In Derbent, Russian Dagestan, there was an attack on a synagogue, an Orthodox church and a police station. Six police officers were killed and 12 were injured by armed attackers, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Two attackers were shot, reports the Baza channel on Telegram.
“Unidentified attackers opened fire with automatic weapons in the synagogue and the Orthodox church in Derbent,” the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement quoted by Reuters. The church where the shooting took place is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The ministry said that the perpetrators set fire to both temples and then fled the scene of the attack in a car. Videos are published on social media showing clouds of smoke above the synagogue and shots heard in the background.
Another shooting took place at a police station in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, located about 125 kilometers north of Derbent, Reuters reports, citing the Russian authorities.
The Russian Interior Ministry later reported that two of the attackers had been shot. It was not specified whether these were all the people involved in the attack. The ministry reported that a total of six police officers were killed and 12 were injured in Sunday's shootings. The exact number of victims is unknown. The Russian Investigative Committee, quoted by dpa, said that according to preliminary findings, an Orthodox priest was among the dead; according to the Russian daily Kommersant, his throat was cut.
The Investigative Committee initiated criminal proceedings in connection with the terrorist attacks. The governor of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, called the attacks “an attempt to destabilize the social situation.”
Dagestan is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation, inhabited mostly by Muslims. It is located in the southwestern part of Russia, on the border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Reuters, Nexta TV, Clash Report
Main photo source: Reuters