Makhachkala airport riots: what happened

More than a thousand people have gathered near Makhachkala’s airport in Dagestan for a protest rally against the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after a flight from Tel Aviv landed there on Sunday.

After the flight from Tel Aviv landed in Makhachkala on Sunday evening, protesters broke into the airport’s international terminal looking for Israeli refugees - who they believe could be passengers of this flight. The demonstrators broke through the fence and entered the runway and the airport building.

An operational headquarters was set up, it is headed by the head of the region Sergey Melikov. He said that the actions of those gathered at the airport were a gross violation of the law and would be evaluated by law enforcement agencies.

Makhachkala’s airport has been temporarily closed after unauthorized persons broke into its landing area. Flights that were to land in Makhachkala have been directed to other airports. These measures will stay in place until the situation at the airport normalizes.

Detentions

The Dagestan Interior Ministry reported that over 150 active participants of the riots at Makhachkala airport have been identified, 60 of them have been detained.

"The employees of Dagestan’s Interior Ministry in cooperation with other law enforcement bodies managed to suppress these violations. At present, the airport is fully under the control of law enforcement bodies," the statement reads.

According to the ministry, ten ppeople officers were injured, two of them are in hospital.

Dagestan authorities' response

Regional head Sergey Melikov said that there will be no forgiveness for rioters.

 "Criminal cases have been initiated over on a number of facts that became a precedent for yesterday's events, and all those responsible for the situation created yesterday will be held accountable, there will be no forgiveness for anyone. <...> Many things have been recorded on photo and video media. Therefore, no one should escape responsibility," Melikov said.

Airport

Melikov said that Makhachkala airport will resume work in the next few days.

The Federal Air Transport Agency said that Makhachkala airport is preliminary expected to open on October 31 night. The Agency added that the airport will be authorized to open only after law enforcement agencies conduct a complete investigation of the airport terminal, airfield, and surrounding region.