Russia is back in the spotlight after Sunday’s terrorist attack that left at least 19 dead and 25 injured in simultaneous attacks in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, in the Dagestan region, targeting a synagogue, two Orthodox churches and a police officer. Department.

The attack is the second in the last three months. Last March, 130 people died in the armed attack on Crocus City Hall, which was claimed by the Islamic State. The targeting of Christian and Jewish places of worship has fueled fresh fears that Russia may be facing a new Islamist threat.

This “explosion” of violence observed in recent months comes as the simmering national tensions resurface and are exacerbated by both the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East.

What happened in Dagestan?

Nineteen people lost their lives, including 4 civilians, in two cities of Dagestan in the Russian Caucasus, and 5 perpetrators were neutralized by the security forces, as announced today by the Russian Investigative Committee, which is responsible for the investigations.

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“According to the preliminary data, 15 members of the forces of order were killed, as well as 4 civilians, including an Orthodox priest,” the commission said in a statement it issued.

During the anti-terrorist operation, which ended on Monday morning, five people were “neutralized”, he adds. They were “identified”, the Russian Investigative Committee concluded in its statement, in which it did not specify whether some of the perpetrators of the attacks were still at large or not.

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No organization has so far claimed responsibility while the local authorities have launched a manhunt for the initiators of this attack.

Gunmen with automatic weapons stormed an Orthodox Church and a synagogue in the ancient city of Derbent on Sunday night, setting fire to the church and killing the 66-year-old priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov. The terrorists who stormed the church cut the unfortunate priest’s throat in what officials are calling a particularly brutal killing.

At the same time, in the city of Makhachkala, gunfire broke out around the Assumption Cathedral. Footage showed residents running into the city to seek shelter as thick smoke billowed over the area.

“This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the entire country,” said Sergei Melikov, head of the Dagestan region. As he said foreign forces were involved in the preparation of the attack, but gave no details.

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“This is an attempt to break our unity” he underlined.

Dagestan declared three days of mourning. Photos of the dead police officers lined the street with passers-by leaving red carnations in Dagestan.

President Vladimir Putin, who has long accused the West of trying to foment separatism in the Caucasus, has yet to comment on the carnage.

Religious and ethnic tensions in Russia

Over 200 ethnic minority communities live in Russia, home to approximately 144 million people.

Some of these communities have been hit particularly hard by Putin’s war in Ukraine. Protests broke out in many ethnic minority areas in 2022.

Israel’s war against Hamas following the brutal October 7 attacks has also raised tensions around the world fueled by daily images of devastation in Gaza, including in the Caucasus.

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Putin has sought to cast himself as a potential mediator to bring balance to the region by calling for restraint on both sides – a position that won praise from Hamas. But that confidence was shaken later that month when anti-Semitic rioters stormed Dagestan’s Makhachkala Uytash airport, where a flight from Israel was arriving. At least 20 people were injured and 60 people arrested during the chaotic clashes that broke out, according to local authorities.

Several videos on social media showed crowds of people inside the airport and on the runway, some waving the Palestinian flag, others being forced through closed doors at the international terminal.

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The religious violence is something Russian leader Putin is “very concerned about,” said former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty.

Russia has a complex network of relations in the Middle East: Putin supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (enemy of Israel). It relies on Iran (another enemy of Israel) to supply drones to attack Ukraine and is a friend of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, another powerful player in the region.

He has also maintained cordial working relations with his Israeli counterparts, although his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cooled.