A Russian court has handed long prison sentences to five men found guilty of taking part in 2023 anti-Jewish riots in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan.

The start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has led to a wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Russia’s Muslim-majority North Caucasus republics, where local politicians and celebrities often express solidarity with the Palestinians.

On October 29, a large crowd shouting anti-Semitic slogans broke through the security perimeter of Makhachkala International Airport and ran onto the tarmac. It was later determined that rioters believed rumors on Telegram and social media that a plane arriving from Tel Aviv had “Jewish refugees.”

The rioters clashed with security and police, paralyzing operations at the airport and causing extensive damage to infrastructure, but failed to board a plane or injure any passengers.

On Friday, a court in the southern city of Armavir sentenced five men to six to nine years in prison for rioting and attacking government officials. The court said they were motivated by “national and royal hatred” when they joined the crowd. All suspects denied any wrongdoing.

Some officials had suggested that the riots may have been fomented from abroad. In November, President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. and Ukraine of “an attempt to organize Jewish pogroms.”

The Dagestan leadership and local Muslim clerics condemned the violence, with Governor Sergei Melikov promising “no forgiveness” to those involved in the storming of the airport.

Dagestan’s Interior Minister Abdurashid Magomedov said in July that 140 people were still being held in connection with the riots, while 1,200 had been given administrative fines.

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