Putin accuses Ukraine and the West of inciting an anti-Israel riot at Russian airport

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine and the West of inciting the anti-Israel riot at Dagestan’s Makhachkala airport on Sunday evening, a claim that Washington dismissed.

Over 80 people have been detained by security authorities since the incident, in which rioters in the Muslim-majority region took over the runway in an attempt to encircle a plane flying in from Israel.

“The events in Makhachkala last night were instigated through social networks, not least from Ukraine, by the hands of agents of Western special services”, Putin stated in a live broadcast.

Putin told members of his Security Council that there had been attempts to destabilize Russian society and accused the US of promoting turmoil in the Middle East.

“Who is organizing the deadly chaos and who benefits from it today, in my opinion, has already become obvious… It is the current ruling elites of the US and their satellites who are the main beneficiaries of world instability”, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued.

In order to maintain inter-religious harmony, he stressed, Russian law enforcement needed to take firm, timely, and clear actions in the aftermath of the riot.

Moscow frequently attributes domestic turmoil to external, generally Western influences.

Putin’s remarks came after Moscow’s foreign ministry accused Kyiv of playing a direct role in the Dagestan riot, which Washington dismissed as absurd.

On Monday, Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesman, “I’ve seen their comments about blaming Ukraine. That is absurd”.

“We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold anyone involved accountable, and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia”, Miller added.

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