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Gunmen opened fire in two towns in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan, targeting a synagogue, two Orthodox churches and a police post and killing at least six police officers and a priest, officials said.
In the city of Derbent, gunmen attacked a synagogue, home to an ancient Jewish community in a predominantly Muslim region. Russian state media TASS reported that the attackers also fired at two nearby Orthodox churches, killing a policeman and a priest.
Footage posted on social media by Derbent shows a group of gunmen engaged in a heavy firefight with police.
Officials said the synagogue in Derbent had been set on fire, and a video from the scene emerged showing flames coming from the UNESCO-listed building.
In a separate shooting that occurred simultaneously, a group opened fire on police in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, located about 75 miles north along the Caspian Sea coast. According to local authorities, at least one policeman was killed and six others were injured.
A clip released by Russian media from Makhachkala shows scenes of gunfire and a burnt police car.
The Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement that six police officers were killed in the two shootings and 12 were wounded.
Officials in Dagestan appeared to confirm that the shootings were linked.
“Tonight in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown persons tried to destabilize the public situation. Dagestan policemen stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are casualties among them,” Dagestan Governor Sergey Melikov said on Telegram.
Russia’s Investigative Committee described the shooting as a terrorist attack.
The shooters’ motive is unclear. Russian media reported that two were killed by police.
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Russia has recently suffered a series of Islamist terror attacks, raising questions about whether its vast security agencies have been distracted by the invasion of Ukraine and the domestic crackdown on anti-war dissent.
In March, the Afghan branch of Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, claimed responsibility for mass shooting in a Moscow concert hall, the deadliest terrorist attack in years, leaving 139 dead.
Last week, Russian special forces freed two guards and killed six IS-linked men who had taken them hostage at a detention center in the southern city of Rostov.
Dagestan also experienced a series of anti-Semitic incidents. Mostly last year a mob storms the airport in Makhachkala, looking for Jewish passengers arriving from Israel.
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