived for thousands of years. Yet it took the Kremlin hours to respond to the chaotic scenes, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was the result of ‘outside influence’.

Mr Peskov said ‘ill-wishers’ had used widely seen images of suffering in Gaza to stir people up in the predominantly Muslim region in the north Caucasus.

It was the worst of several explosions of anti-Jewish hate in southern Russia, yet there was no word from president Vladimir Putin nor any attempt to bolster local security forces who eventually claimed to have brought the mayhem in Makhachkala under control.

Russian police said 60 people had been arrested following the terrifying rampage, with video showing cops pinning protesters to the ground as passengers looked on from their planes. Further video shows riot police officers kicking the protesters to the ground while others fire their guns into the air.

Twenty people were wounded at the airport before security forces contained the unrest, local authorities said.

The terror was highlighted by the captain’s announcement from one arriving plane ordering passengers to remain on the aircraft where they were trapped for three hours.

He said: ‘Dear ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. Please stay in your seats, and do not attempt to open the plane’s doors.

‘There is a furious mob outside. They don’t know where we came from, and why. It is quite possible that we will be crushed. So please remain seated, and follow all the instructions of the crew.’

People stormed on to the runway aiming to check the plane that had landed at the airport

Others were filmed breaking doors and barriers, with some aiming to check the cars leaving the airport

One woman who was a passenger on a Pobeda flight from Dubai said there were medical problems among those on board – but ambulances could not get close to the plane due to the angry mob.

‘We have been sitting on the plane for over three hours now,’ she said. ‘There is an angry mob that neither the Russian national guard nor the army nor special forces nor the head of Dagestan can cope with.

‘Children are crying, we are hungry. It’s getting really bad. There is no medicine. There is no doctor on board.’ She said ambulances were prevented from reaching the plane.

Outside the airport, scores of angry men were stopping cars and buses to check the passports of those inside. One protester appeared in the videos holding a sign that read ‘Child killers have no place in Dagestan’.

Russia’s Federal Aviation Authority was forced to divert flights from the airport after the angry mob stormed the runway.

The carnage at the airport followed several other anti-Israel incidents in recent days in Russia’s North Caucasus region in response to Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza.

The local Dagestani government said earlier that it was strengthening security measures across the republic, which is home to around three million people.

The unrest in the region, where Russian security forces once fought an Islamist insurgency, is a headache for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is waging a war in Ukraine and is keen to maintain stability at home ahead of an expected presidential election next year.

Amid the carnage, a member of Russia’s human rights council Alexander Kots called on the protesters to go to Gaza or kill ‘one particular Jew’ – meaning Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Video on social media showed some in the crowd on the landing field waving Palestinian flags

He said: ‘Are you that brave, and want to kill Jews? ‘Go to Gaza then, or to Kyiv.’

‘I know the address for one of them,’ Mr Kots said, referring to Mr Zelensky.

Leading Communist politician Sergei Obukhov compared the scene to the June ‘coup’ by Yevgeny Prigozhin which sought to topple Putin’s regime.

‘The domestic political damage is colossal,’ he said. ‘The internal political failures are still the same as those that were visible in the Prigozhin rebellion.’

The Russian Aviation Authority has now closed the airport for flights until it completes security checks.

The interior ministry, in its statement, said it had identified 150 of what it called the most active protesters. It said the authorities were looking to track down everyone involved.

Ovadia Isakov, a representative of the chief Rabbi of Russia in Dagestan, feared the Jewish community would have to be evacuated from the tinderbox region.

According to his estimates, up to 800 Jewish families live in Dagestan.

The community in the city of Derbent is one of the oldest in the region. Jews settled here, according to various sources, between the fourth and seventh centuries.

The pro-Kremlin head of Dagestan region Sergei Melikov said: ‘The actions of those who gathered at the Makhachkala airport are a gross violation of the law.

‘There is no courage in waiting in crowds for unarmed people who have not done anything forbidden….

‘There is no honour in swearing at strangers, reaching into their pockets and trying to check their passports.

‘There are no good intentions in targeting women with children who are undergoing treatment abroad.’

He called the uprising a ‘knife in the backs of those who gave their lives for the security of the Motherland…fighting the Nazis in [Ukraine] and worthily representing [Dagestan].

‘All Dagestanis empathise with the suffering of victims of the actions of unrighteous people and politicians and pray for peace in Palestine.

‘But what happened at our airport is outrageous and should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement agencies.

‘And this will definitely be done.’

Israel urged Russian authorities to protect Israelis and Jews in their jurisdictions.

In the past few days, a Jewish centre under construction in Nalchik, the capital of the nearby Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, was set on fire, emergency officials said. The inscription ‘death to Jews’ was daubed on a wall.

In Cherkessk, the capital of the Karachay-Cherkess republic, a rally was held demanding that Israeli residents be banished. More than 30 people were detained.

And in Derbent, in Dagestan, there were protests against a fictitious check-in of refugees from Israel into local hotels.

Russia, which wants an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backs a two-state solution, has tried to maintain contact with all sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict, but has angered Israeli authorities by inviting a Hamas delegation to Moscow. Israel’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on Sunday.

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