Putin blames Ukraine, West for airport riot

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West and Ukraine on Monday of instigating anti-Israel rioting in Dagestan's Makhachkala airport the previous day, a claim that was denied by Washington and Kyiv.

Security forces have detained over 60 people since the incident, which saw rioters in the Muslimmajority region take over the runway on Sunday evening in an attempt to encircle a plane that had flown in from Israel, RIA news agency reported on Monday.

Video footage on social media showed the rioters, mostly young men, waving Palestinian flags, breaking down glass doors and running through the airport on Sunday evening shouting Allahu akbar, or God is greatest.

Putin said the West and Ukraine are helping to stir up the unrest via social media, part of Washington's agenda of creating global chaos to ensure its continued dominance and prevent rivals like Russia from taking their place in a new multipolar world.

"The events in Makhachkala last night were instigated through social networks, not least from Ukraine, by the hands of agents of Western special services," Putin said in a televised meeting.

"For this purpose, they use a variety of means, as we can see — lies, provocations and sophisticated technologies of psychological and information aggression."

Speaking to members of the Russian Security Council, Putin said there had been "attempts" to destabilize Russia's society.

"Who is organizing the deadly chaos and who benefits from it today, in my opinion, has already become obvious. ... It is the current ruling elites of the United States and their satellites who are the main beneficiaries of world instability," he said.

Russia's Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill condemned the violence as a bid to "sow discord" between Russia's Jews and Muslims.

At the airport, one group was seen trying to overturn a police patrol truck, while another video showed rioters on the tarmac surrounding a Red Wings aircraft, which had arrived from Tel Aviv.

One placard brandished by rioters in an unverified social media post said: "There is no place for child killers in Dagestan." Another said: "We are against Jewish refugees."

'Outside interference'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "ill-wishers" had used widely seen images of suffering in Gaza to stir people up in the predominantly Muslim region in North Caucasus.

"It is well known and obvious that yesterday's events around Makhachkala airport are largely the result of outside interference, including information influence," he said on Monday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of a "direct and key role" in preparing the "provocation".

Both Washington and Kyiv have swiftly rejected the accusations.

"We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold anyone involved accountable and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The airport resumed normal operations on Monday afternoon, Russia's aviation authority said, but added that flights from Israel would temporarily be redirected to other cities in Russia.

Israel raised its travel warning for Russia's North Caucasus region, which includes Dagestan, to its highest level.