“Every second counts.” An Orthodox priest from Dagestan recounts surviving a second terrorist attack
Sergius Abasov. Photo: pravoslavie.ru Orthodox priest Sergius has survived two terrorist attacks: in 2018 in Grozny, Chechnya, and in 2024 in Makhachkala, Dagestan. Both times, he and his parishioners took shelter in a church. During yesterday’s attack on Derbent, Dagestan’s second largest city, his father-in-law, 66-year-old protopriest Nikolay Kotelnikov, was murdered. Mediazona spoke briefly with Father Serguis about Sunday evening’s events in Dagestan.