Decision by the Yabloko Federal Political Committee of 24 November, 2023, published on 6 December, 2023

Photo: Anti-Semitic riots at Makhachkala airport on 29 October, 2023 / Photo from social networks

 The value of human life has been decreasing against the backdrop of the special military operation in Russia that has been going on for 18 months, and discontent, fear, suspicion and hatred in different social groups have been growing.

Symptoms of a progressing serious disease of the state and society were clearly manifested in recent anti-Semitic actions in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, in the attack on the Makhachkala airport by a crowd motivated by national hatred and anti-Semitic slogans.

What happened is not a regional problem. This is a threat of an all-Russian, national level.

Interethnic and interreligious hostility, the division of the country’s citizens into “us” and “strangers” is the way to the collapse of Russia. The preconditions for the disaster are so serious that an explosion could happen in almost any region of our country. What happened at the end of October is an example of how quickly a large fire can ignite. At the same time, local authorities and law enforcement agencies began to react to what was happening in Makhachkala only after the crowd began to storm the international airport, although even the day before all signs of escalating the situation were obvious.

Instead of a clear and accurate assessment of what happened – as an absolutely unacceptable criminal phenomenon – government officials began to talk about the responsibility of some abstract foreign “external forces”, just as in Soviet times they sought reasons in the “machinations of imperialism”.

To preserve interethnic and interreligious peace in the country, a strict political and legal assessment of attempts to organise pogroms is necessary at the state level. The absence of such a reaction to socially dangerous crimes – as was previously the case with the armed rebellion in June of this year – can lead to tragic consequences for the country.

It is obvious that what happened was largely the result of the “manual control” policy that had long been implemented in Russia in the sphere of interethnic and inter-confessional relations and led to the virtual exclusion of certain regions of Russia from the framework of federal legislation.

An immediate reaction from the authorities and law enforcement agencies to any signs of escalating mass hysteria and hatred is needed.

The authorities must effectively investigate anti-Semitic actions and not to flirt with those who undermine the peaceful interethnic and interreligious diversity of Russia.

A real restoration of the rule of law, strict observance of human rights and freedoms, and an end to political repression are vital for the country as a whole and the North Caucasus in particular.

To prevent interethnic conflicts the following is necessary:

– seek ways to agree on a ceasefire and return to peace as necessary conditions for establishing the rule of law in our country;

– recreate a single legal, educational and cultural space throughout the Russian Federation;

– refocus the state’s efforts on preventing such internal threats fueling conflicts as a decline in living standards, citizens’ vulnerability to the state, and lack of basic civil rights;

– restore opportunities for open public discussion of key problems in the life of the country, and free public discussion in the media;

– direct law enforcement agencies to combat real threats to the life and health of citizens instead of searching for mythical “fakes about the army” and repressing those who disagree with government policies.

Grigory Yavlinsky,

Chairman of the Federal Political Committee,

Yabloko