Russia aims to counter external interference after airport riot

Following a riot in Dagestan over the weekend that targeted Israeli airline passengers, Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior government and security officials on Monday discussed stepping up efforts to thwart external interference, according to the Kremlin. After rioters in the mostly Muslim Dagestan region stormed an airport to “catch” Jewish passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv, Putin accused the West and Ukraine of igniting unrest inside Russia in a statement made at the beginning of Monday’s meeting of members of his Security Council, the government, and the heads of law enforcement agencies. Additionally, he declared that Russia was engaged in combat with the same sinister forces on the other side of the Middle East, holding the West and the American ruling class accountable for the situation. The meeting on Monday focused on “strengthening measures to counteract that same outside interference, including external information manipulations that can provoke the situation in our country, exploiting the theme of the same events in the Middle East,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov stated that Moscow was analysing the events in Makhachkala to reduce the likelihood of a repeat, but Kyiv denied any role in them. (With agency inputs)