Russia sentences 15 over anti-Israel airport riot

Russian courts have sentenced 15 anti-Israeli rioters who stormed an airport in the southern region of Dagestan to short terms in prison.

Hundreds of protesters overran Russia’s Makhachkala airport last week, charging onto the runway in a bid to encircle a plane that had flown in from Israel.

Courts in Dagestan, a Muslim-majority region, have since sentenced 15 people to between two and ten days in prison for their involvement in the riot, state media reported.

Two more were ordered to complete 60 hours of forced labour, the TASS news agency said.

The courts frequently sentence opponents of the Kremlin to years in prison for criticising Moscow’s assault on Ukraine.

Several police officers were injured in Sunday’s riot at the airport and more than 80 were initially detained.

Officials had pledged severe punishment for those who took part.

Dagestan’s governor, Sergei Melikov, called the mob a “gross violation of the law” and a “stab in the back” of Dagestani soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine and the West were behind the calls to riot, while Kyiv said the protest was a symptom of Russia’s “deep rooted anti-semitism”.