Putin Says The West Is To Blame For Mob Storming Russian Airport; U.S. Calls The Accusation ‘Absurd’

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of Security Council, Russian government and law enforcement agencies in Moscow on Oct. 30, 2023.

The U.S. rejected accusations by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West and Ukraine had orchestrated an anti-Israel riot in an airport in the Russian republic of Dagestan over the weekend, calling the allegations “absurd.”

In a televised meeting, Putin said the West and Ukraine had organized the “deadly chaos,” saying it is “the current ruling elites of the U.S. and their satellites who are the main beneficiaries of world instability.”

John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, described the claims as “classic Russian rhetoric” and said “the West had nothing to do with this. This is just hate, bigotry and intimidation, pure and simple.”

People shouting antisemitic slogans at an airfield of the airport in Makhachkala, Russia, on Oct. 30, 2023.

Ukraine also rejected having any role in the incident — which saw an angry mob storm the airport in Makhachkala, reportedly looking for passengers arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. Antisemitic slogans were chanted by some of the protesters and a plane was surrounded, with passengers having their documents taken.

Russia is feeling more pressure to confront rising ethnic tensions in the country and is also having to navigate tricky alliances in the Middle East; it’s allied with Israel’s sworn enemy Iran but enjoys constructive ties with Israel. Since Israel declared war on Iran-backed Hamas, its loyalties have been divided.

Russian foreign minister discusses Israel-Hamas conflict with Syrian counterpart

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Miqdad Tuesday, the ministry of foreign affairs said, according to a Google translation of the ministry’s statement.

“The government officials paid special attention to the dramatic development of the situation in the Israel-Hamas conflict zone,” a press statement said, following a telephone conversation between the pair.

Lavrov and Miqdad agreed that “an immediate end to the bloodshed in Gaza, a solution to all humanitarian problems arising as a result of the fighting, and a transition to discussing a long-term settlement through political and diplomatic methods” was needed.

The impacts of the Israel-Hamas war on neighboring countries, such as Syria, is being closely watched as the violence continues in the Gaza Strip.