On October 29, a large mob stormed Makhachkala Uytash Airport (MCX) in southern Russia to hunt down Israeli and Jewish passengers. The group expressed anger at a Red Wings Airlines flight from Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) near Tel Aviv scheduled to land at the airport. Red Wings is a Russian airline offering flights to domestic and international leisure destinations.

Videos posted online show hundreds of people running onto the airport's tarmac in search of Israelis. Makhachkala is located in Russia's Dagestan region, which has a Muslim-majority population. The Israel-Hamas war likely contributed to this event, especially given that the Muslim world is a strong supporter of Palestine. Some people were carrying banners with antisemitic slogans.

According to Dagestan's local government, the incident injured more than 20 people, and police detained at least 60 people. The authorities have opened a criminal inquiry to charge people with organizing mass unrest. Russian media has also noted that the police did not get involved in stopping the crowd.

Russia has maintained a relatively neutral stance in the Israel-Hamas war. Unlike many other countries that either expressed their support for Israel or Palestine, Russia has condemned the actions on both sides. This stance is because Russia maintains strong ties with both Israel and the Arab world. Despite the war forcing some international airlines to suspend flights, it is still possible to fly between Tel Aviv and Russia on Red Wings and El Al.

Flying through Israel is one way for passengers from many Western countries to visit Russia. The U.S., Canada, the European Union, and many other countries banned flights to Russia after the country invaded Ukraine on February 22. These bans consist of Russian planes being banned from flying over the airspace of the above countries and vice versa. Israel has maintained a relatively neutral stance in the Russia-Ukraine war by providing aid to Ukraine while not joining the Western-led sanctions against Russia.

Some people in the crowd were waving Palestinian flags, with others attempting to damage police vehicles. Furthermore, some created banners with language targeting Jews and Israelis. These messages included "Child killers are not welcome in Dagestan" and "We're against Jewish refugees." 

The mob went to extreme measures to determine which passengers were Israeli. They entered the terminal and examined each passenger's passport to determine their nationality. 

The Makhachkala airport closed temporarily before resuming operations at 2:00 p.m. the next day. Future flights from Tel Aviv were moved to the neighboring Stavropol region as a safety precaution. The Russian government falsely claimed that the West was trying to "use the events in the Middle East to divide the (Russian) society." Other state-owned sources claimed that "traitors" in Ukraine facilitated the riots to destabilize Dagestan.

It is currently unknown how many Israelis were on the flight. Given that Russia is currently in a state of war, it is unlikely that many Israelis were going there on vacation. The riots likely resulted from online claims that Israeli refugees were resettling in Dagestan. Given that Dagestan's Muslim population is supportive of the Palestinian cause, this situation angered the local population.

The incident did not significantly disrupt the diplomatic relationship between Israel and Russia. Both countries have strong ties since many Russian Jews moved from the Soviet Union to Israel in the 1970s and 1990s. As of 2022, approximately 1.3 million people (15% of Israel's population) speak Russian, making it Israel's third most-spoken language after Hebrew and Arabic. There is also a smaller number of Israelis living in Russia.

Unauthorized passengers entering airport facilities has happened several times in recent years. These incidents involve people navigating the terminal, past security, and even onto the runways themselves. In August 2021, people stormed Kabul International Airport (KBL) in Afghanistan to force themselves onto evacuation flights. They crowded onto the runway to board these flights and escape Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control of the country. Other incidents involve climate activists illegally entering airport facilities to protest against aviation's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.