A synagogue and an Orthodox church were targeted along with a traffic police post, just three months after 145 people were killed at a concert hall near Moscow.
At least 15 police officers have been killed after gunmen opened fire in a series of shootings in Russia’s Dagestan, the regional governor has said.
The attacks targeted a synagogue and an Orthodox church in Derbent as well as a traffic police post later in Makhachkala.
One national guard officer and two civilians – one reportedly a priest – were also killed.
The Muftiate of Dagestan, a Muslim administrative body, said 25 people were injured.
Six of the gunmen have reportedly been shot dead, local authorities said.
“This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the whole country,” Sergei Melikov, governor of the Dagestan region, said in a video published early on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.
Three days of mourning have been declared in the predominantly Muslim region following the attacks, which come amid Russia’s two-year war in Ukraine.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, which Russia’s national anti-terrorism committee blamed on “terrorists”.
Russia’s state media cited law enforcement as saying two sons of the head of central Dagestan’s Sergokala district were among the attackers and had been detained by investigators.
The search for the gunmen would continue until all of them are identified, Mr Melikov said.
The synagogue and church were both set on fire before the attackers reportedly fled in a car, according to authorities.
There was later an exchange of gunfire at a police post in Makhachkala, about 125km (75 miles) to the north along the Caspian Sea coast, Reuters added.
It comes three months after 145 people were killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State on a concert hall near Moscow – Russia’s worst such attack in years.