A soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when gunmen attacked a group near a rail terminal in the town of Khasavyurt, west of Daghestan's capital Makhachkala, at midnight local time, police said.
"Unknown gunmen, most likely in a Zhiguli car without a license plate, fired automatic weapons at a group of soldiers, who were due to board a troop train from Chechnya," police said. "One soldier, 21, was killed, another, 22, was taken to a local hospital with serious wounds."
The attackers have not been traced, he said.
In Kabardino-Balkaria, a police officer was injured when an unknown attacker fired two shots at the officer as he entered his apartment block after work.
The police officer returned fire, but the attacker fled the scene. He was hospitalized with a wrist injury.
Two wars in Chechnya since 1994 have destabilized the North Caucasus region, with violence spilling over into neighboring republics.