Mediazona reports Israeli passengers held for 5 hours at Moscow airport without food or water, told they were ‘not welcome’

Law enforcement officers held at least 40 people who had arrived on a flight from Tel Aviv at Domodedovo Airport for five hours on April 19, a witness told Mediazona, an independent Russian news outlet. Throughout that time, the Israelis — some holding dual Israeli-Russian citizenship, others only Israeli passports — had no access to food, water, or a bathroom.

Security officials were rude and demanded that passengers unlock their phones, but after being refused, settled for demanding that the devices be turned off, Mediazona’s source said.

The Israelis were then called in for “conversations,” during which some were told that Iran is Russia’s ally and that Iran’s enemy is “our enemy too,” and were informed that their visit to Moscow was “not welcome” and that they had “come for nothing.”

The Israelis were made to sign papers containing “warnings” — documents informing them of the impermissibility of breaking the law, Mediazona reported. After that, everyone was released. When handing over the papers, security officials began behaving “very politely and carefully,” Mediazona’s source said.

Checks on people entering Russia are regularly conducted at Russian border crossings, both land borders and airports. Foreigners and Russian citizens alike — including those with dual citizenship and those holding only a Russian passport — can be summoned for so-called conversations. Law enforcement officers may demand that they unlock their phones or laptops.

The Labor Ministry of Tajikistan’s representative office in Russia announced, as the human rights project First Department reported in mid-April, that Russia’s Federal Security Service’s Border Service had confirmed its officers’ right to demand access to the contents of phones, laptops, and other devices when crossing the Russian border.

Amendments to the law on the Russian State Border — allowing border guards to search the personal belongings of people crossing the border — were passed in the summer of 2025. Refusal carries the threat of a fine or administrative detention of up to 15 days for disobeying a lawful order or demand from a serviceman in connection with his duties to protect the Russian State Border. Unofficially, as First Department lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov said, the practice had existed for a long time. “We have repeatedly reported on the fabrication of administrative offense cases for refusing to show a phone, or simply because the security officials didn’t like the person,” he said.