Russia's Putin said anyone would be outraged by footage of bloodied Gaza children

Any "normal person" would be outraged by images of "bloodied children" in the Gaza Strip, but Russians need "to keep a clear head", Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. Putin was commenting on a riot at Makhachkala airport in Russia's Muslim-majority Dagestan region that took place on Oct. 29, when hundreds of people stormed the airport in search of Jewish people who had just arrived on a flight from Tel-Aviv.

Any "normal person" would be outraged by images of "bloodied children" in the Gaza Strip, but Russians need "to keep a clear head", Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Putin was commenting on a riot at Makhachkala airport in Russia's Muslim-majority Dagestan region that took place on Oct. 29, when hundreds of people stormed the airport in search of Jewish people who had just arrived on a flight from Tel-Aviv. Putin has accused Ukraine and the West of stirring up the trouble, an allegation that Kyiv and Washington have rejected as false.

"As for these events in Makhachkala...it was easy to throw a spark, very easy. Against the background of the horrors taking place there (in Gaza), it is easy to do so, because...when you look at the suffering and bloodied children, you clench your fists and tears come to your eyes." Putin added:

"And that, I think, is the reaction of any normal person. And if there is no such reaction, then a person has no heart, it is made of stone. Despite that, we should process these events with a clear head and understand where the root of evil is." Apparently caught off guard, authorities in Dagestan managed to evacuate the passengers to safety, but not before a bus carrying them had been chased around the airport by a mob angry over Israel's bombing of Gaza in response to the slaughter of Israeli civilians by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The police made over 80 arrests and Putin convened an emergency meeting with security chiefs to discuss what could be done to prevent a repeat. Russia, which wants an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backs a two-state solution, has tried to maintain contact with all sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict, but angered Israeli authorities by inviting a Hamas delegation to Moscow.

Israel's foreign ministry then summoned the Russian ambassador to complain.