On Monday, October 30th, 2023, following an anti-Semitic riot at a Dagestan airport, the Kremlin and Russian leaders placed blame for the event on Ukraine as well as the West, including the United States. The riot consisted of hundreds of people entering Makhachkala airport in Dagestan, a majority Muslim-Russian region, storming the runway chanting “Allahu Akbar”, which means “God is the greatest” in Arabic, which is used by Muslims in prayers and other contexts. In response to the riot, Russian officials have claimed to have arrested 60 participants, who were ‘hunting’ down Israelis and Jews arriving at the airport from Tel Aviv. While Russian leaders blamed Western influence as causing the anti-Semitic riot, Ukraine’s envoy to Israel placed blame on Russian security forces who helped orchestrate the mob on Sunday. Fortunately, none of the passengers on the arriving plane were injured, but five people, including four responding police officers, remain in the hospital as of that Monday due to the chaos of the protest. 

The riot has received attention from both Russia and Ukraine, with allies speaking out about the event as well. Putin, Russia’s infamous President, spoke out saying that the riot was caused by “social networks, not least from Ukraine, [and] by the hands of agents of Western special services” with the Kremlin echoing these sentiments saying it was the “West’s attempts to use the events in the Middle East to split Russian society.” Following the threats toward Jewish civilians, Israel raised its alert for the region in Russia to a four, the highest level, with a statement from the National Security Council and its Foreign Ministry warning Israeli citizens to leave and avoid the area due to safety concerns. Putin continued to place blame on Ukraine’s allies, saying that “it is the current ruling elites of the U.S. and their satellites who are the main beneficiaries of world instability.” The White House responded to these claims and the riot saying that the event was reminiscent of “pogroms” which is an organized and violent riot aiming to massacre a specific group, especially Jews, calling for Russian authorities to condemn these acts and hold the correct people responsible. 

The targeted and intentionally violent attack on Israeli citizens coming into Russia must be condemned internationally, including by the Russian government, rather than attempting to place blame on others as a political strategy. While the root of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict causing these recent riots is long and complex, the protection of civilians on both sides remains a priority under international humanitarian law. The clear antisemitism against civilians, especially in the violent form shown by the riot, should be punished and the responsible players must be held accountable, to prevent future events of this nature from occurring, and send a signal to the rest of the world that these attacks against civilians will not be permitted. 

The riot was specifically targeted towards a plane flying in from Israel, with unconfirmed reports that Dagestani children who were undergoing medical treatment in Israel were passengers. Russia’s backlash against Ukraine for the riot comes 20 months after Putin decided to invade Ukraine, causing a long and costly war that has put Moscow into isolation as well as frequent political attacks on Western allies such as the U.S. The spike in protests and riots comes after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that has killed 1,400 people, and has led to counter-attacks causing the death and injury of many more civilians and the destruction of towns, with many of the victims being children. 

Luckily, while no passenger on the targeted plane was hurt, the implications of this riot stand as strong evidence that the political conflict between Israel and Palestine has spread globally and has involved civilians, occurring at a dangerous rate. While there is no clear solution to the conflict, international authorities must commit to the responsibility of protecting and promoting humanitarian law, especially by condemning and preventing attacks on civilians who are not actively engaged in the conflict and should be undoubtedly regarded as immune.