At least 19 people are dead in Dagestan, Russia, including 15 police officers and four civilians, after gunmen attacked police stations, churches, and a synagogue with rifles and Molotov cocktails Sunday evening. The five gunmen were eventually killed as well.
Those killed in the attack, which occurred on the Orthodox Christian festival of Pentecost, included Orthodox priest Father Nikolai Kotelnikov. The assailants targeted the cities of Makhachkala and Derbent, the latter of which is an ancient Jewish city.26 people are injured and 20 dead in Dagestan, Russia, including 15 police officers and five civilians, after gunmen attacked police stations, churches, and a synagogue with rifles and Molotov cocktails Sunday evening. The five gunmen were eventually killed as well.
As Moscow puts all its resources toward invading Ukraine, it's left its domestic security at risk. While the Kremlin may try and blame this attack on Ukraine, all it's really doing is exposing its fracturing society and the limits to its governing power. Russia should prioritize the safety of its people instead of invading foreign countries.
While the perpetrators of this attack are not yet known, it wouldn't be surprising if US and NATO-backed forces were behind it. Dating back to the Chechen wars, agencies like the CIA have sought to divide the Muslim and non-Muslim sections of Russia to destabilize the country as a whole This so-called terror attack could certainly be a revival of that decades-old tactic.