"Russia has changed, society has consolidated and these terrorist demonstrations are not supported by society, neither in Russia nor in Dagestan," said Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, when asked by journalists whether the Kremlin feared the return of an "Islamist insurrection" in the country.
The question, at the press conference, referred to the events that occurred in the 2000s, following the second Chechen war.
Despite the spokesman's statements, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet commented directly on the attacks attributed to terrorists in Dagestan.
Nineteen people, including security forces and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Dagestan, the governor of Russia's Muslim-majority Caucasus republic said today.
Sergei Melikov, governor of Dagestan, said gunmen opened fire on Sunday at two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police station in two cities in the southern Russian region.
Melikov declared three days of mourning in the region and said six armed militants had been killed.
Hours earlier, Russian police announced that they had shot down four alleged terrorists in the city of Makhachkala, three of whom were identified as the sons and nephew of the head of the area's main district, Sergokali, who was also detained.
Meanwhile, in the city of Derbent, about 110 kilometers south of Makhachkala, where a church and a synagogue were also attacked, clashes between Russian authorities and alleged terrorists continued.
The police chief of the city of Ogni, who had gone to support colleagues in neighboring Derbent, was fatally shot, the Russian Interior Ministry said.
The Russian Presidency today also threatened the United States with consequences reacting to a Ukrainian attack in Crimea, which Moscow claimed was carried out with a North American missile.
"It is obvious that the involvement of the United States in the fighting, its direct involvement, which results in the death of Russian citizens, must have consequences," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said today, calling on journalists to ask to Europe and the United States "why (Western) governments are killing Russian children".
According to the Russian Army, five ATACMS missiles were launched by Ukrainian forces, four of which were "intercepted".
According to Moscow, at least five people died in this attack.
The flight missions of these missiles were "captured by US experts based on data from US satellite information services", the Russian ministry stated in support of its accusations.
In April, Washington announced the sending of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, which had long requested them to be able to attack further behind the front line.
