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Detentions of instigators of Sunday’s Makhachkala riot ongoing, Dagestan Region head says

Sergey Melikov warned that law enforcement officials would never seek a compromise or dialogue with rioters

MAKHACHKALA, October 31. /TASS/. Individuals who participated in or organized Sunday’s mass riot at the airport in Makhachkala, Dagestan Region, in Russia’s North Caucasus region, are still being detained, regional head Sergey Melikov told the Soloviev Live TV show.

"Increasingly more people are being arrested, the more so since [Russian Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander] Bastrykin took charge [of the case]," Melikov said.

Melikov suggested that this protest-turned-riot may be followed by more unrest. "We should be ready, as the latest incident will not be the last," he added, warning that law enforcement officials would never seek a compromise or dialogue with rioters.

Commenting on the reaction of Dagestan residents, the official said nobody had expected that such an incident could ever occur in the region and that everybody, except for the instigators, was shocked by it. "This came as a shock for the majority of Dagestanis, for all of Dagestan," he emphasized.

Recalling the events, which he termed disgusting, Melikov said instructions on how to behave during protests at the airport had been distributed on social media two hours prior to the arrival of the flight from Tel Aviv.

On the evening of October 29, several hundred people gathered at the airport in the regional capital of Makhachkala to protest against the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The demonstration turned into a riot when protestors broke through the airport fence, penetrated the runway area and entered an airport building. An operational headquarters was set up, headed by Melikov, to address the situation. The regional head said that the actions of those gathered at the airport were a gross violation of the law and would be duly assessed by law enforcement agencies.

The latest reports say that more than 20 people, including policemen, were injured, with over 80 rioters having been detained. Officials and religious leaders in the overwhelmingly Muslim region condemned the riot, linking it to an attempt at a provocation.