Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday blamed the West and Ukraine for the riots that took place at an airport in the southern region of Dagestan that targeted a flight from Israel. Without any evidence to support his claim, Putin claimed that Ukrainian agents of Western spy agencies were behind the rampage, as per an Associated Press report.
More than 20 people, non-Israelis, were hurt in the clashes that took place on Sunday night after hundreds of people, some carrying anti-semitic slogans, stormed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, looking for Israeli passengers on the flight from Tel Aviv.
Police officers and civilians were among those injured with two of them in critical condition, said the regional health authorities according to the AP report. Over 80 people were detained in the unrest, according to the police and Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe on charges of organising mass unrest.
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The unrest is thought to have been sparked by anger over the conflict in Gaza.
Speaking to top government officials in televised comments, Putin said the Israel-Hamas war had been triggered by “the terrorist attack against peaceful citizens of Israel and other countries” but said that the Israeli response indiscriminately targeted civilians “who have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.”
While Putin avoided any assessment of the actions taken by the authorities in response to the unrest, he targeted the US blaming it for sowing chaos in the Middle East and fueling the fighting in Ukraine.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby dismissed Putin’s allegations as “classic Russian rhetoric”.“The West had nothing to do with this,” he added, criticising Putin for not doing more to condemn the violence, which he described as “a chilling demonstration of hate.”