Russia blames Ukraine for antisemitic riot at airport in Dagestan
Foreign ministry says Kyiv played ‘direct and key role’ after mob stormed planes in search of Israeli passengers
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the antisemitic riot in the mostly Muslim region of Dagestan on Sunday in which
an angry mob stormed the airport in Makhachkala in search of Jewish passengers arriving from
Israel.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Monday that the riot was the result of a “provocation” orchestrated from outside Russia, with
Ukraine playing a “direct and key role”.
Earlier in the day, Dmitry Peskov, president Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, claimed that the unrest was “the result of external intervention, including external information influence”.
Neither Zakharova or Peskov provided evidence to support their claims of outside interference.
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Russian officials and state-affiliated media criticised Telegram channels – specifically one called Utro Dagestan, which has more than 65,000 subscribers – for their role in organising the rioters on Sunday. In doing so, many sought to argue that the riots were inspired by foreign “enemies” and were not an expression of homegrown antisemitism in Dagestan.
RT, a state-funded news agency that coordinates its coverage with Kremlin officials, released a report on Utro Dagestan on Monday, claiming that the channel’s anonymous administrator, who it said had been detained in Makhachkala, was linked to Ilya Ponomarev, a Kyiv-based former Russian official who opposes the Kremlin. Ponomarev said on Sunday that he had had no control over the channel for more than a year.
Late on Monday, Telegram said it had decided to ban Utro Dagestan for “inciting violence”.
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Thousands of users in southern Russia reported outages on Telegram on Sunday, in particular in regions neighbouring the North Caucasus like Krasnodar and Rostov.
Oleg Matveychev, the deputy head of a Russian State Duma committee on information policy and IT, pushed back against reports of a broad ban on Telegram, but said it was possible that law enforcement would specifically target channels promoting the riots.
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Foreign ministry says Kyiv played ‘direct and key role’ after mob stormed planes in search of Israeli passengers
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