According to Russian media, several dozen men burst onto the roof of the airport and onto the tarmac when the arrival of a flight from Israel was announced.
The airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, was closed on Sunday October 29, after the intrusion of a crowd hostile to Israel and security forces were deployed on the spot, announced the Russian aviation agency. “Following the intrusion of unknown persons into the traffic zone of Makhachkala airport, it was decided to temporarily close the airport to arriving and departing flights”, explained Rossaviatsia. The situation is “under control”the authorities later said.
According to the Izvestia and RT media, several dozen men burst onto the roof of the airport and onto the tarmac when the arrival of a flight from Israel was announced. Videos posted on Telegram show them breaking down barriers, trying to control cars leaving the airport or breaking down doors within the terminal. One of the videos shows a man posted on one of the wings of a Russian Red Wings plane.
Israel asks Russia to “protect” its citizens
According to the specialized site Flightradar, a flight from Tel Aviv of this company landed at 7 p.m. (5 p.m. Paris time) in Makhchkala. According to the independent Russian media Sota, it was a transit flight which was due to take off again towards Moscow in the evening. It was currently impossible to know whether the plane was still on the tarmac and what the situation of its passengers was.
Before entering the terminal, several demonstrators also checked the passports of people leaving the airport, according to images posted on social networks. One of them could be seen holding a sign: “Child killers have no place in Dagestan” and others shouted “Allah Akbar” in these videos.
The Information Minister of Chechnya, the neighboring republic, Akhmed Dudayev, called earlier today on Telegram for calm in the face of rising tensions in the Russian Caucasus, and to avoid “Provocation”. For its part, Israel called on Russia to “protect” its citizens. Dagestan authorities also called on the crowds to stop “illegal acts”.