Volodymyr Zelensky made the remark via social media on Sunday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Ukraine’s president wrote on the X social media platform: "Appalling videos from Makhachkala, Russia, where an angry mob broke into the airport searching for Israeli citizens on the flight from Tel Aviv. This is not an isolated incident in Makhachkala, but rather part of Russia's widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated by state television, pundits, and authorities.”
Zelensky added: "The Russian foreign minister [Seregi Lavrov] has made a series of antisemitic remarks in the last year. The Russian President [Vladimir Putin] also used antisemitic slurs. For Russian propaganda talking heads on official television, hate rhetoric is routine. Even the most recent Middle East escalation prompted antisemitic statements from Russian ideologists."
'We must all work together to oppose hatred': Zelensky
Ukraine’s president further stated: "Russian antisemitism and hatred toward other nations are systemic and deeply rooted. Hatred is what drives aggression and terror. We must all work together to oppose hatred.”
Last year, Russia's Lavrov said that Jews were “the biggest antisemites,” while Putin said Zelensky had Jewish roots, the PAP news agency reported.
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters with Palestinian flags stormed the Makhachkala airport in Russia’s mainly Muslim region of Dagestan on Sunday when a plane from Israel landed, the Reuters news agency reported.
Twenty people at the airport were injured, with two sustaining serious wounds, according to public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency.
Russian police have taken over the facility and arrested 60 people, the interior ministry in Moscow said on Monday.
Israel urged Russia to protect Israelis and Jews in its territory, Reuters reported.
In recent days, a Jewish centre under construction in the nearby Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria was set ablaze, according to emergency officials.
There were also reports on social media of small anti-Israeli gatherings in Dagestan and Russia's North Caucasus region, according to news outlets.
Russia is calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict and backs a two-state solution, Reuters reported.
However, Israel’s foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the Russian ambassador after Russia invited a Hamas delegation to Moscow, according to news outlets.
US condemns 'antisemitic protests' in Russia
Meanwhile, the United States has denounced the incident in Makhachkala, the IAR news agency reported.
White House National Security Spokesperson Adrienne Watson wrote on the X platform on Sunday night: “The United States vigorously condemns the antisemitic protests in Dagestan, Russia. The U.S. unequivocally stands with the entire Jewish community as we witness a worldwide surge in antisemitism.”
The official added: “There is never any excuse or justification for antisemitism.”
Monday is day 614 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Interfax-Ukraine, Reuters