Christian leader decries ‘diabolic’ attacks on Russian churches and synagogues

A wave of apparently coordinated violence has shocked the Muslim-majority republic of Dagestan on Sunday

Russians of Jewish and Orthodox Christian faith are united in mourning for the people killed on Sunday in the southern republic of Dagestan, Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has said. The militants who targeted the places of worship obviously meant to incite sectarian hatred and had“diabolic” intent, he added.

“Everything possible must be done to prevent even the possibility of radicalization of religious life, to exclude any forms of extremism and ethnic enmity,” the Patriarch said.

The spree of violence took place in the regional capital Makhachkala and the city of Derbent, 120 km to the south on the coast of the Caspian Sea. In each city, a synagogue and an Orthodox church were targeted, presumably in coordinated strikes. In another assault, a police station came under gunfire.

The Jewish community in Dagestan, a Muslim-majority region, has been concerned for its safety since a high-profile incident last November. A crowd, agitated through social media, broke into Makhachkala airport, expecting a flight from Tel Aviv arrive. The mob had been incited by the Israeli military operation in Gaza and the toll it was taking on Palestinians.

Read more

Security has been beefed up at synagogues since then, according to The Russian Jewish Congress. A police car was stationed outside the synagogue in Derbent, and several security guards were inside when the attackers struck.

A statement by the organization confirmed that “the officers and the guards faced the main strike of the assailants and were killed resisting them.” 

The gunmen used firebombs to set the building ablaze. The attack on the synagogue in Makhachkala followed the same pattern.

Militants targeting the Orthodox Christian church in Derbent murdered the resident priest, Nikolay Kotelnikov.

Both Patriarch Kirill and the Russian Jewish Congress expressed condolences to all affected by the tragedy. Similarly, the Muftiat of Dagestan, the regional Muslim body for religious affairs, called the attacks “monstrous in their cruelty”.

Read more

Dagestan police have lost multiple officers, though the exact circumstances of the attacks are yet to be reported by officials. By evening, the response in Derbent was declared over by the National Antiterrorism Committee, after two militants were killed. In Makhachkala, four attackers were reportedly killed in firefights with the police.

There were also initial claims that an Orthodox church in Makhachkala was seized by the attackers, with multiple parishioners held hostage, but later reports confirmed that people had barricaded themselves in after hearing gunshots nearby.