"This evening, armed attacks were carried out against two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a traffic police post in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala. As a result of the terrorist attacks, according to preliminary information, a priest of a Russian Orthodox Church and police officers were killed. Law enforcement agencies are taking all necessary measures to search for and apprehend the criminals," the committee said.
Later in the day, the chair of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia's Public Council, Boruch Gorin, told Sputnik that another synagogue, located in Makhachkala, had also been set on fire by the attackers.
The Russian Jewish Congress confirmed this information.
"The attack on the synagogue in Derbent took place at about 5:50 p.m. [14:50 GMT], 40 minutes before the evening prayer. After the events at the airport in Makhachkala in late October last year, a police car has constantly been on duty at the synagogue during prayer events, and private security guards have been inside. The police officers and security guards took the brunt of the attack. They resisted the attackers and were killed. Then the terrorists set the building on fire, using Molotov cocktails. The scale of the damage will be assessed after the fire is put out. A similar attack was carried out on the synagogue in Makhachkala," the congress told Sputnik.
In October 2023, a crowd of people stormed a ramp at the Makhachkala Airport after the landing of a passenger plane from Tel Aviv. The rioters were allegedly looking for Israeli citizens on board the aircraft amid the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Police officers arrived at the scene to stop the protesters. As a result of the clashes, over 20 people were injured and over 10 people with minor injuries sought outpatient medical care, the Russian Health Ministry said.