The leader of this Russian Caucasian republic, Sergei Melikov, assured Monday morning, without providing evidence, that the unrest at the Dagestan airport had been organized from Ukrainian territory, in the midst of an armed conflict between Kiev and Moscow.
“The initiators of this action, obviously, are our enemies, those who organized these actions from the territory of Ukraine,” he told the press, quoted by the Ria-Novosti news agency. He claimed that a Telegram channel critical of local authorities, “Outro Dagestan”, was administered by “traitors” from Ukraine.
This channel, followed by around 60,000 people, shared a call to gather at Makhachkala airport on Sunday evening, saying they wanted to prevent the arrival of “undesirable” passengers from the Red Wings flight from Tel Aviv.