We remain in prayer for all those who were killed, and for peace in Russia and Ukraine, with full respect for the religious freedom of all people.
“Terrorist attacks in Russia’s Dagestan region target church, synagogue and police, kill at least 19 people,” CBS News, June 24, 2024:
A synagogue, an Orthodox church and police checkpoints were targeted by gunmen in a coordinated series of attacks in Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province on Sunday night. Four civilians, including a priest, and 15 police officers were killed in the attacks, investigators said Monday.
“According to preliminary data, 15 law enforcement officers were killed, as well as four civilians, including an Orthodox priest,” Russia’s national Investigative Committee said in a statement, adding that five perpetrators were also “liquidated.”
The spokeswoman for Dagestan’s interior ministry, Gayana Gariyeva, had earlier told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency that a 66-year-old Russian Orthodox priest was among those killed.
The attacks took place in Dagestan’s largest city, Makhachkala, and in the coastal city of Derbent. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee described the attacks, in the predominantly Muslim region with a history of armed militancy, as terrorist acts….
