DISINFO: Ukrainian intelligence was behind the riot at the Makhachkala airport in Dagestan
SUMMARY
In Dagestan, provocateurs from the Ukrainian psychological and information operations service made calls to solidarity with the Palestinian people and cause riots. As a result, a mob of people assaulted the airport of Makhachkala, where a plane coming from Israel was supposedly landing. Dagestani authorities urge the population not to succumb to these provocations.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory not backed by any evidence, aiming to frame Ukraine as responsible for the antisemitic riot in the Makhachkala airport in Dagestan. The Kremlin has blamed “external forces” and Dagestani governor Sergey Melikov pointed to “Ukrainian traitors and Banderites”, but nothing indicates that Ukrainian or any other foreign intelligence services had anything to do with the mob that stormed the airport on 29 October 2023.
According to Russian independent site Mediazona, the protests were prompted by calls spread in Telegram channels such as “Utro Dagestan”, which Russian opposition figure Ilya Ponomarev helped to create. Ponomarev, currently exiled in Ukraine, affirms that he cut ties with the channel over one year ago.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukrainian troops might want to attack Hasidim pilgrims in Ukraine, that Ukraine plans to destroy another hydroelectric power station to blame Russia, that Kyiv is preparing a chemical provocation to divert attention from Ukrainian Nazis' crimes, or that Ukraine nationalists are planning false-flag operation in Transnistria / Moldova.