Russian airports as a glimpse into the birth of a fascist state 

Anyone who wants to see how a fascist state is born can buy a ticket to one of the airports of the Russian Federation. By the way, one of these airports in the Dagestan capital of Makhachkala was seized yesterday, October 29, by a mob trying to find Jews on a flight arriving from Tel Aviv.

The day before, in another Dagestan city, Khasavyurt, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish rallies were held, with participants trying to find Jews in the Flamingo and Kyiv hotels. And after no phantom Israeli refugees were found in these hotels, inscriptions from the times of Hitler's Germany appeared on their doors - "Jews are not allowed to enter." Similar rallies were held in another North Caucasian city, Nalchik, where a crowd tried to destroy the building of a Jewish community center.

Nonetheless, it has become evident that these initial demonstrations were just the start. Subsequently, the entire airport was seized, followed by the arrival of Russian security forces in Makhachkala. Furthermore, the federal highway connecting Dagestan with other regions of the Russian Federation was blocked.

Interestingly, there were no Jewish individuals on this flight from Tel Aviv. Even though airport staff offered to let some of the protesters board the plane to verify the passengers' Jewish ancestry.

On the flight from Tel Aviv to Makhachkala, there were parents with children who had received medical treatment in Israel and left it, apparently due to the crisis in the Middle East. However, the fact that Dagestan residents are seeking medical care in Israel and the possibility of Israeli doctors treating children from this Russian republic for conditions that cannot be addressed by Russian medicine do not seem to be a concern for the protesters.

In my opinion, these rioters are not acting on their own. After all, it is obvious that this violent protest in the Dagestan capital and other cities of the North Caucasus is in line with the new anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli policy of the Russian president. Putin even sanctioned the arrival of a Hamas delegation in Moscow, even after militants from this organization had committed heinous acts, including the brutal murder of Israeli women and children and the hostage-taking of a significant number of individuals. Notably, among these hostages are many Russian citizens whose liberation appears to be a lower priority for the Russian leadership. It seems that the Russian political leadership places greater importance on establishing credibility with terrorist organizations and states, including Russia's allies like Iran, who assist in hostilities against Ukraine and the killing of women and children within our country, rather than prioritizing the release of Russian citizens from the clutches of ruthless Hamas terrorists.

And, of course, just as Vladimir Putin realized that his war with Ukraine and the killing of civilian Ukrainians unites Russian society around his schizophrenic leader, so he saw that the Kremlin's anti-Semitic actions also unite Russians around the Kremlin throne, perhaps with slightly different audiences. The destruction of Ukrainians can be perceived with enthusiasm and inspiration in the so-called Russian hinterland. Anti-Semitic policies are incredibly enthusiastic in the North Caucasus and other national Russian republics.

These national republics have been brought by the Putin regime, I would say, to the bottom of marginalization, and have been effectively turned into police states. Every movement of those who criticize the Russian leadership or to the corrupt gangster leadership of their own republic in any capacity is controlled. In fact, the study of national languages has been banned on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. There is widespread unemployment among the youth of the Caucasus, who make up the majority of the population in the national republics. And when these young people leave their national republics for, of course, Russian territory, they often encounter open contempt and disdain from native Russians. They can even become targets of violence in what are known as "Churka" pogroms, a derogatory term typically used by Russians to describe people from the North Caucasus and friendly Central Asian countries. Of course, people who live in such conditions feel incredible oppression. And they are looking for those who are to blame for all their problems.

The Russian regime is interested in these people as cannon fodder, because let me remind you that Putin is also solving the national question in Russia with the help of the war in Ukraine. Because the number of people from the North Caucasus republics at war is huge, which creates opportunities for the disappearance of these peoples in the near future.

Of course, then the Kremlin's special services and the FSB clearly say that the Jews are to blame. And the excesses of the executors begin. Perhaps the FSB was counting on rallies and loud statements by controlled extremists, but not on the seizure of the airport. And now a new round of violent actions will begin, which in turn may lead to a response from the local population.

One of the leaders of the Jewish community in Dagestan bitterly said that the Jews living in this Russian republic will obviously have to be evacuated, but it is not clear where, because pogroms are taking place on the territory of Russia itself. Thus, before our eyes, Russia is returning to its inglorious gangster imperial past, when pogroms were the main achievement of the civilization of the Russian people. And now, as we can see, Russians are happy to drag the peoples of the North Caucasus, once conquered by them, into this circle of crimes. Indeed, there is nowhere to run from this horror, given the mood in Russian society and the fact that this mood is directed and fomented by the Kremlin regime and Russian special services. As we can see, Putin and his associates have nothing to lose in terms of reputation and can turn Russia into the very beast they have always dreamed of in their hottest misanthropic fantasies.

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About the author. Vitaliy Portnikov, journalist, winner of the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.