Russia has detained more than 80 people in connection with the antisemitic rioting on Sunday in which hundreds of young men stormed an international airport in Dagestan to stop Jews from disembarking from a flight from Tel Aviv.
Five people have received jail sentences of six to 10 days for petty hooliganism, and federal investigators said they had opened a criminal case for mass rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of eight to 15 years in prison. It is not clear whether anyone has been charged in that case yet.
The riots, which observers have compared to a tsarist-era pogrom, stood out for a lack of police response as the mob took control of the airfield and main terminal while riot police stood by. Clashes broke out later on Sunday evening, injuring dozens of people including two police officers.
Police have now launched a delayed crackdown on the rioters, accompanied by fiery statements pinning blame on shadowy enemies from abroad.
Video published on Tuesday showed riot police in helmets making an arrest in downtown Makhachkala, while a regional governor said the tempo of arrests would increase.
“The arrests are accelerating … first they arrest 10 people, those people give some information, and then from that information we arrest more people,” said Sergei Melikov, the head of the Dagestan region, during a live radio show.
The leader of neighbouring Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that anyone who joined an unsanctioned protest could be “shot in the head”.
“If at least one person comes out for unauthorised riots, detain and imprison him,” Russian state media quoted Kadyrov as saying. “Or make three warning shots in the air and after that, if the person does not comply … make a fourth shot in the forehead. They won’t [protest] again. This is my order.”
Russian officials have sought scapegoats for the violence that broke out on Sunday, targeting social media accounts that incited the riots and portraying many of those involved as bamboozled by Russia’s enemies abroad.
Vladimir Putin, without citing evidence, has blamed the west and Ukraine, telling a security council meeting that the riots were “inspired also through social networks, not least from the territory of Ukraine, by the hands of agents of western special services”.
Meanwhile, Melikov said: “We should be ready, this is not the last protest. They will continue to try to rock this caucasian boat.”
Yusup Umamov, the mayor of Makhachkala, portrayed the rioting as a social issue, saying most of the protesters were 20 to 24 years old, and calling them “our future … our children, who are our responsibility to educate and take care of”.
He said: “I call on my fellow Dagestanis and Makhachkala residents to … talk to young people and explain to them that … sympathy and compassion [for the Palestinians] should not become a reason for the persecution of people on religious and national grounds.”
The Makhachkala airport reopened on Tuesday, with the damage to the terminal estimated at £2.5m.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
