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THE priest butchered alongside 19 cops in the latest Russian massacre had his throat slit in front of his helpless family, say officials.

Synagogues, churches and a police post were targeted in a suspected terror attack after a series of deadly strikes in the Dagestani cities of Derbent and Makhachkala on Sunday.

An Orthodox church was set ablaze following the deadly attacks in Russia
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An Orthodox church was set ablaze following the deadly attacks in RussiaCredit: East2West
The priest killed was named as 66-year-old Nikolai Kotelnikov
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The priest killed was named as 66-year-old Nikolai KotelnikovCredit: East2West
Two of the suspected armed gunmen who caused the horrific attacks
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Two of the suspected armed gunmen who caused the horrific attacksCredit: East2West
The three gunmen stand and take aim during the attack
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The three gunmen stand and take aim during the attackCredit: East2West
Smoke was seen billowing through the air as fires raged through the two regions of Derbent and Makhachkala
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Smoke was seen billowing through the air as fires raged through the two regions of Derbent and MakhachkalaCredit: East2West

The orthodox priest was named as Nikolai Kotelnikov by the head of the Dagestan republic Sergei Melikov.

Kotelnikov had worked in his beloved Derbent church for over 40 years before he was ruthlessly murdered as his loved ones watched on, claimed Mr Melikov.

He was believed to have been a 66-year-old father battling against an unknown illness.

Mr Melikov is yet to confirm the names of any other victims of the attacks.

Read more in Russia

He said on Sunday: "This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the whole country."

At least 19 police officers and several civilians had also been killed in what was labelled a "terrorist attack".

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said five gunmen were “eliminated” as Mr Melikov later confirmed six “bandits” were “liquidated”. 

Russia has been on high alert for terror activity since 139 people were gunned down in a concert hall near Moscow in the deadliest attack in two decades.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation confirmed that a terrorism investigation had been opened up.

They said: “All the circumstances of the incident and the persons involved in the terrorist attacks are being established, and their actions will be given a legal assessment."

Chilling moment gunmen storm Moscow packed concert hall before killing 40 as IS claim responsibility for attack

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, called for authorities to respond to the horror attacks appropriately.

They said: "I am convinced that it is necessary to do everything possible to exclude the very possibility of attempts to radicalise religious life, to stop any manifestations of extremism and inter-ethnic hostility in any form.

"The present and future of our country largely depends on this."

Dagestan declared Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are set to be days of mourning following the heinous attacks.

THE FATAL ATTACKS

Dagestan's Ministry of Internal Affairs said a group of armed men with automatic rifles fired at places of worship in Derbent and Makhachkala.

Located on the Caspian Sea, Derbent is home to an ancient Jewish community in the South Caucasus and a UNESCO world heritage site.

The first attack on Derbent took place around 6pm local time, Russian news agency RIA reported.

Forty minutes after evening prayer, gunmen stormed a synagogue before they “set the building on fire using Molotov cocktails”, siad the Russian Justice Committee.

The rampaging gunmen then got into a firefight with police and security guards.

Kotelnikov was said to have had his throat slit in front of his family
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Kotelnikov was said to have had his throat slit in front of his familyCredit: East2West
A police car on fire following the attack in Dagestan
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A police car on fire following the attack in DagestanCredit: East2West
The military was deployed onto the streets of Derbent on Sunday night
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The military was deployed onto the streets of Derbent on Sunday nightCredit: East2West
Terrified beachgoers run for their lives as cops  chase terrorists
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Terrified beachgoers run for their lives as cops chase terroristsCredit: East2West

Harrowing images show the religious temple ablaze with smoke billowing through the air.

The attackers fled in a car before they were hunted down and "eliminated" by officers.

Around the same time, police officers were killed in an exchange of shots at a traffic police post in Makhachkala, about 75 miles to the north along the Caspian Sea coast.

Makhachkala is the main city in Dagestan and is considered a mainly Muslim region in southern Russia.

Alongside the 19 police officers, civilian casualties were also reported as well as a dozen of injuries as a second synagogue was seen on fire.

Moscow terror attack

THE latest fatal attacks in Russia comes just three months after the country suffered its deadliest terrorist attack in 20 years

A group of masked gunmen stormed a concert hall in a bloody massacre on the outskirts of Moscow on March 22 killing at least 139 people and wounding almost 200 more.

Some 6,000 people were believed to have been inside Crocus City Hall watching Russian rock band Picnic when the bloodshed began.

The gunmen began shooting civilians at point-blank range - through glass doors, turnstiles and then the concert hall itself, traumatised witnesses said.

Devastating footage showed piles of bodies outside the blackened concert venue on the western edge of Moscow.

The building was left with a collapsed roof after the terrorists started an inferno which ripped through the structure, trapping many civilians inside.

ISIS-K - a brutal splinter cell of the death cult - claimed responsibility for the savage attack.

Four men were later arrested by Putin's men and taking into twisted interrogation rooms.

Haunting footage of their interrogations was later released online, showing one thug with his ear cut off and fed to him and another having his genitals electrocuted.

The men were dragged into a Moscow court to be sentenced, with grim pictures showing their bruised, bloody and unconscious faces in glass cages.

The Assumption Cathedral in Makhachkala was also attacked, say reports.

Fighting was later reported in the city's streets, with footage circulating online of at least three armed men dressed in black opening fire at police cars.

Other clips show people running for their lives as police reportedly chase terrorists on a local beach.

The motivation behind the attacks is still unknown.

Taking to Telegram, Mr Melikov, said on Sunday: "Tonight in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown individuals attempted to destabilise the public situation.

"Dagestan police officers stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are casualties among them."

Some officials in Dagestan have since blamed Ukraine and Nato for the attacks.

The republic has a history of Islamic militancy, however.

Dagestan lawmaker Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev wrote on Telegram: "There is no doubt that these terrorist attacks are in one way or another connected with the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries."

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Ukrainian officials did not comment immediately on the attacks.

President Ramzan Kadyrov of neighboring Chechnya said: "What happened looks like a vile provocation and an attempt to cause discord between confessions."

Dagestan’s turbulent history

THE Russian region of Dagestan has a turbulent past with ruthless attacks on civilians, rebellions and a poor way of living.

In 1999, the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade - an Islamist group from Chechnya - launched a military coup of Dagestan.

Led by warlords Shamil Basayev, Ibn Al-Khattab and Ramzan Akhmadov the group demanded an "independent Islamic State of Dagestan" after claiming the region had become a separatist state.

The move angered Russia who hit back with a military invasion of Chechnya later the same year.

From 2000 to 2016, Dagestan was caught in a low-level of guerrilla war that bled over from Chechnya.

A jihadist organisation called the Caucasus Emirate before becoming the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus continuously attacked Dagestan and its neighbouring regions.

Resulting in the deaths of hundreds of federal servicemen and officials as well as many Dagestani national rebels and civilians.

Dagestani soldiers would also be active in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.

Months later, the region was at the heart of huge debates in light of the 2022 North Caucasian protests against mobilisation.

During the Israel-Hamas war, there was also a wave of antisemitic attacks across regions such as Dagestan with Jewish people being ambushed for their beliefs.

Dagestan is also thought to have one of the highest unemployment rates in Russia as well as having a dwindling economy.

Russian cops are believed to have taken out six of the gunmen
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Russian cops are believed to have taken out six of the gunmenCredit: AFP
A synagogue has also been reduced to rubble
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A synagogue has also been reduced to rubbleCredit: East2West
Footage shows armed men running through the streets of Derbent
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Footage shows armed men running through the streets of DerbentCredit: East2West
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