The security forces tightened security at synagogues in Dagestan while the Telegram site blocked Utro Dagestan, a channel allegedly administered from Ukraine, which was accused of inciting violence against Jews. Muslim religious leaders in the North Caucasus have condemned the anti-Semitic riots.
The Morning Dagestan (Utro Dagestan) is an anti-Russian and Islamist channel which advocates for an end to what it calls “Moscow’s occupation regime” in the Caucasus.
The Morning Dagestan channel has been associated with Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian MP who defected to Ukraine in 2016 and was granted Ukrainian citizenship.
While Ponomarev said that he had stopped supporting the channel in September 2022, his own statements contradict this claim. He called Utro Dagestan “our channel” in August 2023, and also referred to the channel as part of his operations in September.