Mediazona Reports Israeli Passengers with Dual Israeli-Russian Citizenship Held 5 Hours at Domodedovo

(MOSCOW, RUSSIA) – Russian security officials detained at least 40 Israeli passengers at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport on April 19, 2026 and held them for five hours without access to food, water or bathrooms, according to accounts published by Mediazona.

The passengers included some people with dual Israeli-Russian citizenship and others traveling on Israeli passports only. All were released after signing warning papers about not breaking the law.

Passengers said security personnel acted rudely, demanded that travelers unlock their phones, and accepted it when some refused and turned the devices off instead. During the detention, some Israelis were told that Iran is Russia’s ally, making Iran’s enemies “our enemy too,” that their visit to Moscow was “not welcome,” and that they had “come for nothing.”

After the warning papers were signed, the officials’ behavior changed. Passengers said officers then acted “very politely and carefully,” and the group was allowed to leave.

The episode fits a pattern of detentions involving Israeli travelers at Domodedovo, where Russian authorities have repeatedly stopped, questioned and sometimes denied entry to groups arriving from Israel. These incidents have often been viewed as retaliation for Israel denying entry to Russian travelers.

One earlier case involved dozens of Israelis, with reports putting the number at as many as 46, including children. Authorities confiscated passports and interrogated the group without translation, and Israel’s Foreign Ministry later said all but one were released the same day.

Another case ended with 10 Israelis denied entry after arriving on an Aeroflot flight on a Friday. Russian authorities fingerprinted them, took DNA samples, and deported them after saying they had failed to explain the purpose of their visit.

A separate group of tourists was held for more than two hours on another Friday despite what was described as an Israel-Russia agreement on entry procedures. Officials took their passports, and some were still being held into the afternoon.

Those incidents did not affect only ordinary tourists. Journalist Itamar Eichner was detained for six hours in one case, then fingerprinted and photographed before being allowed to enter Russia.

Eichner described that experience as “unpleasant” and said some Israelis were still being held at the time. His account added another public example to a series of complaints about treatment at Domodedovo.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has tracked the detentions and said it has held discussions with Russia about entry denials, illegal workers and asylum seekers. In those contacts, Russia confirmed that business travelers follow embassy rules.

No broader resolution for 2026 was described beyond the releases that followed the detentions. That leaves the latest incident at Domodedovo as another sign that Israeli travelers, including those with dual Israeli-Russian citizenship, still face the risk of questioning, prolonged holds and possible entry problems on arrival in Moscow.

The April 19 detention also stood out for the conditions passengers described during the five-hour hold. They said they had no access to food, water, or bathrooms while officers questioned them and delivered political messages about Russia’s alliance with Iran.

Those remarks placed a geopolitical edge on what might otherwise have looked like an immigration screening dispute. Passengers said officials linked their treatment directly to the wider regional alignment, telling some detainees that Israel’s position made them unwelcome in Moscow.

Authorities also appeared to test the limits of what travelers would surrender during questioning. Officers asked passengers to unlock their phones, but accepted refusals once some turned the devices off, suggesting the demand was pressed but not enforced to the end.

The warning papers marked the turning point in the encounter. Once the Israelis signed them, the same officials who had acted rudely became, in passengers’ account, “very politely and carefully,” and then released everyone.

That sequence has appeared in different forms in earlier Domodedovo cases, where questioning, document seizure and delays gave way either to release or to deportation after hours of uncertainty. Outcomes have varied, but the airport has repeatedly surfaced in complaints involving Israeli arrivals.

In the case involving as many as 46 detainees, the presence of children sharpened concern inside Israel, while the lack of translation raised questions about whether those being questioned could fully respond. Israel’s Foreign Ministry later said all but one were let go the same day, limiting the immediate fallout but not the diplomatic irritation.

The case involving the 10 Israelis who were denied entry showed a different track. There, the travelers were not released into Russia after questioning, but fingerprinted, subjected to DNA sampling and deported after Russian authorities said they could not explain why they had come.

The Friday case involving tourists held for more than two hours suggested that even reported understandings between the two countries did not settle airport practice on the ground. Passports were taken there as well, and some travelers remained in custody into the afternoon.

Eichner’s detention added a visible public account because he described the process while it was happening. He was held for six hours, fingerprinted and photographed before entry, and later called the experience “unpleasant.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has treated the incidents as part of a continuing file rather than isolated misunderstandings. Its discussions with Russia have covered denied entry cases alongside disputes involving illegal workers and asylum seekers, indicating that the airport detentions sit inside a wider argument over cross-border movement.

Russia, in those exchanges, confirmed that business travelers follow embassy rules. That point did not prevent repeated incidents involving other Israeli arrivals, including the passengers held on April 19, 2026 at Domodedovo Airport.

The latest case ended without deportations, arrests or criminal charges. Passengers were released after five hours, but the combination of prolonged detention, lack of basic access to water and bathrooms, demands for phone access and explicit political warnings is likely to deepen concern among Israeli travelers heading to Russia.

It also leaves a practical split inside the same group of passengers. Some held dual Israeli-Russian citizenship, others carried only Israeli passports, yet both categories were swept into the same detention and released only after signing the same warnings.

Mediazona’s account of the incident described a process in which the hold itself became the pressure point. Travelers were not accused publicly of a specific offense during the detention, but were kept in place for hours under conditions they said denied them basic necessities before being told, in effect, that their presence was unwanted.

At Domodedovo, the pattern now extends across mass detentions, same-day releases, document confiscations, deportations and cases involving public figures. The details differ from one incident to another, but the airport has become a recurring site of friction between Israeli travelers and Russian border authorities.

With no broader settlement described for 2026, each new arrival carries that recent history with it. On April 19, at least 40 Israelis landed in Moscow and spent the next five hours in detention before walking out with signed warnings and a clearer sense of how fragile entry at Domodedovo can be.