Dagestan, October 31: Russia tightened security in its Muslim-majority North Caucasus region on Tuesday after a weekend anti-Semitic riot there, and the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya ordered that rioters be shot dead if they fail to heed warnings.President Vladimir Putin held an emergency meeting with top security officials on Monday evening after rioters in the southern region of Dagestan stormed an airport on Sunday to “catch” Jewish passengers arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv.
The unrest followed several other anti-Semitic incidents in recent days in North Caucasus in response to Israel’s war against Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza. Israel has urged Moscow to protect Israelis and Jews in Russian jurisdictions.The airport riot, which some Jewish leaders likened to Tsarist-era pogroms, left at least 20 people injured and resulted in over 80 detentions. It also seemed to catch authorities off-guard – it was hours before security forces regained control of the airport in Makachkala.
The Kremlin said Putin, who has accused the West and Ukraine of stirring up the trouble via social media – an allegation the U.S. and Kyiv have rejected – used Monday’s meeting to discuss strengthening measures to counter external interference.
It did not disclose what those measures were, but Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed head of Chechnya, was reported to have issued an order to shoot and kill anyone trying to riot in his Muslim-majority republic, which borders Dagestan.
“If we have even one person who goes out for unauthorised riots, detain and imprison him. Or fire three warning shots in the air and after that if the person does not obey the law make the fourth shot in the forehead. No more will come out (after that). This is my order,” Russia’s state RIA news agency cited Kadyrov as telling security officials.
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