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The Telegraph
The Telegraph
23 Jun 2024
Our Foreign Staff


Gunmen kill six police officers and priest as synagogues set on fire in Russia’s Caucasus region

Gunmen on Sunday attacked a synagogue and churches, killing a priest and six police officers in Russia’s Caucasus region of Dagestan, the national counter-terrorism agency and police said.

The attacks took place in Dagestan’s largest city of Makhachkala and in the coastal city of Derbent.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened criminal probes over “acts of terror”.

Dagestan is a largely Muslim region of Russia bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan.

“This evening in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala armed attacks were carried out on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police check-point,” said the National Antiterrorism Committee in a statement to 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.”

A building was seen burning in Derbent as officials said synagogues were set on fire
A building was seen burning in Derbent as officials said synagogues were set on fire Credit: OBTAINED BY REUTERS/REUTERS

In all, six police officers had been killed and another 12 wounded in the attacks, the spokeswoman for Dagestan’s interior ministry, Gayana Gariyeva, told RIA Novosti.

A 66-year-old priest was killed in Derbent, the press secretary of Dagestan’s interior ministry, Gariyeva told the agency.

“The synagogue in Derbent is on fire,” the chairman of the public council of Russia’s Federation of Jewish Communities, Boruch Gorin wrote on Telegram.

He added: “The synagogue in Makhachkala has also been set on fire and burnt down. During the attack on the Orthodox church in Derbent, the priest’s throat was cut.”

The leader of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, wrote on Telegram: “This evening in Derbent and Makhachkala unknown (attackers) made attempts to destabilise the situation in society.

“They were confronted by Dagestani police officers.”

This story is being updated