At least seven dead in ‘combined’ attacks in Russian province

Attacks were reported on a church and synagogue in the city of Derbent and on a synagogue and police station in the city of Makhachkala. Regional authorities said 12 law enforcement officers were also injured, but it was not clear in which city. The two cities are about 120 km from each other.

Two “militants” were also killed following the attacks, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported this morning, citing the Dagestan Interior Ministry.

A priest was killed in the attack on the church in Derbent, the chairman of the Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission, Shamil Khadulaev, announced.

“According to the information I received, Father Nikolay was killed in the church in Derbent, his throat was cut. He was 66 years old and very sick,” Hadulaev said.

He also said that a church guard, armed only with a gun, was shot. Other priests have locked themselves in the church and are waiting for help, Hadulaev said.

Meanwhile, the synagogue in Derbent was set on fire with pictures showing large flames and plumes of smoke billowing heavily from a series of windows on at least one floor of the building.

In what appears to be a coordinated attack carried out around the same time as those in Derbent, a synagogue and a police post in Makhachkala were also shelled.

Israel’s foreign ministry described what it said was 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 attacked with gunfire, no further details,” the foreign ministry 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 casualties from the Jewish community,” the statement said.

The head of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, published a message on Telegram, saying that “unknown persons made attempts to destabilize the social situation. Dagestan policemen stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are victims among them.”

Melikov said that the identity of the attackers is being established, an operational headquarters has been formed and a counter-operation plan “Interception” is being worked on.

He urged the public to remain calm, saying: “Panic and fear is what they were counting on… They will not get this from Dagestanis!”

The Investigative Directorate of Russia’s Investigative Committee for the Republic of Dagestan said it had opened a terrorism investigation into the attacks under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

All the circumstances surrounding the incident and the persons involved in the terrorist attacks are being established, and their actions will be given a legal assessment,” the investigation directorate said in a statement.