Dagestani police shut down pro-Palestine protest, while Chechnya holds collective prayer for Gaza residents

Police in Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala, shut down a protest rally in support of Palestine on Tuesday, the news site Caucasian Knot reported, citing local Telegram channels.

“The protesters were dispersed, as if they had been protesting against Russia, and not against Israel!” read a post from the Dagestani Telegram channel Gorets. The rally was reportedly attended by several dozen people.

The previous day, the Makhachkala government posted a message on Telegram warning residents that the rally, which had been announced on social media, had not been approved by the city authorities. “In this regard, we want to remind you that the event in question is a protest, which could provoke unrest and tension,” reads the announcement.

Meanwhile, Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov said on his own Telegram channel that on the morning of October 17, people “in all of the republic’s mosques” said a collective prayer in support of the Palestinian people and “our brothers taking part in the special military operation.” According to Kadyrov, the worshippers asked “the Almighty Allah to protest the Palestinian people from criminal aggression by their oppressions” and to “grant victory to our soldiers fighting in Ukraine against the Satanists.”