Dagestan, in southern Russia, has a history of violence. Why does it keep happening?

Over the years, Russia's southern republic of Dagestan, located in the North Caucasus region, has been beset by extremist violence. This weekend, there was more bloodshed.

Officials say five gunmen in the regional capital of Makhachkala and the city of Derbent opened fire at Orthodox churches and two synagogues, as well as a police post, killing at least 20 people before being slain by authorities.

The large-scale and coordinated assault raises difficult questions for the Russian authorities about continued security lapses, especially after an attack claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group at a Moscow-area concert hall in March killed 145 people.

A look at the volatile region:

Dagestan, which sits in the North Caucasus between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, is known as one of Russia’s most diverse — but volatile — regions.

There are more than 30 recognized ethnic groups and 13 local languages granted special status alongside Russian.

The region has seen its population boom in recent years, reaching 3.2 million in 2024.

About 95% of the population identifies as Muslim, according to Russian government statistics, but the region also has long-standing Christian and Jewish communities. The Jewish community dates to the 5th century.

It has been blighted by violence since the early 2000s, when militant insurgents taking part in separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya were pushed into the region as a result of pressure from Russian security forces and iron-fisted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Bombings, attacks on police and kidnappings — all blamed on extremists — were commonplace in the region more than a decade ago,

The bloodshed eased as tougher security measures were imposed before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and thousands of militants were believed to have left for Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Islamic State extremists there.

The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine also has kept violence down. said Harold Chambers, a political and security analyst specializing in the North Caucasus.

But the region remains restive.

Activists in Russia say ethnic minorities are serving in Ukraine in disproportionate numbers, and videos circulated in October 2022 of protests in Dagestan over complaints that its population was providing more recruits than elsewhere.

In a sign that extremist sentiments still run high, mobs rioted at Makhachkala's airport in October, targeting a flight from Israel. Hundreds of men, some carrying banners with antisemitic slogans, rushed onto the tarmac, chasing passengers and throwing stones at police. More than 20 people were hurt — none of them Israelis.

The attacks took place Sunday night in the city of Derbent and the regional capital of Makhachkala. A group of armed men attacked a synagogue and an Orthodox church in Derbent, the Interior Ministry said.

The Russian Jewish Congress said the attackers opened fire and set the building ablaze using Molotov cocktails less than an hour before evening prayers. Many of the victims were private security guards and police who had provided extra security for worshippers after the Makhachkala airport incident involving the flight from Israel.

At the church, attackers slit the throat of the Rev. Nikolai Kotelnikov, a 66-year-old Russian Orthodox priest, before setting the church ablaze, according to Shamil Khadulayev, deputy head of a local public oversight body. The attack came on the day the Orthodox faithful celebrated Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday.

Almost simultaneously, reports appeared about an attack on a church, synagogue and a traffic police post in Makhachkala, some 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) to the north.

Russia’s Anti-Terrorist Committee said at least five gunmen were killed.

Chambers says several factors contribute to the unrest in Dagestan, including sympathizers to the Ukrainian cause and Russia's “continuous, tightening repression — particularly in the wake of the large-scale anti-mobilization protests in September of 2022,”

He also says a "long-term trend of youth radicalization contributed to what we saw in Makhachkala and Derbent.”

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Telegram channels associated with the Islamic State affiliate group that carried out the Moscow concert hall massacre praised Sunday's attack by “our brothers from the Caucasus,” but did not mention its own involvement.

Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov blamed Islamic “sleeper cells” directed from abroad, but didn’t give any other details. He said in a video statement that the assailants aimed at “sowing panic and fear,” and attempted to link the attack to Moscow’s military action in Ukraine — but also provided no evidence.

President Vladimir Putin had sought to blame the Crocus City Hall attack in March attack on Ukraine, again without evidence and despite the claim of responsibility by the Islamic State affiliate. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.

Dagestan’s violent history means the area has a heavy security presence, said Mark Youngman, the founder of Threatologist, which analyzes Eurasian security risks and specializes in the North Caucasus. Nonetheless, the response was slow, with different state agencies giving conflicting accounts as events unfolded.

“If you’re looking at it from a security perspective, you should have concerns because you have a high number of security service casualties,” Youngman said, noting Russian authorities reported at least 15 security service personnel among the dead.

“I think you would look at the official response and say there are concerns about the security services’ ability to protect themselves, let alone others,” he said.

The Russian state news agency Tass cited law enforcement sources as saying that one Dagestani official was detained over his sons’ alleged involvement in the assault.

Concerns remain that Russia’s broad security apparatus has not learned the lessons from the Moscow Crocus City Hall concert attack.

Authorities “were caught off guard” by Sunday's attack, Chambers said.

He believes a disconnect remains between Russian counterterrorism and the capability of assailants operating domestically.

There has been no evidence that Russia's “counterterrorism strategy more broadly will change in the wake of the Crocus City Hall attack,” Chambers said.

"The solution is still deportation and repression. This has been the Russian counterterrorism strategy for decades, and it has still allowed for such attacks as today,” he said.

