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Five people responsible for multiple gun attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia’s Dagestan region have been “eliminated”, authorities said, as the region began three days of mourning.
A criminal investigation under counter-terrorism laws has been launched after gunmen killed 19 people in coordinated attacks in two cities in the troubled North Caucasus region.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said 15 law enforcement officers and four civilians, including a Russian Orthodox priest, were killed in attacks on religious buildings in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala on Sunday night. Two Orthodox churches, two synagogues and a police checkpoint were attacked.
Gunmen with automatic weapons stormed an Orthodox church and synagogue in the ancient city of Derbent, set fire to an icon in the church and killed 66-year-old Orthodox priest Nikolai Kotelnikov, Reuters reported.
The Russian Orthodox Church said Kotelnikov was “brutally murdered” in the attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his “deepest condolences” to those who lost loved ones in Dagestan and Crimea, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Separately, Russia accused the US of being a Ukrainian attack on the annexed Crimea he said four people were killed and 151 injured.
The Kremlin’s statement came hours after Russia’s allies China and Azerbaijan, which borders Dagestan, offered their condolences.
The commission said five people involved in the crime had been “eliminated” and that their identities had been established. Others involved in the attacks were also identified, the commission said, without disclosing how many attackers it believed were responsible for the shooting.
In a separate statement, Russia’s counter-terrorism committee, which is responsible for thwarting terror attacks, said two “bandits” had been “neutralized” in Derbent and three in Makhachkala. The Russian government agency released pictures of men in military uniforms emblazoned with “FSB” – the initials of Russia’s security service – standing in dark corridors and stairwells brandishing weapons, as well as a gun on a blood-stained floor.
In a statement on Monday morning, the counter-terrorism commission said a special counter-terrorism operation had ended.
Independent media have not been able to confirm how many people were killed in the attacks.
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The attack came three months after 145 people were killed in attack claimed by the Islamic State on a concert hall outside Moscow. The attack on Crocus City Hall was Russia’s worst such attack in years and raised concerns that the war on Ukraine and a crackdown on domestic dissent had distracted authorities from Islamist terror threats.
Putin initially accused Ukraine of being involved in planning the concert hall attack, although there is no evidence that Kiev was responsible, while an IS affiliate has repeatedly claimed responsibility.
Dagestan also reported an increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents: last year, a mob in a predominantly Muslim region storm the airport in Makhachkala looking for Jewish passengers arriving from Israel.
So far, no one has immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks.
“We understand who is behind the organization of the terrorist attacks and what their goal was,” said Dagestan Governor Sergey Melikov, without elaborating. The search for the gunmen will continue until all are identified, he said.
A three-day national mourning has been declared, with flags at half-mast and the cancellation of all entertainment events.
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