Gunmen kill many in deadly religious centers and police post attack in Russia

An attack on Religious centres and a police station in the Dagestan region of Russia by unknown gunmen has left many civilians and military officers severely injured or dead.

The series of attacks happened on Sunday night when gunmen attacked a church and a synagogue in Derbent and Makhachkala, which is home to an ancient Jewish community.

Read also: G7 leaders agree to loan Ukraine $50bn from frozen Russian assets 

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee as of Monday the death toll from the attacks in the Russian region has risen to 19 people. At least 15 police officers died alongside several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, Al Jazeera reported.

At least 12 people were also injured in the attacks, which took place in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala on Sunday, the festival of Pentecost for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Places of worship were also attacked in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan and its largest city, which is some miles away from a police post which also came under attack.

The 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 Antiterrorism Committee said in a statement to the state-run 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’s authorities announced on Monday the start of three days of mourning.

Read also: FG refutes reports of Russian recruitment of African Students into Ukraine War

Flags will be flown at half-mast throughout the republic, RIA reported, while cultural institutions and television and radio companies have cancelled all entertainment events and programmes.

“This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the whole country,” regional governor Sergei Melikov said in a video published on the Telegram messaging app.

Dmitry Peskov Kremlin spokesman meanwhile dismissed the possibility of a wave of violence in the North Caucasus, as had plagued the region 20 years ago.

“Now there is a different Russia,” he asserted. “Society is consolidated and such terrorist manifestations are not supported by society in Russia or in Dagestan.”