Police officers and priest among 15 killed in attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia

At least 15 people, including police officers and a priest, were killed and several others injured after unidentified gunmen opened fire on synagogues, churches and a police post in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Sunday, the governor of the region.

The simultaneous attacks took place in Dagestan’s largest city, Makhachkala, and the coastal city of Derbent, with Governor Sergei Melikov calling them a “terrorist attack.”

Authorities said police killed four gunmen in Makhachkala and two in Derbent.

Melikov said that among the dead, in addition to the police officers, were several civilians, including an Orthodox priest who had worked in Derbent for more than 40 years.

“Tonight, in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown (attackers) made attempts to destabilize the situation in society,” Melikov wrote in Telegram.

“We know who is behind these terrorist attacks and what objective they pursue,” he added later, without specifying, but referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

“We must understand that war also comes to our homes. We feel it, but today we face it,” he said.

Melikov said that the “active phase” of operations in Derbent and Makhachkala had ended and that “six bandits had been liquidated.”

The authorities will try to find “all members of these sleeper cells who prepared (the attacks) and who were prepared, including abroad”, he added.

He also said that from June 24 to 26, days of mourning were declared in Dagestan, with flags lowered to half-mast and all entertainment events cancelled.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened criminal investigations into “acts of terror” in Dagestan. There was, however, no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Russian state media quoted law enforcement authorities as saying that among the attackers were two sons of the head of Dagestan’s central Sergokala district who were detained.

In Derbent, authorities reportedly said that both the synagogue and the church were set on fire.

The incident comes three months after 145 people were killed in an attack claimed by Islamic State at a concert hall near Moscow, the worst terrorist attack in Russia in years.