Putin will speak on the situation with riots at Makhachkala airport

Russian President Vladimir Putin will make an appeal in connection with the riots at Makhachkala airport that occurred on October 29 in connection with the arrival of a flight from Israel there. This was announced by his press secretary Dmitry Peskov. “There will be a public speech by the head of state. Afterwards it (the meeting – Vedomosti) will be closed. This is the plan for now,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

According to him, the meeting, scheduled to begin at 19:00 Moscow time, will be attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, chairmen of the Federation Council and State Duma Valentina Matvienko and Vyacheslav Volodin, respectively, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Rosgvardia Director Viktor Zolotov, SVR Director Sergei Naryshkin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, and First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Alexander Gorovoy. “Such a list. Adjustments are possible. If they happen, we will inform you,” Peskov added.

At the meeting it is planned to discuss “the West’s attempts to use events in the Middle East to split Russian society,” he specified. According to Peskov, “Putin yesterday evening and this morning received and is receiving detailed reports on the situation in the Republic of Dagestan from the FSB, the Russian Guard, and the head of the republic Sergei Melikov.” “It is well known and obvious that yesterday’s events around the Makhachkala airport are largely the result of outside interference, including information influence from outside,” the presidential press secretary noted.

The head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, the day after the riots at the Makhachkala airport, invited their participants to enter into a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and go to the zone of a special military operation. “We don’t yet have a situation where people are detained for an offense and sent to the SVO zone. <...> People who carry out combat tasks in the interests of our country must do so consciously. If one of the detained riot participants expresses a desire, as they say, to wash off their shame, to take part either as part of volunteer units, or to enter into a contract with the Armed Forces, I will only welcome this, but there are no special measures,” he said he told journalists (quote according to TASS).

According to Melikov, law enforcement agencies opened a series of criminal cases, many facts of crimes were recorded by video and photo surveillance cameras. “All those responsible for the situation created yesterday will be held accountable; no one will be forgiven,” the head of Dagestan emphasized.

The day before, the Republican Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of mass riots accompanied by violence, pogroms, arson, destruction of property, the use of firearms, explosives or explosive devices, as well as armed resistance to a government official). This article provides for imprisonment for a term of eight to 15 years. The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, took control of the investigation and instructed the head of the Dagestan department to establish all the circumstances of the crime, its participants and organizers, and then give them a comprehensive legal assessment. He also decided to transfer the criminal case about the riots at Makhachkala airport to the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee “for a full, objective and thorough investigation.”

“As part of the criminal case, participants in the riots are being interrogated. Searches are carried out at the place of residence of persons involved in the organization and execution of the crime. With the participation of forensic investigators, an inspection of the crime scene was carried out, damage to property was recorded, and recordings from CCTV cameras were confiscated. The actions of all those involved in the incident will be given a legal assessment,” it says in a message from the Investigative Committee.

According to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD), 60 active participants in the riots were detained and taken to territorial police departments for further investigation. In total, about 150 suspects have been identified. During clashes with them at Makhachkala airport, nine police officers were injured. They received various injuries, two of them were hospitalized.

In total, according to the Ministry of Health of Dagestan, more than 20 people were injured, 10 of them are in hospitals in the region, the condition of two is assessed as extremely serious. The situation with the provision of medical care to the wounded is under the personal control of the head of the department, Tatyana Belyaeva. The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the North Caucasus Federal District clarified that riots at the airport were suppressed, and it is now under the control of law enforcement agencies.

On board the plane from Tel Aviv there were mainly women and children, said Said Ramazanov, general director of the Makhachkala airport, on the air of the Dagestan television company. “There were mostly women and children, there were maybe 5-10 men out of 50. One child was even in a wheelchair, who was on a ventilator, and also had to hide with all his weight,” he said. According to Ramazanov, casualties during the riots were avoided thanks to negotiations with the participation of State Duma deputy Khizri Abakarov, who was at the scene.

Chairman of the Federation Council (SF) Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Andrei Klishas on the morning of October 30 wrote in his Telegram channel that the organizers and participants of the mass riots in Dagestan “should be brought to criminal responsibility, and law and order in the republic restored as soon as possible.” “The tragic events in the Middle East cannot be a reason to incite ethnic hatred in Russia. The reaction of the law enforcement system must be extremely tough and prompt,” the senator said.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Evgeny Popov (United Russia) in his Telegram channel called stop “calling Dagestani pogromists protesters.” These are criminals, each of whom will be punished. Makhachkala is not Kyiv. This is not possible in Russia. The provocateurs behind the pogrom could be anyone, anywhere,” Popov wrote.

Makhachkala Airport will tentatively open on the night of October 31, reported Rosaviatsiya in the Telegram channel. “The period of temporary closure of Makhachkala airport for the reception of aircraft will continue tentatively until 2:59 Moscow time on October 31, 2023,” the agency reported.

Melikov inspected the air harbor on the morning of October 30 after the riots, reported Telegram channel of the government of Dagestan. “The head of the region assessed the damage caused by the offenders. In the domestic flight terminal, everything for the stable operation of the complex was preserved, while the equipment in the international terminal was slightly damaged,” the message says. In the Telegram channel of the government of Dagestan, in turn, they clarified that the operation of the airport “will be restored in the coming days after inspection and restoration measures are carried out.”

On October 29, a crowd of activists burst into Makhachkala airport as a flight from Tel Aviv arrived there.