DISINFO: Ukrainian intelligence and NATO countries masterminded terror attacks in Dagestan
SUMMARY
It cannot be a coincidence that on Orthodox Pentecost first missiles struck Sevastopol and then a church, a synagogue and police were attacked in Dagestan. The United States and its European satellites, which cannot come to terms with the actual defeat of their Kyiv puppets, have turned into outright sponsors of state terrorism. The blood of the victims of today's terrorist attacks is also on their hands.
RESPONSE
This narrative connects missile strikes on Sevastopol with attacks by gunmen on religious sites and a police station in in the Republic of Dagestan on the same day. It feeds into the persistent disinformation narratives that Ukraine is a terrorist regime and that the West is supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It moreover blames civilian casualties in Russia of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the supply of weapons for the defence of Ukraine against Russian aggression.
On the evening of 23 June 2024 several men opened fire on a Russian Orthodox Church and a synagogue in Derbent, at about the same time another group opened fire on a traffic police station in Makhachkala, 120 kilometres away. In the ensuing shootings more than 20 persons were killed, including an Orthodox priest. Both the church and the synagogue burned down. On the same evening and without citing any evidence, Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev, State Duma member from Dagestan, claimed live on on Russia-24 television channel there was “no doubt these terrorist attacks are in one way or another connected with the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries.”
Shortly after the head of State Duma foreign affairs committee Leonid Slutsky wrote on Telegram that the attack was “inspired from outside with the aim of sowing panic and dividing the people of Russia.”
Responsibility for the attacks has not been claimed so far, but a Russian-language channel linked to ISIS-K wrote on the same evening that the attack had been a response to ISIS calls for attack and that “Our brothers from the Caucasus let us know that they are still strong.”
Russian disinformation has a history of blaming both terrorist attacks in Russia and the targeting of religious communities on outside forces. In April 2024, Russian disinformation outlets claimed Ukraine and Western countries were behind the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow.
In October 2023, a mob stormed Makhachkala airport after the landing of a flight from Tel Aviv, shouting anti-Semitic slogans and searching for Israeli nationals. Disinformation outlets also blamed this incident on Ukraine and the West.