MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and top government and security officials on Monday discussed strengthening measures to counter external interference following a weekend riot in Dagestan that targeted airline passengers from Israel, the Kremlin said.

In a statement at the start of Monday’s meeting of members of his Security Council, the government and the heads of law enforcement agencies, Putin accused the West and Ukraine of stirring up unrest inside Russia after rioters in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan region stormed an airport to “catch” Jewish passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv.

He also accused the West and the ruling elite in the US of being responsible for the crisis in the Middle East and said that Russia was fighting the same shadowy forces on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Israel urges Russia to ‘protect’ its citizens after mob storms Dagestan airport

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Monday’s meeting had discussed “strengthening measures to counteract that same outside interference, including external information manipulations that can provoke the situation in our country, exploiting the theme of the same events in the Middle East”.

Kyiv denied any involvement in the events in Makhachkala, which Peskov said Moscow was analysing to minimise the risk of a repeat.