At least 15 officers, as well as several civilians and a priest, were massacred by a horde of gunmen as they stormed religious sites in southern Russia yesterday in a shocking terror attack.
Gruesome footage showed the militants walking through the streets brandishing automatic rifles before unleashing a barrage of bullets on spectators and police.
The attacks took place in several locations in the tinderbox region of Dagestan, a largely Muslim region in Russia bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan.
A synagogue in the regional capital Makhachkala was set on fire as smoke poured from the building, while another group of attackers set fire to a second synagogue in Derbent, Russia’s southernmost city, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) further south.
There, the gunmen also attacked an Orthodox church, where they reportedly slit the throat of a priest, named locally as 66-year-old Father Nikolai Kotelnikov, who served in Derbent for more than 40 years.
Dagestan’s regional governor said this morning that six “bandits” had been “eliminated” as footage showed members of Russia’s FSB security service standing over bloodied corpses at the scene of the shooting.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but there are indications that the shooting was an Islamist attack.
Russia’s state news agency Tass revealed that Magomed Omarov, the head of Dagestan’s Sergokalinsky district, was arrested after officers learned that two of his sons had taken part in the shootings.
One of his sons reportedly shared a video on messaging app Telegram declaring “Allahu Akhbar” and saying he was “killing infidels.”
The attackers fired at religious sites and a police station in Dagestan’s tinderbox region, which borders Chechnya.
Two synagogues and an Orthodox church in southern Russia were attacked by militant gunmen
Father Nikolai Kotelnikov, who served in Derbent for more than forty years, is said to have had his throat slit by the attackers
Citizens flee the scene of the shooting
It is not known at this time how many people were involved in the shooting, nor is it known who is behind it
At least fifteen officers were killed in the attacks
After the attacks, a police-issued pistol is seen on a blood-stained sidewalk in Dagestan
A member of Russia’s FSB domestic security service stands over a bloodied body. It is unclear whether the body belongs to a terrorist or a victim
Armed security is present at the scene of the shooting
Magomed Omarov, 64, secretary of Putin’s United Russia party in Dagestan and district head, was arrested after two of his sons allegedly took part in the attacks.
Shocking clips circulating on messaging app Telegram showed hundreds of civilians desperately fleeing the scene of the shooting in Derbent, where attacks knocked out power in the city center yesterday.
The synagogue that was attacked and set on fire by the gunmen in the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the center of an ancient Jewish community.
The chairman of the Public Council of the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities, Boruch Gorin, wrote late last night that “it has not been possible to extinguish the fire in the synagogue.”
He added: “The synagogue in Makhachkala was also set on fire and burned down.”
Gorin wrote that firefighters in Derbent had been ordered to leave the burning synagogue due to the risk of “terrorists remaining inside.”
In a video statement, Dagestan Regional Governor Sergei Melikov said the situation in the region is now under the control of law enforcement agencies and local authorities.
He vowed that investigations will continue until “all dormant cells” of the militants are exposed.
He claimed, without providing evidence, that the attacks may have been planned from abroad and referred to what the Kremlin calls “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, unknown persons in Derbent and Makhachkala attempted to destabilize the public situation.
“Dagestan’s police officers stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are victims among them.”
Meanwhile, authorities are now investigating Dagestan official Omarov, whose sons Osman, 30, and Adil, 37, were among the gunmen who massacred innocent civilians and attacked places of worship.
He has also been expelled from Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party while the investigation continues.
Before he was shot, Osman posted a chilling video of the synagogue in Makhachkala on fire, declaring: “Behold, inshallah…. Here their synagogue is on fire.
‘Inshallah, praise be to Allah, let these disbelievers… be humiliated. We will kill them in this way, humiliate them, and the word of Allah will be exalted.
‘Inshallah, Allahu Akbar!’
One of the gunmen, reportedly the son of a Dagestani politician, posted a chilling video of the synagogue in Makhachkala on fire, declaring: “Behold, inshallah… Here their synagogue is on fire.”
Members of Russia’s domestic security service FSB were spotted last night during the anti-terrorist operation in Dagestan
Archpriest Nikolai Kotelnikov, 66, was killed during an attack in Derbent, Dagestan.
The attacks on Dagestan’s religious sites come just months after a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow
Russia’s Investigative Committee is investigating the shooting as ‘acts of terrorism’
High-profile figures from Russia have taken to social media to express their condolences and condemn the violence.
MMA fighter and former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of Dagestan’s most celebrated individuals worldwide, wrote: “My condolences to all the relatives and friends of the victims.
‘May Allah save us all from such situations and grant us a peaceful heaven above our heads.
‘Take care of yourself and your loved ones, and let everyone take a look at who they and their children hang out with.
“Educating souls is more important than educating bodies.”
Dagestan has seen a series of anti-Semitic events in the past year, most notably when a mob stormed Makhachkala airport looking for Jewish passengers from Israel in the weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on the Nova music festival in Re’im. and several kibbutzim across the Gaza border.
The attacks on Dagestan’s religious sites come just months after a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow killed nearly 145 people.
Islamic State Khorasan Provice (ISIS-K), a particularly ruthless sect of ISIS, massacred innocent concertgoers attending the Russian band Picnic at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in March this year.
After the hall was shot at and set on fire, 145 people died, while 551 people were injured from gunfire or burns.
At the time, Russian officials also tried to implicate Ukraine in the attack, without providing any evidence. Kiev has vehemently denied any involvement.