'Day of tragedy': Russia's Dagestan mourns synagogue, church attack victims

Russia's Dagestan began three days of mourning after gunmen killed multiple police officers, an Orthodox priest and several others in attacks on synagogues and churches across two cities in the North Caucasus region.

"This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the whole country," Sergei Melikov, governor of the Dagestan region, said in a video published early on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.

It was not clear how many people died in total in the simultaneous attacks across the cities of Makhachkala and Derbent.

Melikov said several civilians were also among the dead, including an Orthodox priest who worked in Derbent for more than 40 years. The priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov, was "brutally murdered", a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church said on Telegram.

"We understand who is behind the organisation of the terrorist attacks and what goal they pursued," Melikov said, without disclosing further details. The search for the gunmen will continue until all of them are identified, he added.

Six of the gunmen were shot and killed as the incidents unfolded, Melikov said. Russian state news agencies cited the National Anti-Terrorist Committee as saying five of the gunmen had been killed.

June 24-26 have been declared days of mourning in Dagestan, Melikov said, with flags lowered to half-mast and all entertainment events cancelled.

'Synagogue on fire'

Dagestan's RGVK broadcaster named the priest as Nikolai Kotelnikov, saying he had served more than 40 years in Derbent.

Sunday is a religious holiday, Pentecost Sunday, in the Russian Orthodox Church.

"The synagogue in Derbent is on fire," the chairman of the public council of Russia's Federation of Jewish Communities, Boruch Gorin, wrote on Telegram.

"It has not been possible to extinguish the fire. Two are killed: a policeman and a security guard."

"The synagogue in Makhachkala has also been set on fire and burnt down," he said, adding that in Derbent, firefighters had been told to leave the burning synagogue over the risk that "terrorists remained inside".

"There is shooting in the streets around the synagogue,"he said.

Melikov, wrote on Telegram: "This evening in Derbent and Makhachkala unknown (attackers) made attempts to destabilise the situation in society.

"They were confronted by Dagestani police officers."

State news agency TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying the "gunmen who carried out attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent are supporters of an international terrorist organisation", without naming it.

The attacks come three months after some 133 people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a rock concert in the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow. Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), based in Afghanistan, said it was behind that attack, although Moscow claimed without evidence that Ukraine had a role.

In October last year, hundreds of people stormed the airport in Makhachkala over a flight from Israel landing there.

At least 60 people were arrested after they broke through security to the runway and inundated the area around the aircraft shouting anti-Jewish slogans.