Priests and at least six police officers were reportedly killed in armed men attacking synagogue and church in Russia

In a coordinated series of attacks in Russia’s southernmost province of Dagestan, a synagogue, an Orthodox church and a police post were attacked by gunmen on Sunday evening. Local reports, citing the province’s Interior Ministry, said at least six police officers were killed and 12 others injured.

The attacks took place in Dagestan’s largest city, Makhachkala, and in the coastal city of Derbent.

A 66-year-old Russian Orthodox priest was also killed in the attacks, Dagestani Interior Ministry spokeswoman Gayana Gariyeva told RIA Novosti. Two of the gunmen were reportedly killed.

An anti-terrorist operation is currently underway in Makhachkala and Derbet while authorities search for the shooters, the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement.

“Unknown assailants fired automatic weapons at a synagogue and a church,” the region’s Interior Ministry reported to Reuters. “One policeman was killed and one injured.”

The Interior Ministry was also quoted as saying that a synagogue and an Orthodox church, both targets of the attacks, were set on fire, Reuters reported. The attackers are said to have fled in a car.

In Makhachkala, about 120 kilometers north on the Caspian Sea coast, a second policeman was killed in a shootout at a police station, local media reported.

Borush Gorin, chairman of the Public Council of the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities, wrote on Telegram that the synagogue in Makhachkala was also set on fire, AFP reported.

There were no immediate announcements about the attacks, but some politicians in Dagestan blamed Ukraine and NATO.

“There is no doubt that these terrorist attacks are somehow connected with the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries,” Dagestani MP Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev wrote on Telegram, according to the Associated Press.

Ukrainian authorities initially made no comment on the attacks.

“What happened looks like a vile provocation and an attempt to sow sectarian discord,” said President Ramzan Kadyrov of neighboring Chechnya, according to AP.

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan. Derbent is home to an ancient Jewish community in the South Caucasus and a UNESCO World Heritage site, Reuters reported.