Russian President Vladimir Putin prides himself as the leader of what he calls a \u201cmultinational, multiconfessional\u201d Russia. And the republic of Dagestan is in many ways a microcosm of Russia\u2019s diversity: The mountainous region is home to over 30 ethnic groups with distinct languages. <\/p>\n
But the images of antisemitic rioters overrunning Dagestan\u2019s Makhachkala Uytash Airport\u00a0have shaken Russia\u2019s Jewish community, stoked international outrage and raised serious questions about the blowback from Putin\u2019s war on Ukraine \u2013\u00a0now in the Russian leader\u2019s view directly linked to events in Gaza. <\/p>\n
On Monday, the Kremlin leader held an extensive meeting to address the situation in Dagestan,\u00a0where rioters \u2013 fired\u00a0up\u00a0by rumors that Jews and Israelis were aboard a\u00a0Red Wings Airlines flight\u00a0that landed Sunday from Tel Aviv \u2013 surged into the airport terminal and stormed the runway. <\/p>\n
Members of the crowd outside the airport held signs that included slogans such as \u201cWe are against Jewish refugees,\u201d and \u201cThere is no place for child-killers in Dagestan.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to Russian state news agency\u00a0TASS, \u201cthose gathered oppose the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.\u201d <\/p>\n
Authorities said at least 20 people were injured and 60 people were detained. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the incident \u201clooked like a pogrom.\u201d <\/p>\n
The\u00a0Israeli\u00a0Prime Minister\u2019s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs\u00a0released a joint statement\u00a0on Sunday following the news, saying\u00a0Israel expected Russian law enforcement \u201cto safeguard the well-being of all\u00a0Israeli\u00a0citizens and Jews wherever they are and to take strong action against the rioters and against the wild incitement being directed against Jews and\u00a0Israelis.\u201d <\/p>\n
In his remarks Monday, Putin called for law enforcement to take \u201cfirm, timely and precise actions to help protect constitutional order of Russia, rights and liberties of our citizens, the interethnic and inter-religious harmony.\u201d <\/p>\n
But the Kremlin leader also directed the finger of blame away from Russia. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe events in Makhachkala last night were inspired through social networks,\u201d Putin stated, insinuating that Ukraine and \u201cthe hands of Western intelligence agencies\u201d had exploited emotions running high inside Dagestan over Israel\u2019s relentless military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and rising civilian casualties. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can only help Palestine in the fight against those who are behind this tragedy,\u201d Putin said, adding, \u201cwe, Russia, are fighting them within the framework of the Special Military Operation,\u201d the official euphemism for Russia\u2019s ongoing war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Such remarks require serious unpacking. <\/p>\n
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, Putin has played a delicate international balancing act, putting himself forward as a potential mediator and calling for restraint on both sides \u2013 a position that has won praise from Hamas. <\/p>\n
And in his remarks on Monday, Putin made his most pointed critique of Israel to date, saying\u00a0that\u00a0\u201chorrifying events\u201d in the Gaza Strip \u201ccannot not be justified\u201d and added that \u201cyour fists clench and you get tears in your eyes\u201d when you see photos of \u201cbloodied, dead children.\u201d <\/p>\n
Such images clearly stirred anger in Dagestan, a\u00a0majority Muslim\u00a0republic that has historically been home to a variety of Islamic religious practices. <\/p>\n
It has a miniscule Jewish population \u2013 Judaism is one of Dagestan\u2019s long-established religions, practiced by communities of the Mountain Jews, who speak a form of Persian \u2013 but after centuries of coexistence with Muslim neighbors, that population has dwindled through emigration. <\/p>\n
But Putin\u2019s calls to contain the Gaza crisis in recent days have riled Israel.\u00a0Russia\u2019s ambassador to\u00a0Israel was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem to protest a visit last week to Moscow by a\u00a0Hamas\u00a0delegation, according to a press release from\u00a0Israel\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Putin, however, is playing to different audiences. Russia has a complex web of relationships in the Middle East: Putin backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (an enemy of Israel); he relies on Iran (another enemy of Israel) for a stockpile of drones to attack Ukraine; and he\u2019s a high-fiving friend of\u00a0Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, another power player in the region. <\/p>\n
He has also maintained cordial working relationships with Israeli counterparts, although his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cooled. <\/p>\n
But such regional dynamics obscure a bigger picture. Putin has cast himself as locked in an existential fight against the United States and the West, with Ukraine the main battleground. His rhetoric \u2013 directed against \u201cthose who are behind this tragedy\u201d \u2013 now appears to draw a direct line between Ukraine and Gaza. <\/p>\n
In his remarks Monday, Putin\u00a0accused the US of stoking the current conflict, stating \u201cthe United States needs constant chaos in the Middle East, so they discredit those countries that are insisting on the immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.\u201d <\/p>\n
