Russian Police have arrested more than 60 people after an antisemitic crowd barricaded an airport in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan on Sunday.
Law enforcement authorities in Dagestan, a mostly Muslim area in the North Caucasus Mountains, said on Monday they had identified 150 of the rioters who broke into the airport to get passengers arriving from Tel Aviv.
During the riot, an angry crowd waving Palestinian flags engulfed the plane, some of them climbing onto its wings and roof following rumors that refugees were coming to Russia.
Russia’s interior ministry said 20 people were injured in the riots, including police officers and civilians. Two are in critical condition.
Sergei Melikhov, Dagestan’s governor, said to blame the violence on “our enemies,” and said it was “a stab in the back to our soldiers who are defending all our country” in Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson said the riot was a result of external influence.
According to him, Putin will hold an extraordinary meeting with his top officials later on Monday to discuss “Western attempts to use events in the Middle East to split Russian society.”
The unrest comes as tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas after the latter attacked Israel killing about 1,400 people.
Israel has responded to the offensive with actions that have so far killed more than 8,000 people and injured more than 20,000, according to Palestinian officials.
Several protests in support of the Palestinians have taken place in cities across Russia in recent days, despite a ban on public demonstrations
Last week the Kremlin welcomed members of the leadership of Hamas to Russia for talks.
A member of Dagestan’s chief rabbinate said on Sunday there were between 300 and 400 Jewish families in Derbent, a major city in Dagestan.
“The situation is very difficult in Dagestan, the community is very afraid,” Rabbi Ovadya Isakov was cited as saying in an interview with Podyom, a small Russian online media outlet. “Russia is not a panacea, there were pogroms in Russia too. It’s not clear where to flee to.”
