Terror attack on synagogue, churches in Russia leaves multiple dead

Gruesome details have emerged about how a priest was killed during simultaneous attacks on places of worship in Russia that left eight police officers dead. Warning: Graphic

The death toll of a series of ‘terror attacks’ on a synagogue and two Orthodox churches in Russia has climbed.

At least eight police and national guard officers and a priest were killed in co-ordinated attacks in Dagestan’s largest city of Makhachkala and in the coastal city of Derbent.

The toll rose was revised up from six after officials confirmed the death of a local police chief and Russia’s National Guard said one of its officers had been killed.

Another 12 police officers were wounded in the incident.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened criminal probes over “acts of terror” in Dagestan, a largely Muslim region of Russia neighbouring Chechnya.

A priest is also said to be among the dead following the co-ordinated attacks. Picture: X

Smoke rises from a building as it comes under attack. Picture: X

Russian officials said police had killed four gunmen in Makhachkala and two in Derbent.

“This evening in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala armed attacks were carried out on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint,” the National Anti-terrorism Committee said 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.”

The committee later said the “active” phase of the operation against attackers in Derbent had ended.

Men armed with guns during the attack. Picture: X

A dozen police officers were also injured. Picture: X

The Russian Orthodox Church said its archpriest Nikolai Kotelnikov was “brutally killed” in Derbent.

Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission Chairman Shamil Khadulaev gave graphic details of the priest’s death.

“According to the information I received, Father Nikolay was killed in the church in Derbent, they slit his throat. He was 66-years-old and very ill,” Mr Khadulaev said.

He also said a security guard at the church armed with only a pistol was shot.

Additional priests locked themselves in the church while they waited for help, Mr Khadulaev said.

The aftermath of an "act of terror" shooting in Russia that left multiple people dead. Picture: X

Sunday is a religious holiday, Pentecost Sunday, in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Dagestan’s interior ministry said 19 people took shelter inside a church in Makhachkala and were later led out to safety.

Gunmen also attacked synagogues in both cities.

“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.

Gunmen attacked a synagogue and two Orthodox churches in the region of Dagestan. Picture: AFP

“The synagogue in Makhachkala has also been set on fire and burnt down,” he said.

The rabbi of Makhachkala, Rami Davidov, later told RIA Novosti that no one was killed or injured there.

The Russian Jewish Congress said on its website the Derbent synagogue was attacked about 40 minutes before evening prayers.

Gunmen fired at police and security guards and threw in molotov cocktails, it said, adding that the attack in Makhachkala was similar.

An area sealed off by police following deadly attacks on churches and a synagogue in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan. Picture: AFP

Russia’s FSB security service in April said it had arrested four people in Dagestan on suspicion of plotting the deadly attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert venue in March, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Militants from Dagestan are known to have travelled to join IS in Syria, and in 2015, the group declared it had established a “franchise” in the North Caucasus.

Dagestan lies east of Chechnya, where Russian authorities battled separatists in two brutal wars, first in 1994-1996 and then in 1999-2000.

Since the defeat of Chechen insurgents, Russian authorities have been locked in a simmering conflict with Islamist militants from across the North Caucasus that has killed scores of civilians and police.