Death toll in Russian terror assault climbs to 16
At least 15 people officers as well as several civilians and a priest were shot dead as a horde of gunmen stormed religious sites in southern Russia yesterday.
Horrific footage showed the militants stalking through the streets brandishing automatic rifles before unleashing a torrent of bullets at onlookers and police officers.
The attacks unfolded in several locations in the tinderbox region of Dagestan, a largely Muslim region of Russia that borders Georgia and Azerbaijan.
A synagogue in regional capital Makhachkala was set alight, with smoke seen pouring from the building, while another was set on fire in Derbent, the southernmost city in Russia which lies roughly 80 miles further south.
A priest, named locally as 66-year-old Father Nikolai Kotelnikov who served more than 40 years in Derbent, reportedly had this throat slit by the gunmen.
Authorities announced a counter-terrorist operation was underway in the region, although there was confusion about how many militants were involved in the attacks.
The Anti-Terrorist Committee said five gunmen were ‘eliminated’. The governor said six ‘bandits’ had been ‘liquidated’.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks as the authorities launched a criminal investigation on the charge of a terrorist act.
But Russian state news agency Tass cited law enforcement sources as saying a Dagestani official was detained over his son’s involvement in the attacks.
The attackers fired at the religious sites, as well as a police station, across the tinderbox region of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya
Two synagogues and an Orthodox church across southern Russia were attacked by militant gunmen
Civilians flee the scene of the shootings
It is not currently know how many people were involved in the shootings, nor is it known who is behind them
At least 15 people officers were killed in the attacks
Shocking clips circulating on the Telegram messaging app show how hundreds of civilians desperately fled the scene of the shootings in Derbent.
The synagogue attacked and set alight by the gunmen in the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the centrepiece of an ancient Jewish community.
The chairman of the public council of Russia’s Federation of Jewish Communities, Boruch Gorin wrote late last night that ‘it has not been possible to extinguish the fire’ at the synagogue.
He added: ‘The synagogue in Makhachkala has also been set on fire and burnt down.’
Gorin wrote that in Derbent, firefighters had been told to leave the burning synagogue because of the risk that ‘terrorists remained inside’.
In a video statement this morning, Dagestan regional governor Sergei Melikov said that the situation in the region was now under control of the law enforcement and local authorities.
He vowed that the investigation will continue until ‘all the sleeping cells’ of the militants are uncovered.
He claimed, without providing evidence, that the attacks might have been prepared from abroad and referenced what the Kremlin calls ‘the special military operation’ in Ukraine in an apparent attempt to link the attacks.
The attacks on the religious sites across Dagestan come just months after a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow
Russia’s Investigative Committee has already said it is probing them as ‘acts of terror.’
That update followed a message he shared last night in which he stated: ‘Tonight in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown individuals attempted to destabilise the public situation.
‘Dagestan police officers stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are casualties among them.’
Dagestan has seen a series of anti-Semitic events in the past year, most notably when a mob stormed the airport in Makhachkala to search for Jewish passengers from Israel in the weeks following Hamas’ October 7 attacks on the Nova music festival in Re’im and several kibbutzim across the border from Gaza.
The attacks on the religious sites across Dagestan come just months after a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow took the lives of nearly 145 people.
Islamic State Khorasan Provice (ISIS-K), a particularly brutal sect of ISIS, slaughtered innocent concertgoers who went to see the Russian band Picnic at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in March this year.
After shooting up the venue and setting it alight, 145 people died while 551 people were injured by gunfire or burns.
At that time, Russian officials also sought to link Ukraine to the attack without providing any evidence. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.