In this photo taken from video released by The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia on Monday, June 24, 2024, A damaged by terrorists David's star is seen on the wall of the the Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent after a counter-terrorist operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia. Multiple police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday. (The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Investigative Committee on Monday, June 24, 2024, a Russian Investigative Committee employee works inside a damaged by armed militants Orthodox Church in Makhachkala after a counter-terrorist operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia. Multiple police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday. (Russian Investigative Committee via AP)

In this photo released by The Telegram Channel of the administration of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia on Monday, June 24, 2024, the head of Dagestan Republic Sergei Melikov, center, embraces and comforts a priest as he visits the Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Derbent after a counter-terrorist operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia. Multiple police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday. (The Telegram Channel of the administration of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia via AP)

In this photo released by The Telegram Channel of the administration of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia on Monday, June 24, 2024, the head of Dagestan Republic Sergei Melikov, center, comforts a woman as he visits the Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Derbent after a counter-terrorist operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia. Multiple police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday. (The Telegram Channel of the administration of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia on Monday, June 24, 2024, the head of Dagestan Republic Sergei Melikov, center, visits the damaged the Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent after a counter-terrorist operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia. More than 15 police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday. The gunmen opened fire on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police post in two cities, according to the authorities. (The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by the National Antiterrorism Committee on Monday, June 24, 2024, FSB officers conduct a counter-terrorist operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia. Multiple police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday. (The National Antiterrorism Committee via AP)

Four rock climbers fell several hundred feet while descending granite spires in Washington, leaving only one survivor who hiked out and told a 911 dispatcher that his companions were dead and he could “hardly breathe,” according to a recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Anton Tselykh, 38, had plummeted an estimated 400 feet (122meters) Saturday evening, suffering internal injuries and head trauma. By Sunday morning, more than a dozen hours later, he was calling 911 from a payphone in a community some 40 miles (67 kilometers) away.

“The whole team went down,” Tselykh told the dispatcher. “My face is very well beaten, hands and my ribs, I can hardly breathe.”

Responders who eventually met Tselykh reported bruises on his head and fluid leaking from his ears, according to radio logs.

Here’s what we know so far about the accident and Tselykh’s overnight escape.

It was Saturday afternoon and lightly snowing on the Early Winters Spires when the four climbers, working their way up a steep gully, decided to turn around for a descent that would claim three of their lives.

On their way down, they attached their ropes to a piton — a metal spike pounded into rock cracks or ice and used to secure ropes — that had been placed by a past climber. As one of the men began rappelling off the piton, it ripped out of the mountain, sending all four plummeting past ice and snow and rock.

“We basically slid and rolled down, like all of us, to the bottom of the couloir and a little bit lower," Tselykh told the 911 dispatcher. A couloir is a sheer gully that runs down a mountain.

After the fall, Tselykh lost consciousness.

Pitons are oftentimes left in walls by climbers and can stay there for years or even decades, becoming less secure over time. Typically, it's common practice among climbers to set up a backup anchor, said Joshua Cole, a guide and co-owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides.

But it's still unclear whether the four had a backup.

It’s unknown why Tselykh survived the fall when the others didn’t, but he awoke several hours later in a tangle of ropes. It was dark outside, and he could only find two of his companions' bodies in the dark, he told the 911 dispatcher, saying, “I was lucky to survive."

Tselykh extricated himself from the ropes, equipment and debris, and trekked over rock and snow — with help from a pick-like ice tool — down the mountain. “There is no trail, basically wild,” Tselykh described to dispatch. “I was able to descend very slow."

Arriving at his car, Tselykh drove some 40 miles (67 kilometers) and, at one point, ran into a guardrail, according to police records. Arriving in the unincorporated community of Newhalem, Tselykh called 911 early Sunday.

He apologized to the dispatcher for his voice and said he could barely breathe. Despite suffering brain trauma and other serious internal injuries, he told the dispatcher that he didn’t think he needed immediate medical help. “I feel OK, I mean, I don’t need emergency,” he said.

The dispatcher asked him to stay were he was so that medics could check him out and authorities could take his report. He was later hospitalized.

By Wednesday morning, he was in satisfactory condition at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, meaning he was not in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for UW Medicine, said in an email.

A three-person search and rescue team responded following Tselykh’s call, using coordinates from a GPS device the climbers had been carrying, said Cristina Woodworth, who heads the team.

The three deceased climbers were identified as Vishnu Irigireddy, 48; Tim Nguyen, 63; and Oleksander Martynenko, 36. The rough terrain required a helicopter to remove their bodies, Woodworth said.

The AP made attempts to reach several of their family members, but has not heard back.

The four climbers were friends, some of whom had climbed together before and appeared fairly experienced, Woodworth said, adding that Tselykh was “obviously very much affected by this.”

Irigireddy was a vice president of engineering at the Fluke Corporation, a test equipment manufacturing company, which released a statement Wednesday.

“Vishnu was an extraordinary leader, and his loss is felt profoundly across our organization,” the statement read.

Martynenko’s wife, Olga, said Tuesday in a Facebook post that her husband, whom she referred to as Alex, also left behind their son. She shared a link to a fundraiser to help “during the most devastating time of our lives.”

“I still cannot believe that you are gone, my love," the post said.

Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

The Okanogan County Search and Rescue team responds to a climbing accident in the North Cascades mountains in Washington on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (Okanogan County Sheriff's Office via AP)