Derbent, Republic of Dagestan, Russia, June 24, 2024
Photo: tvc.ru
A priest who has been serving the Church since Soviet times received a martyric end in a terrorist attack against churches in Russia’s southern Dagestan Republic yesterday.
Militants attacked two churches, a synagogue, and a traffic police post in the Dagestani cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, reports RIA-Novosti.
Early on Sunday, a group of armed men opened fire on a church and synagogue in Derbent, while others attacked another church in Makhachkala. According to preliminary data, one priest, Archpriest Nikolai Kotelnikov, 66, a church guard, and six police officers were killed. Another 12 officers were injured.
According to the Dagestan branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, six militants were killed.
Fr. Nikolai served as a priest for 40 years, beginning in Soviet times. They slit Fr. Nikolai’s throat at Holy Protection Church in Derbent, then set it on fire.
Fr. Nikolai is survived by his wife, three children, and grandchildren.
The terrorists also killed the guard at the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Makhachkala. The guard, named Mikhail, sacrificed his own life, attempting to stop the terrorists. Though he died, he gave the worshipers enough time to barricade themselves safely inside.
A terrorist attack also took place in Dagestan on Forgiveness Sunday in 2018, in which five women were killed.
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