Pogrom in Makhachkala: about 60 detained, pan-Caucasus protest postponed

As is well known, a number of anti-Semitic actions have taken place in the North Caucasus over the past 24 hours.

• In the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt, a crowd gathered outside a hotel because of rumours that refugees from Israel had allegedly been settled there. Police officers allowed some of those present inside to see if this was not the case.
• A rally was held in the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, with participants demanding the "eviction" of Jews. The Interior Ministry subsequently claimed that 34 of the 80 people present were detained and had protocols drawn up on them for participation in unauthorised rallies.
• In Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, unknown persons set fire to a Jewish cultural centre under construction and left an anti-Semitic inscription on its wall.
• A campaign against Jews was launched online. Thus, users of Russian social networks call for their burning and expulsion from the country.

This is reported by Meduza, which is monitoring the situation.

The demonstration of hatred culminated in Makhachkala, where hundreds of men blocked the airport and began searching passing cars in an attempt to find Jews there. It is noteworthy that the police did not try to stop the angry mob.

The demonstrations were prompted by messages in local Telegram channels, where local residents were urged to take to the streets and prevent a flight from Israel from boarding.

Aggressive locals stormed into the airport waiting room and then onto the runway.

Footage of a crowd of Dagestanis who surrounded the man also appeared online. They took away his passport and started interrogating him because they thought he was from Israel.

Men burst into every room of the airport looking for "Jews", shouting anti-Semitic slogans. Frightened airport employees tried to hide in their offices.

Only three hours later, Rosgvardiya units arrived at the airport, by which time the crowd had broken through to the runway and began searching the aircraft. Flight attendants urged people not to leave.

The security forces began to detain the protesters and block the hole in the fence through which they got to the runway.

Later, Rosaviatsia said that as of 22.20 Moscow time on 29 October, thanks to the work of law enforcement agencies, the airport had been cleared of citizens who had "unauthorisedly entered there".

As a result of anti-Semitic riots at the airport of the capital of Dagestan, more than 20 people were injured, ten of them ended up in hospital.

This is reported by the Ministry of Health of Dagestan.

There are medium and heavy casualties among both police officers and civilians. Two people are in extremely serious condition.

The Investigative Committee of Dagestan has opened a criminal case over the seizure of the airport in Makhachkala by local residents, RIA Dagestan reports. The case was initiated under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on mass riots. The punishment is imprisonment for a term of eight to fifteen years.

The Russian Interior Ministry for the North Caucasus Federal District warned of "inadmissibility of uncoordinated actions and violation of public order". It also said it would identify all the participants in the pogrom using surveillance cameras.

Some Telegram channels have already started to postpone the all-Caucasus anti-Semitic action announced yesterday

The head of the Centre for Military and Legal Studies, analyst and expert Oleksandr Musiyenko, said that such manifestations of anti-Semitism are quite natural consequences of the policy of Russian dictator Putin," Fakty reports.

What we see now are these outbreaks of hatred, anti-Semitism in Dagestan, when citizens from Israel return. Protected there are all citizens of Israel, perhaps there are citizens of Russia who are returning to their homes, but that is not the point. What is happening now, the manifestations of this anti-Semitism are the natural consequences of Putin's policy of intolerance, manifestations of fascism in fact, Nazism, which is in Russia," the analyst believes.