Radical nationalist sentiments in Russian society have recently grown so much that it is not always possible to keep them under control. The proof of this was the situation at the Dagestan airport. Traditionally, officials try to blame Ukraine and the West for any problems. What is the reason?
Who is to blame?
The first question that may arise is why Russian officials would make statements that the causes of the anti-Jewish riots lie outside Russia. The fact is that the incident goes beyond domestic Russian problems. The problem of radical attitudes in society towards representatives of other nations is the direct responsibility of the authorities, and events of the past few days have shown that there is no control in this area. To avoid responsibility, the officials began to look for the culprit, and it is best to point the finger at the enemy.
It got out of control
In fact, sociologists and political scientists highlight the following principal reasons, which are concentrated especially in Russia:
– growing radicalization of society;
– factionalism and social stratification;
– strengthening of hyper-nationalist ideology.
All three phenomena were artificially intensified to support the so-called SMO until the beginning of 2022 and after a full-scale attack on Ukraine. It is because of this that the process of “electrification” of people through the media environment has reached its peak. Inciting hatred against Ukrainians, citizens of Western countries, and Israel was one of the priority areas of propaganda all this time.
“Wholesale” hate
Another factor was added to this: many soldiers of the Russian army who died in Ukraine were mobilized precisely in Dagestan. That is why the hatred of Ukrainians was strongly connected at the subconscious level with a hostile attitude towards Israelis.
Radical attitudes among the Muslim population of Russia are not a new phenomenon, and there are many examples of this over the past decades. That is why the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, hastily declared that the organizers and ideological inspirers of the Jewish incident in Makhachkala were the Ukrainian special services, which acted on the orders of the West.
Continuation of rhetoric
With such a statement, Putin continued the two main narratives of Kremlin propaganda, which long ago became the “supporting structure” of Russian policy:
– The West is the principal opponent of Russia, which constantly generates ideas of destabilization and destruction of the Russian Federation;
– Ukraine is a puppet of the West, which is the executor of the plans and ideas of its “master.”
Meanwhile, anti-Semitic sentiments in Dagestan grew so much that the authorities decided to act. Kadyrov gave the order to fire three warning shots in case of riots, after which “the fourth shot should be fired in the forehead.” He explained such harsh measures as the fight against Russia’s enemies.
