Putin Ally’s Kids Suspected in Synagogue Shooting Massacre

The local governor of Russia’s Dagestan region fired a prominent politician in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “United Russia” party on Monday after reports surfaced that his sons and nephews were involved in the deadly attack in Dagestan over the weekend.

Russian authorities had detained and interrogated the politician, Magomed Omarov, the head of Dagestan’s Sergokalinsky district, on Sunday in connection to his relatives’ alleged involvement, according to TASS. He was let go but was detained again for “petty hooliganism,” according to a source in the security services, according to RIA Novosti, Mash, and other popular Russian language Telegram channels.

Five suspects have already been killed or “eliminated,” Russia’s Investigative Committee announced. Two of those “liquidated” were Omarov’s son, 31-year-old Osman Omarov, and his nephew, 36-year-old Ali Zakarigaev, according to a Russian security service source, RIA Novosti reported. His 37-year-old son Adil Omarov was also killed, according to Komsomolskaya Pravda, along with his other nephew, 32-year-old Abdusamad Amadziev, according to Baza.

The regional governor, Sergey Melikov, said Magomed Omarov would be held fully accountable if the authorities find out he was involved himself, adding that parents are responsible for those they raise, according to TASS.

“Why is he, as the head of a municipality, as a member of the United Russia party, as a high-level leader, who has been serving for several years as the head of a municipality, whose duties comes to take care of the entire population of the region, did not pay attention, missed the children, and missed them so much that they became murderers,” Melikov asked, according to TASS.

Omarov has been expelled from the United Party since Sunday, TASS reported.

The region is conducting “operational search and investigative activities… until all participants in the ‘sleeper cells’ are identified,” Melikov said. Omarov had eight sons, each of which is being checked for links to terrorist organizations, according to a report from Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Sunday’s attack, in which gunmen attacked religious places of worship and a police outpost in Derbent and Makhachkala in Dagestan, killed 21 people, according to a tally from the regional Ministry of Health. Al Azaim Media, a media outlet associated with ISIS-K, an affiliate group of ISIS, claimed the attack was carried out following calls for attacks on behalf of ISIS.

The attacks may have been coordinated by Wilayat Kavkaz, an ISIS sleeper cell, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

It marks the deadliest attack in Russia since the Moscow shooting in March.

Russia has been working to steel itself against the recent flurry of terrorist attacks. Russian authorities initiated a sweeping crackdown on migrants throughout the nation in an attempt to tamp down on any terrorist cells with sights set on plotting attacks after the Moscow attack.

And although the anti-terrorism brigades have been on high alert, Russia’s security and intelligence apparatus appears to have been caught off guard—and the call might be coming from inside the house, according to local officials. Mogamed Omarov, the politician from Putin’s own party who has ties to suspects of the brutal attack, held a counterterrorism meeting as recently as April, according to Reuters.

Russian lawmakers are working to cast blame on the west for the incident already, echoing claims from Russian authorities that Ukraine was responsible for the Moscow attack as well.

“The United States and its European satellites, which cannot come to terms with the actual defeat of their Kyiv puppets on the fronts of the Northern Military District, have turned into outright sponsors of state terrorism,” the head of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, said on social media. “The blood of the victims of today’s terrorist attacks is also on their hands.”

Alexander Nemenov / AFP via Getty Images

COUSINS-IN-CRIME

During interrogation, Omarov acknowledged that his children were Wahhabis, or members of a Sunni Muslim sect, according to a Baza report. His children’s work and connections have raised questions about just how close suspected terrorism circles are to prominent politicians in Russia.

Osman Omarov, Omarov’s son, appears to have a shady past. He reportedly “had connections with Turkey” and was “recruited” there, according to Mash. He just returned from an 18-month stay there in April, Mash reported. A friend, speaking with Komsomolskaya Pravda, described Osman as “always with criminal license plates.”

From 2012 until 2014, he worked at the Derbent Cognac Factory, which was owned by Murad Gadzhiev, a State Duma deputy from United Russia who is also known as the “King of Derbent,” according to Vorstka.

He also was reportedly involved in the construction business, according to MSK1.ru and Mash.

(Osman also previously owned a cafe called “Lemonade” on the coast of the Caspian Sea, Mash reported—although reviews suggest the service was poor even if the views were nice. “In general, I don’t want to go back a second time,” one reviewer stated. Another reviewer noted: “there is not enough service and the kitchen is lame!!!” He gave the food one star.)

Ali Zakarigaev, Omarov’s nephew, was a former head of the Sergokalinsky district branch of A Just Russia Party. But since the attack, that party has decided to expel him, according to Rodyom.

“He didn’t notice anything like that in the party, we didn’t notice, he worked actively, collaborated with us, took part in the elections. There were no [complaints] at all… he constantly came to meetings. We’re a little shocked here,” the party said in a statement.

National Antiterrorism Committee/Anadolu via Getty Images

Abdusamad Amadziev, another one of Omarov’s nephew’s, previously worked as a mechanic and “had no problems with the law before,” a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti. He worked at Dagestangazservis company, later known as Gazprom Gas Distribution Dagestan, Vorstka reported.

Adil Omarov, another one of Omarov’s sons, reportedly attended the Faculty of Law of Dagestan State University and participated in freestyle wrestling, according to his father.

ISIS-K, which claimed the Moscow shooting, praised the attack in Dagestan, noting that it was carried out by “brothers in the Caucasus who showed that they are still strong.”

SCOURGE OF ISIS

It’s not just Russia that’s on edge about the rising scourge of terrorism. ISIS-K recently plotted numerous other attacks on other European countries, according to French authorities.

According to the State Department, dismantling ISIS-K clandestine urban cells has proven difficult in recent years. ISIS has been able to regroup and plan attacks in Europe and Asia ever since the United States’ botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, leaked documents from the Pentagon note.

As France prepares for the Olympics, the U.S. intelligence community is gearing up on security support work. Some intelligence officials have been working on the preparations for two years, The Daily Beast reported.