Four Daghestanis accused of making explosives for planned attack

Four Daghestanis have been detained on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack on Daghestan’s Interior Ministry using improvised explosives. They are accused of being members of the same cell as an assailant who was neutralised earlier in the week.

The four Daghestan residents were detained on Thursday, after the police had neutralised another member of their cell in Derbent earlier in the week.

According to the investigation, the suspects had acquired components for making explosives and improvised explosive devices. They are under investigation for preparing explosives, attempting a terrorist attack, and creating a terrorist organisation.

The authorities have linked the four suspects to a 21-year-old Amir Mammadov, who was killed in a gunfight with the police on 22 April.

Mammadov, an Azerbaijani national who had recently obtained Russian citizenship, reportedly refused to stop his vehicle when police officers ordered him to do so, at which point he hit one of them with his car and proceeded to open fire at the other police officers before being killed in the ensuing gunfight.

Driver hits police officer and opens fire on others in Daghestan

A driver in Derbent has reportedly hit a police officer with his car and opened fire at other officers before being killed.

OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova

The Head of Daghestan, Sergei Melikov, stated that Mamedov ‘shared the views of inhumane’ the militants responsible for the attacks in Makhachkala, Derbent, and Sergokala in June 2024.

At that time, in Derbent, militants opened fire on both a Russian Orthodox church and a synagogue. The attack claimed the life of Father Nikolai Kotelnikov, the church's priest, as well as several police officers guarding the premises. A fire caused by incendiary devices damaged both religious buildings.

In Makhachkala, the attackers targeted a Russian Orthodox church and a police patrol station. A gunfight broke out, resulting in the deaths and injuries of law enforcement personnel. In Sergokala, assailants fired on a traffic police post and attempted to flee but were killed during a pursuit.

According to official figures, 22 people were killed in the attacks, including 17 police officers and one priest. More than 40 individuals were injured, among them both police and civilians. During the response operation, five attackers were killed. It later emerged that two of them were relatives of the then-head of the Sergokala district, who resigned shortly after the incident.

Russia’s Investigative Committee classified the events as a terrorist act. Aleksandr Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) stated that the attacks were organised by followers of radical Salafism. The attackers were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, grenades, incendiary mixtures, and wore black uniforms without insignias. The investigation concluded that the attack had been premeditated.

According to the Investigative Committee, the perpetrators of the June attacks were motivated by ethnic and religious hatred towards Israeli citizens.

Eleven suspects were allegedly preparing assaults on synagogues in Makhachkala and Derbent, had produced petrol bombs, and acquired firearms. Searches of their homes reportedly uncovered an anti-tank grenade launcher, a Kalashnikov rifle, grenades, and explosive devices. The suspects denied all charges, claiming that the weapons had been planted. One of the accused, Khalid Magomedov, demanded to undergo a polygraph test and alleged he was being subjected to pressure.

At least 20 killed in attacks in Daghestan

At least 15 police officers, five civilians, and five attackers have reportedly been killed in coordinated attacks on churches, a synagogue, and police in two cities in Daghestan. Gun battles took place in the Daghestani capital Machakhala and the southern town of Derbent overnight with at least 16 people hospitalised. On Monday morning, Russian state media agency RIA reported that the counterterrorist operation regime had been lifted after the ‘threat to life and wellbeing of citizens’

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