About 40 passengers from Israel were detained for several hours at an airport in Moscow on Monday before being let into Russia following an intervention by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
“As soon as the incident became known, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting on the instruction of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, contacted the foreign ministry in Moscow and the Russian embassy in Israel and, following this intervention, the issue was resolved and the entry of the Israelis was approved,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told JNS on Tuesday.
“It was made clear to the Russians that this conduct is utterly unacceptable and that Israel views the incident very seriously,” the spokesperson added.
According to Mediazona, an opposition news site reporting on Russia, the passengers were interrogated and made to sign a statement affirming that they had been “warned.” The report did not say what they had been warned about. The detainment at Domodedovo Airport continued for about five hours, according to the report.
Bilateral relations between Russia and Israel have deteriorated following the Russian invasion in 2022 into Ukraine, which made many of Israel’s Western allies downgrade relations with Moscow, and amid conflicts in the Middle East, which have pitted Israel against several of Russia’s allies.
Russia has a long track record of detaining, harassing and imprisoning foreign visitors—including ones who appear to have been randomly selected—from countries with which it has disputes or strained relations.
