Antisemitic protesters on Oct. 29 stormed Makhachkala Airport in the Russian republic of Dagestan in an effort to find Jews on a plane that had arrived from Tel Aviv.
The rioters shouted antisemitic slogans as they protested against Israel amid its ongoing military conflict with the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
As a result of the unrest, Russia's aviation authority temporarily closed Makhachkala Airport.
Earlier that day, Russian media reported that crowds had gathered a the airport to protest a Red Wings flight arriving from Tel Aviv to Makhachkala, the capital of Russia’s Dagestan, in the evening.
Video footage from the airport shows hundreds of protesters, with some carrying Palestinian flags. The videos also show demonstrators stopping cars, entering the airfield, and causing disruption inside the airport.
In the footage, the rioters also tried to overturn a police car, broke into the airport building and attempted to enter the plane that had come from Israel.
Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the unrest. Everyone involved in the unrest will be identified through the video surveillance on the airport’s premises and held accountable, Russia's police said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the unrest demonstrated "Russia’s widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities."
"We must all work together to oppose hatred," he added.
The protests come after a Hamas delegation visited Moscow earlier this week. Reuters later reported that Israel summoned the Russian ambassador Anatoly Viktorov to protest the hosting of Hamas.
Dinara Khalilova
(Updated: )
