The scenes at Makhachikala airport in the Dagestan region on Sunday, where a mob rampaged through the terminal and onto the runway in search of Jews disembarking from a plane from Israel, may be a sign that President Vladimir Putin is beginning to lose his iron grip on Russians. Federation.

The angry reaction of the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, to Sunday’s anti-Semitic riots in the Republic of Dagestan suggests that Russian officials may be increasingly concerned about the weakening of authoritarian control in regions on the Russian Federation’s periphery, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports. ).

Kadyrov responded to the unrest in Dagestan by taking on Russian President Vladimir Putin to accuse the West of orchestrating the situation to destabilize Russia.

Later, Kadyrov called on Chechen security forces to immediately arrest the initiators of any possible uprisings in Chechnya or “fire three warning shots in the air and then fire a fourth shot to the head.”

Kadyrov’s reaction to the uprising in Dagestan shows that he is primarily concerned with maintaining the perception of his steadfast support for Putin, and secondly, with demonstrating the strength of his authoritarian rule in Chechnya by threatening a violent response to any uprisings, ISW also notes.

• VIDEO Russia: a flight from Tel Aviv was stormed by hundreds of local Muslims from Dagestan / Clashes with law enforcement officers

Putin wants “firm measures”

Russian President Vladimir Putin prides himself on being the leader of what he calls a “multi-ethnic and multi-religious” Russia. The Republic of Dagestan is in many ways a microcosm of Russia’s diversity: more than 30 ethnic groups live in the mountainous region, he told CNN.

But images of anti-Semitic riots at Makhachikala airport in Dagestan have shaken Russia’s Jewish community, sparked international outrage and raised serious questions about the implications of Putin’s war in Ukraine, which the Russian leader says is directly linked to the conflict in the Middle East. On October 7, after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.

On Monday, the Kremlin leader held a meeting to deal with the situation in Dagestan, where an angry mob, fueled by rumors that Jews and Israelis were aboard a Red Wings Airlines flight that landed from Tel Aviv on Sunday, stormed an airport terminal and stormed the runway. runway

Putin called on law enforcement agencies to take “decisive, timely and clear measures to protect the constitutional system of Russia, the rights and freedoms of our citizens, and inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony.”

But the Kremlin leader blamed “external influence” for the storming of the Dagestan airport.

“Last night’s events in Makhachikal were coordinated through social media,” Putin said, implying that Ukraine and the “hands of Western intelligence services” were exploiting strong emotions in Dagestan over Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and rising civilian casualties.

“We can only help Palestine fight those behind this tragedy,” Putin said, adding that “we, Russia, are fighting them in a Special Military Operation,” the official euphemism for Russia’s current war in Ukraine.

Putin is trying to present himself as a mediator in the conflict in the Middle East

After the Hamas attack on October 7, Putin tried to play the role of a potential mediator, but analysts believe the Russian leader wants to prolong the conflict in Israel so that Western allies will reduce their military aid to Kiev.

On Monday, the Kremlin leader criticized Israel, saying the “horrific events” in Gaza “cannot be justified” and added that “your fists clench and tears come to your eyes” when you see pictures of “wounded children” and the dead. .

Such images have sparked outrage in Dagestan, a Muslim-majority republic where the Jewish population has been shrinking for the past several centuries.

Israel was angered by Putin’s statements and the visit of the Hamas delegation to Moscow, given that Russia has friendly relations in the Middle East: the Russian leader supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an enemy of Israel, and bets on Iran, another enemy of Israel. Israel for drone attacks on Ukraine and maintains good relations with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, another strong player in the region.

Putin’s relations with Netanyahu have cooled

At the same time, he maintained warm relations with his Israeli colleagues, although he cooled down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

And now Putin’s rhetoric against “those behind this tragedy” now seems to draw a direct line between Ukraine and Gaza.

In a speech on Monday, Putin accused the United States of fueling the current conflict, saying “the United States needs continued chaos in the Middle East to discredit those countries that insist on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”

In response, Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he “heard crickets from the Kremlin,” referring to the anti-Semitic attack at the Dagestan airport.

“Nothing, no condemnation, no call to end hatred, discrimination and intolerance,” Kirby said, adding: “It’s classic Russian rhetoric that when something goes to hell in your country … you blame somebody else, you blame external influences.” . .

Russia is “losing control”

And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the uprising in Dagestan signals that Russia is “losing control.”

Protests erupted in Dagestan last year following a mobilization ordered by Putin, with some activists complaining that ethnic minorities were being unfairly recruited to fight in Ukraine.

The catastrophic economic condition of Dagestan and the war in Ukraine are fueling local discontent, according to analyst Harold Chambers, who monitors the situation in Russia.

“General socio-economic conditions in the republic continue to deteriorate. Basic necessities such as electricity, water and gas are supplied irregularly, leading to small protests just a few months ago. In addition, Russia’s war in Ukraine strongly affected Dagestan with significant casualties. Public appeals and small actions regularly fail and are swept under the carpet by the authorities,” said Chambers.

Russian police arrested 60 people on Monday after a huge crowd stormed Dagestan’s main airport to protest the arrival of a plane from Israel.