The death toll in the Russian terror incident has risen to 16, after gunmen targeted religious facilities in southern Russia on Sunday, June 23.
The attacks took place in many sites across Dagestan, Russia’s predominantly Muslim territory bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan.
A synagogue in Makhachkala, the regional capital, was set on fire, while another gang of attackers set fire to a second synagogue in Derbent, Russia’s southernmost city, located approximately 80 miles farther south.
The gunmen also stormed an Orthodox church, apparently slitting the neck of Father Nikolai Kotelnikov, 66, who had served in Derbent for almost 40 years, resulting in his death.
Authorities said a counter-terrorist operation was ongoing in the region, although it was unclear how many terrorists were involved in the attacks.
The Anti-Terrorist Committee stated that five shooters were ‘eliminated’. The governor stated that six ‘bandits’ had been ‘liquidated’.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, and the police opened a criminal inquiry on the accusation of terrorist acts.
However, Russian state news agency Tass reported that Magomed Omarov, the head of Dagestan’s Sergokalinsky district, was arrested when investigators discovered his son had participated in the attacks.
The synagogue was attacked and set on fire by gunmen in the city and is a UNESCO World Heritage property.
Boruch Gorin, chairman of the public council of Russia’s Federation of Jewish Communities, said late last night that ‘it has not been possible to extinguish the fire’ in the synagogue.
He added: ‘The synagogue in Makhachkala has also been set on fire and burnt down.’
Gorin wrote that in Derbent, firefighters were told to abandon the blazing synagogue because ‘terrorists remained inside’.
Sergei Melikov, the regional governor of Dagestan, stated in a video statement this morning that law enforcement and municipal authorities had taken control of the situation.
He promised that the probe would continue until ‘all the sleeping cells’ of the extremists were discovered.
He stated, without presenting evidence, that the strikes could have been planned from abroad and mentioned what the Kremlin refers to as ‘the special military operation’ in Ukraine in an apparent attempt to link the attacks.
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.”
The attacks on Dagestan’s sacred monuments come just months after a horrific terrorist strike in Moscow that resulted in the death of nearly 145 people.
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