Russian authorities have evacuated Tel Aviv-originating passengers and arrested 60 people after an antisemitic mob briefly overran the Makhachkala International Airport in Russia’s southern Dagestan region Sunday night. Russian officials have blamed “foreign interference” from Ukraine for the attacks, which left nine police officers injured. 

As the Sun previously reported, the turmoil began Sunday night when frenzied masses shouting “Allahu Akbar” and waving Palestinian flags tried to enter a plane that landed in the republic just north of Azerbaijan from Tel Aviv. As an interview with one member of the mob, seemingly a child, revealed they had come to “kill the Jews” and were armed with knives.

The protestors were able to breach security at the airport and surrounded the plane on the tarmac before officials arrived to disperse the mob, injuring 20 people in the process. The passengers escaped unharmed, and were transported via helicopter to an undisclosed location and were recorded eating breakfast Monday morning, in a video obtained by the Jerusalem Post. 

Dagestan’s Interior Ministry claims to have identified 150 perpetrators, 60 of whom have already been detained. The head of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, referred to the debacle as a “betrayal” and promised that “there will be no forgiveness for anyone” involved in the unrest. Mr. Melikov gave the individuals involved a chance to redeem themselves by joining the Russian Army, according to Russian state media. 

Mr. Melikov accused Ukraine of being behind the incident, saying “the attempts to destabilize the situation in Dagestan” were “carried out by our enemies.”

Messages of Ukrainian culpability were echoed by the official representative of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. Ms. Zakharova claimed the attacks were “coordinated in nature” by the “criminal Kyiv regime, which, in turn, acted through the hands of notorious Russophobes who settled there,” Russian state media reported. 

A Press secretary for Russia’s President, Dmitry Peskov, blamed Ukraine in a similar message. He added that “the horrors of what is happening in Gaza” have made it “easy for our ill-wishers to use these images to exploit the situation, to provoke and anger people.” 

The protests come amidst increasing support from the Kremlin for the Palestinian cause, a shift from their historically neutral stance. Last week, Hamas officials were welcomed in Moscow, which has yet to condemn the terror attacks. 

Dagestan is home to between 300 and 400 Jewish families, according to Dagestan Chabad Rabbi, Ovadya Isakov. “The situation is very difficult in Dagestan, the community is very afraid,” Rabbi Isakov stated in an interview with one Russian online media outlet. “Russia is not a panacea, there were pogroms in Russia too. It’s not clear where to flee to.”

Rabbi Isakov has repeatedly been a victim of antisemitic attacks in the Russian region. In 2013, the Dagestani-native was shot by a suspected terrorist and had to be airlifted to Israel for treatment, the Times of Israel reported. 

Prior to searching the airport, a video was released of another mob storming a hotel in Makhachkala with the caption, “We are personally checking all the numbers of the Flamingo Hotel.” The crowds were reportedly searching for Jewish guests after rumors circulated Saturday that the hotel was hosting Israeli refugees from the war.

Another video later released showed the mob identifying a Jewish man at the hotel. “Show your face, or we will come into the hotel and pull you out of there,” Members of the anti-semetic mob called out. A man then reveals himself from one of the windows of the hotel. It is unclear if the video was taken before or after the mob had stormed the hotel.