Witnesses to the riots at Makhachkala airport described the actions of the rioters as organized.

Participants in the 2023 riots at Makhachkala's Uytash Airport attempted to disarm security forces and threw stones at them, according to witness testimony read out in court.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," three alleged organizers of the pogrom—Ilya Ponomarev*, Abakar Abakarov, and Israil Akhmednabiyev (Abu Umar Sasitlinsky)—were wanted in the case of the riots at Makhachkala's Uytash Airport. According to the Investigative Committee, they published posts on Telegram that encouraged residents of Dagestan to participate in mass riots motivated by hatred toward Israel. In July, the cases of all three were submitted to the Supreme Court of Dagestan for trial in absentia. Abakarov was killed in Turkey in October, after which the court sent a request to Turkey to confirm his death.

At the latest hearing in the Supreme Court of Dagestan, where the cases of the alleged organizers of the riots at the Makhachkala airport are being heard, the prosecutor read the testimony of ten witnesses, including Ruslan Mustafayev, deputy head of the public order protection department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Dagestan.

According to Mustafayev, a hail of stones and other heavy objects was thrown at the police and National Guard officers who were in the cordon. The rioters, he said, threw "pieces of paving slabs, some boxes, clods of earth" at security forces, and the most aggressive of them attacked law enforcement officers.

"They punched and kicked us, tried to snatch our shields and batons, tore off our helmets, and tried to knock us to the ground," RIA Novosti quotes Mustafayev's testimony, read out by the prosecutor today.

The actions of the rioters, who arrived at the airport carrying Palestinian flags, were accompanied by aggressive shouts. Despite the efforts of a large number of security forces, the rioters managed to break through several cordons and reach first the airport parking area, then the international terminal, and finally the runway. Mustafayev felt that the crowd was "being directed and redirected by someone."

Makhachkala patrol officer Magomed Mukhtarov testified that some of his unit's officers were injured by stones thrown by protesters. He also stated that the protesters were behaving aggressively and intentionally damaging airport property. The criminal case involves 23 injured security officers, and damage to the airport is estimated at over 24 million rubles.

According to information on the website of the Supreme Court of Dagestan, the last hearing in the case of Ponomarev*, Abakarov, and Akhmednabiyev took place on November 26. The next hearing is scheduled for December 3.

More than 130 people have already been convicted of participating in mass riots and received prison sentences ranging from 6.5 to 15 years. Among the latest convicts is Dagestani resident Bakhtiyar Radzhabov, whose case was heard by the Georgievsk City Court; he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Radzhabov became at least the 136th person convicted for participating in the pogrom; investigators previously stated that the cases of 139 defendants (excluding three who are wanted) had been sent to the courts.

In September, the Fourth Cassation Court in Krasnodar commuted the sentences of three defendants in the criminal case related to the riots - Salikh Ramazanov, Magomed Omaraskhabov, and Rabadan Radzhabov had their prison terms reduced.

* are listed as foreign agents.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.