Putin Calls Security Meeting After Mob Storms Dagestan Airport

Facts

• Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin on Monday called a meeting of top security and law enforcement officials after hundreds stormed an airport in the Russian region of Dagestan a day earlier.¹
• Men from the predominantly Muslim region in Russia's south overran staff at the Makhachkala Uytash Airport and made their way onto the runway. They then descended on a plane that had recently arrived from Israel. Some carried signs that read, 'We are against Jewish refugees.' Others said, 'There is no place for child-killers in Dagestan.'²
• Dagestan's health ministry that a total of 20 people were injured, two of them critically, adding that the figure includes a number of police officers. The region's interior ministry said that a total of 60 people were detained during the unrest, though the airport was secured late on Sunday evening, Russia's civil aviation authority said flights resumed at 2:00 p.m. Monday.¹
• According to reports, the riots appear to have been inspired by posts on Telegram where followers were told that a flight from Tel Aviv would be arriving that evening with refugees from Israel. Other anti-Jewish attacks were also reported in other parts of Dagestan.³
• Dagestan's leader, Supreme Mufti Sheikh Akhmad Afandi, told rioters that although he understands their 'indignation,' the issue cannot be resolved this way. He urged Dagestanis to exert 'maximum patience and calm.'⁴
• In the meantime, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on Sunday which said Israel 'expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.'⁴

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³The Guardian and ⁴Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. The storming of this Dagestani airport is a clear instance of anti-Semitism that needs to be vehemently condemned and prosecuted by Russian authorities. Attacks of this kind must never be allowed to stand.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by TASS. With the hopes of securing another propaganda victory against Russia, hostile forces from abroad have manipulated news of events in the Middle East in order to instigate people in the Dagestan region to riot. Russia condemns these actions at the airport.

Predictions