An Orthodox priest and police officers were killed, dozens were injured, and the synagogue was on fire… At least ten people lost their lives on Sunday evening in simultaneous attacks on several religious buildings and a police station in Makhachkala and Derbent, two cities in the Russian republic. Dagestan, reports a Russian independent site Jellyfish.
In Derbent, armed attackers opened fire on an Orthodox church. Father Nikolaj, a 66-year-old priest, was attacked with a knife according to local authorities, reports the Moscow Times. “Videos posted on social media and broadcast on Russian television also show the sky above Derbent – home to an ancient Jewish community in this Muslim-majority region – filled with smoke and flames after a synagogue fire,” reports Al Jazeera, who notes that these attacks on religious buildings took place “in the time of the Spirits of the Orthodox Church”.
Representatives of the Dagestani Jewish community said another synagogue in Makhachkala was also targeted.
A video taken at night, shared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan, shows at least a dozen policemen stationed outside the gates of a religious building in the northwest of the city. According to CNN, who geolocated the video, it would be Svyato-Uspenskiy Sobor, the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Makhachkala. In other pictures that appear to have been taken in the same city, “Armed persons dressed in black shoot at police vehicles”, reports Jellyfish.
“Frequently targeted religious sites”
This was said by the leader of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, on Sunday evening “unknown people (tried) to destabilize society”. He added yes “active phase” operations in Derbent and Makhachkala “he was finished” and “six bandits eliminated”.
“We know who is behind these terrorist attacks and what goal they want,” he also stated, without specifying who is in the visa, but alluding to the war in Ukraine. In March, after the attack on Crocus City Hall, a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow, the authorities already “pointed the finger at Ukraine and the West, even though the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack”, notice it BBC.
On Sunday, the Russian Investigative Committee announced that it had launched a criminal investigation “terrorist acts”without providing additional details.
“Christian and Jewish religious sites in Dagestan are often targeted by extremists,” remind him The Washington Post. In 2018, an armed man opened fire on worshipers during a pre-Lent celebration in Kizliar and killed five women. On October 29, a mob stormed Makhachkala Airport in response to anti-Semitic calls on social media urging the population to block a passenger plane arriving from Israel. More than 20 people were injured.
“Sunday’s attacks raise concerns about the vulnerability of Russia’s internal security”, a note from my side The Wall Street Journal. “Critical voices accuse the authorities of diverting resources” should ensure the protection of the population in order to finance “repression of political dissent to the detriment of local terrorist threats”.