At least nine people were killed and 25 injured in what appear to be coordinated attacks by armed men in Russia’s southernmost province of Dagestan, local authorities say.
Attacks were reported at churches, synagogues and at a police stop in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, which are about 120 km (75 miles) apart.
Among the dead were seven police officers, a priest and a church security guard, according to local authorities. Four “militants” were also killed, according to Russian news agency TASS.
“According to the information I received, Father Nikolay was killed in the Derbent church, his throat was cut. He was 66 years old and very sick,” said Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission Chairman Shamil Khadulaev.
He also said that a church security guard armed only with a pistol was shot.
One of the dead police officers was the head of the “Lights of Dagestan” police department, Mavludin Khidirnabiev, according to the cable from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan.
In a church in Makhachkala, 19 people locked themselves in for safety during a shootout that ended with the death of at least one attacker, TASS reported citing Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Meanwhile, a synagogue in Derbent was set on fire, with photos showing large flames and plumes of smoke billowing heavily from a series of windows on at least one floor of the structure.
Attacks were also reported at a synagogue in Makhachkala and at a traffic police station in Makhachkala.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry described what it considered to be “a combined attack” on the two synagogues.
“The synagogue in Derbent was set on fire and burned to the ground. Local guards were killed. The synagogue in Makhachkala was shot at, there are no further details,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“As far as is known, there were no worshipers in the synagogues at the time of the attack and there are no known victims from the Jewish community,” according to the statement.
The head of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, issued a message on Telegram saying that “unknown people made attempts to destabilize the social situation. Dagestani police officers got in the way. According to preliminary information, there are victims among them.”
Melikov said the identities of the attackers are being established, an operational headquarters has been created and a plan for a counter-operation “Interception” is underway.
He urged the public to remain calm, saying “Panic and fear is what they counted on… They won’t get that from Dagestan!”
The Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Republic of Dagestan said it had launched a terrorist investigation into the attacks under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
“All the circumstances of the incident and the people involved in the terrorist attacks are being investigated, and their actions will be legally evaluated,” says the statement from the investigative directorate.
This is a developing story and is being updated.
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