Over 12 Dead in Synagogue, Church Attacks in Russia's Dagestan

Authorities have recorded the death of at least 15 police and National Guard officers, several civilians and an Orthodox priest as gunmen attacked churches, a synagogue and a police post in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

At least 12 people were injured in the attacks that occurred on Sunday, during the Pentecost festival for the Russian Orthodox Church, in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala.

In Makhachkala, the capital and largest city of Dagestan, approximately 125 km (78 miles) away, places of worship and a police post were also targeted.

Russia’s investigative committee said it had opened criminal investigations over “acts of terror” in Dagestan, which neighbours Chechnya and is one of the poorest areas of Russia.

“This evening in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala armed attacks were carried out on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint,” the National Anti-terrorism Committee said in a statement to the RIA Novosti news agency.

“As a result of the terrorist attacks, according to preliminary information, a priest from the Russian Orthodox Church and police officers were killed.”

The Russian Orthodox Church said its archpriest Nikolai Kotelnikov had been “brutally killed” in Derbent.

Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic and one of Russia's poorest regions, experienced a series of attacks between 2007 and 2017 by a jihadist group initially known as the Caucasus Emirate and later the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus. This group also targeted the neighboring Russian republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria.

See also: Mark Rutte Poised to Become NATO Chief as Rival Withdraws