A priest and six cops were killed and at least a dozen other people injured when gunmen opened fire at two synagogues, an Orthodox church and a police post Sunday in a suspected coordinated terror attack in Russia.
The assaults against the church and one of the synagogues occurred in the coastal city of Derbent, with another synagogue and the police post hit in Makhachkala, the largest city in the same Dagestan region, according to Russian media outlets.
Russia’s Interior Ministry said four gunmen had been killed in subsequent shootouts, with the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation confirming that a terrorism investigation has been opened over the attacks.
“All the circumstances of the incident and the persons involved in the terrorist attacks are being established, and their actions will be given a legal assessment,” the federation said in a statement.
Shamil Khadulaev, chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan, identified one of the victims at the Orthodox church as a 66-year-old priest.
“According to the information I received, Father Nikolay was killed in the church in Derbent, they slit his throat,” Khadulaev said. “He was 66 years old and very ill.”
Khadulaev said a church security guard who was armed with a pistol also was shot, with the remaining priests at the church locking themselves in a safe area until police arrived.
The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed that two synagogues were targeted in “a combined attack,” with the temple in Derbent set ablaze.
“The synagogue in Derbent was set on fire and burned to the ground. Local guards were killed,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The synagogue in Makhachkala was attacked by gunfire, there are no further details,” the agency added.
Officials said that fortunately, there was no one inside the temples at the time of the attack, and there are currently no known casualties from the Jewish community.
Initial reports said at least one officer was shot and killed when the fire began in Derbent, a town hailed as a UNESCO heritage site.
It remains unclear how many officers were killed and injured at each of the terror attacks.
There have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, but they come during fears of a second ISIS-K assault in Russia after the Crocus CIty concert hall shooting in March that left more than 140 people dead.
But some Russian officials have tried to place the blame on Ukraine and NATO.
“There is no doubt that these terrorist attacks are in one way or another connected with the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries,” Dagestan lawmaker Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev wrote on Telegram.
With Post wires