In response to Moscow,\u00a0National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John\u00a0Kirby said, \u201cwe\u2019ve heard crickets from the Kremlin,\u201d on the airport mob. <\/p>\n
\u201cNothing, no condemnation, no calling for the stoppage of hate, discrimination and bigotry,\u201d Kirby said,\u00a0adding,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s classic Russian rhetoric that when something goes like bad in your country \u2026 blame somebody else, blame it on outside influences.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Dagestan riot signals that Russia is \u201closing control.\u201d <\/p>\n
Observers have also been quick to note that Putin\u2019s expressed concern over civilian casualties in Gaza rings hollow. <\/p>\n
His military continues a ruthless war against Ukraine, a campaign that has targeted civilian infrastructure and leveled cities, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant\u00a0for the Russian president over his country\u2019s conduct during the war. <\/p>\n
But Putin is counting on\u00a0a strategy that has already won dividends: Internationally, Moscow\u2019s diplomats have been pressing a global PR offensive that casts Russia as a staunch anticolonial power, winning support in the Global South \u2013\u00a0even as it pursues a war of conquest in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Russian state media have echoed that narrative at home. Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, some Russian state TV commentators and politicians have ramped up their criticism of Israel, as the Gaza war conveniently distracts international attention from Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko accused Moscow of trying to shift responsibility. \u201cThreats to exterminate the Jews are the result of the work of Russian state propaganda, which for decades cultivated feelings of hatred towards other peoples among Russians,\u201d he noted. <\/p>\n
But as the riots in Dagestan showed, anti-Israel rhetoric can veer quickly off script. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Ramzan Kadyrov, the pro-Kremlin warlord who rules the neighboring Russian republic of Chechnya,\u00a0expressed \u201ccomplete support\u201d for Palestine and floated the notion of deploying his \u201cpeacemaking\u201d forces to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hamas. <\/p>\n
That may seem a farfetched idea \u2013 Kadyrov has an abysmal human rights-record\u00a0\u2013 but for nearly two decades, the Chechen strongman has helped Putin keep a brutal, uneasy peace in Russia\u2019s north Caucasus, a region that includes Dagestan. Kadyrov has also provided footsoldiers for Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
So keeping the peace in Dagestan\u00a0is likely focusing minds in the Kremlin. Protests erupted last year in the republic in response to the Russian government\u2019s mobilization orders, with some activists complaining that ethnic minorities were being unfairly conscripted for service in Ukraine. The Gaza war adds one more match to the fire. <\/p>\n
In a keenly observed commentary on Sunday\u2019s events, Harold Chambers of the independent Russia-watching site Riddle Russia pointed to Dagestan\u2019s dismal economic state and the Ukraine war as factors fuelling local grievance. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe attempted pogrom is\u00a0not just rooted in\u00a0antisemitic messaging, but in\u00a0systemic dynamics in\u00a0the region,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n
\u201cGeneral socioeconomic conditions in\u00a0the republic continue to\u00a0deteriorate. Basic necessities to\u00a0live such as\u00a0electricity, water, and gas are irregularly supplied, which led to\u00a0sustained small\u00a0protests\u00a0only a\u00a0few months ago. Additionally, Russia\u2019s war in\u00a0Ukraine has\u00a0impacted\u00a0Dagestan heavily, with significant casualties. Public appeals and small actions do\u00a0not regularly succeed, with the authorities sweeping them aside.\u201d <\/p>\n
Russian investigative journalist Yevgenia Albats was equally cutting in her analysis. <\/p>\n
\u201cAre there anti-Semites in Makhachkala?\u201d she wrote on X. \u201cYes, sure. Have they been there before? Yes, sure. What has happened now? 20 months of war, rising prices, hundreds, if not thousands of men killed, the pressure is accumulating and requires a release.\u201d <\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s information campaign, she added, is a convenient tool, presenting \u201ca picture for the Middle East, Iran, for the Global South: Russia is with you, Putin is the leader of the anti-American world.\u201d <\/p>\n
Putin has for months played a risky geopolitical game, gambling on anti-Western distrust to shore up support for his war on Ukraine. But an anti-Jewish riot in the southern region of Dagestan shows how quickly that model can backfire, particularly for those trapped inside the echo of Russian state propaganda. <\/p>\n\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin prides himself as the leader of what he calls a \u201cmultinational, multiconfessional\u201d Russia. And the republic of Dagestan is in many ways a microcosm of Russia\u2019s diversity: The mountainous region is home to over 30 ethnic groups with distinct languages. But the images of antisemitic rioters overrunning Dagestan\u2019s Makhachkala Uytash Airport\u00a0have <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}