Factbox – What is known about the attacks in Russian Dagestan?

MOSCOW (Reuters) – An Orthodox priest and several police officers were killed in several attacks in the Russian region of Dagestan on Sunday.

What do we know?

The attacks

– Just before 6 p.m. local time (15:00 GMT) on Sunday, gunmen with automatic weapons attacked an Orthodox church and a synagogue in Derbent, home to an ancient Jewish community and a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Interior Ministry said.

– Russian media published footage of the burning synagogue. The Izvestia newspaper reported that two armed men entered the Orthodox church, attempted to set fire to the church’s main sanctuary, and then opened fire.

– At the same time, armed men also attacked a traffic police post in the local capital Makhachkala, about 125 kilometers north of Derbent, the ministry said.

– There were exchanges of gunfire between security forces and attackers. In Makhachkala, heavy gunfire broke out around the Assumption Cathedral and gunfire was reported on the beach. Automatic rifle fire was heard repeatedly in both cities.

– An anti-terrorism order was imposed in the region overnight, giving authorities greater powers to restrict people’s movement and communication, but it was lifted early Monday.

THE VICTIMS

Sergei Melikov, the head of the Dagestan region, said more than 15 police officers and several civilians were killed, including an Orthodox priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov, who had worked in the church in Derbent for more than 40 years.

According to Izvestia, he was killed in front of his family. He is the only confirmed victim of the attacks.

Moscow Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, called for resistance to any attempts to radicalize the religion.

“I am convinced that everything possible must be done to exclude attempts to radicalize religious life and to prevent any manifestations of extremism and ethnic hostility in any form,” Kirill said.

“The present and future of our country depends to a large extent on it,” he said.

The attackers

Six attackers were killed, said Melikov. Russian Telegram channels showed young men lying in pools of blood on the street. According to the posters of the pictures, they were the attackers.

Russia’s state media quoted law enforcement officials as saying that two sons of the head of the Sergokala district in central Dagestan were among the attackers and that they had been detained by investigators. Another attacker was his nephew.

There was no immediate announcement of responsibility.

“We know who is behind the organization of the terrorist attacks and what goal they were pursuing,” Melikov said, adding that foreign forces were involved in preparing the attack. “This is an attempt to split our unity.”

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Christopher Cushing)