On Sunday, gunmen attacked two synagogues and two Orthodox churches in the Dagestan region of Russia’s North Caucasus.
According to the Telegram page of the Russian Investigative Committee, the investigation was opened in response to the “armed assaults in Derbent & Makhachkala” that resulted in the deaths and injuries of police officers and civilians.
Shamil Khadulaev is the chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan. He said that a 66-year-old priest had his throat slashed in an Orthodox Church, according to the state-sponsored TASS.
According to Reuters, the Russian Interior Ministry also confirmed that at least two other police officers had been killed. At least six people have been injured.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement confirming “a combined attack in two Dagestan cities, Makhachkala, and Derbent.”
The synagogue at Derbent has been set ablaze and destroyed. Local guards were murdered. “The synagogue was attacked in Makhachkala by gunfire. There are no other details,” said the statement. “At the same time, churches in Makhachkala were attacked and a priest in Derbent was murdered.”
It added: “As far is known, no one was worshiping in the synagogues during the attack. There are no reported casualties among the Jewish Community.” The Israeli Embassy in Moscow is in touch with the Jewish community leaders in the area.
Online videos show buildings on fire, and gunmen in a shootout with police.
Reuters cited unspecified reports that one officer was shot and killed in a synagogue located in Derbent in North Caucasus, the home of an ancient Jewish community.
In the same town, a UNESCO-listed heritage site, gunfire was reported to have been exchanged at an Orthodox Church. Reuters reported that another shootout occurred at a Makhachkala police station, located about 75 miles north of the Caspian Sea along the coast, the largest city in Dagestan (a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia).
According to Russian news agency RIA, Sergei Melikov – Vladimir Putin’s newly appointed Dagestan head – said that “unknown individuals” were attempting to “destabilize social situations” in Derbent, Makhachkala, and Derbent.
The attacks could not be immediately linked to any specific group.
The rise of Islamic militants in the area, specifically ISIS-K, is a concern.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, in a warning earlier this month, warned of an increased terror threat after the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan. He also cited the Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, warning of the “potential for a coordinated assault here in the Homeland, similar to the ISIS K attack that we witnessed at the Russian concert in March.”
The terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert venue in Moscow, which took place on March 22nd, left more than 140 dead and 180 injured. Russian media identified the gunmen as Tajikistanis. The terrorists opened fire indiscriminately on the 6,200 seats after walking into the venue with automatic weapons.
Images of the scene revealed a massive fire at the concert venue.
The reports of Russian attacks on Sunday come the day after U.S. second man Douglas Emhoff and Pennsylvania Governor. Josh Shapiro was among the dignitaries who marked the groundbreaking of the new structure on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue site. On the morning of October 27, 2018, 11 Jewish worshipers were killed in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. History.
Emhoff, who is the first Jewish spouse to an American president or vice president, stated on Sunday that his goal was to “send out a message to all the Jews in Pittsburgh, to America, and the rest of the world” about the dangers of antisemitism.
