A court in the Stavropol Territory sentenced rioters at Makhachkala airport on October 29, 2023, when a crowd tried to attack a plane arriving from Israel, to 8 to 9 years in prison.
One of the defendants was also found guilty of using violence against a government official.
The court found that Zhanmirza Aliyev, Ali Amirkhanov, Alimurat Babatov, Zapir Batyrbekov, Ramazan Karnaev, Ismail Salmakhanov, Makhach Tuchuev “on the basis of national and religious hatred and hostility towards the citizens of Israel,” refusing to comply with the legal demands of law enforcement officers, took part in mass riots accompanied by violence and destruction of property. The damage from the riots exceeded 24 million rubles, 23 people received injuries of varying degrees of severity, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
On October 29, 2023, hundreds of Dagestanis stormed Makhachkala airport after a message appeared on social networks that refugees from Israel would arrive on a flight from Tel Aviv (Red Wings plane wz4728). After smashing the entrance doors with a Palestinian flag, the crowd broke into the airport building and ran onto the runway. On board the plane, which was the target of an aggressive crowd, among the passengers were 15 Israelis and Jews who did not have Israeli citizenship, the rest of the passengers had no relation to either Israel or Jewry – this flight was returning Dagestani families with children who were undergoing treatment in Israel . Passengers from other flights arriving in Makhachkala were also unable to leave the planes. For example, during the unrest, passengers on a flight from Dubai remained on board for many hours. The Federal Air Transport Agency then announced the temporary closure of Makhachkala airport for servicing arrival and departure flights due to the entry of unknown persons onto the apron.
On the same day, warehouses and shops at Makhachkala airport were looted.
District courts of Dagestan brought 412 people to administrative responsibility after the Jewish pogrom in Makhachkala.
After the pogrom at the airport, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under the article of mass riots.