White House national security spokesperson John Kirby strongly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for not condemning the recent protest at a Russian airport. The incident occurred when a plane from Israel landed, and a crowd stormed the airport in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia, reportedly looking for Israeli passengers. In response, Russian police took control of the airport, and Putin called a meeting of security officials to address the situation.
Kirby characterized the scene as a “chilling demonstration of hate, bigotry, and intimidation.” He expressed disappointment that Putin did not condemn the protests when they happened. Kirby emphasized the silence from the Kremlin, stating, “We’ve heard crickets.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attributed the incident to “external interference” and pointed to people in the crowd holding signs against Jewish refugees and accusing Israel of being child killers. Kirby responded sarcastically to this notion, stating, “Isn’t that sweet? It’s classic Russia rhetoric, blaming someone else when something goes wrong. The West had nothing to do with it; this is just pure hate, bigotry, and intimidation.” He contrasted this with what he views as the leadership of President Biden, who readily denounces hate.
The airport protest coincides with Israel’s expansion of ground operations into Gaza following an attack by the militant group Hamas. Peskov stated during the security meeting called by Putin that officials will discuss attempts by the West to exploit events in the Middle East to divide Russian society. He claimed that external information influence played a significant role in the airport incident.
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