In May 2025, six people perished in armed and terrorist attacks in Northern Caucasus

Attack on law enforcers in Makhachkala: still from the "Caucasian Knot" video: https://youtu.be/RTANBD4E94E

In May 2025, six persons fell victim to armed and terrorist attacks committed in Northern Caucasus: four civilians and two law enforcers perished; and two law enforcers and four civilians were wounded. These are the results of the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from open sources.

On May 5, an attack was committed on a road-and-patrol (DPS) traffic police unit in Makhachkala: policemen were shelled from submachine guns. In the shootout, two policemen were killed, and two more law enforcers and three civilians were wounded, including a woman and a 17-year-old girl. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) stated that both attackers were killed; however, later the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) clarified that only one attacker was shot dead; and the second one was wounded and hospitalized in serious condition, and also admitted his guilt. According to a source from power structures, the attackers chose the moment when the policemen were registering a road accident, but they themselves did not stage it.

On May 14, an armed attack was committed in the town of Ardon: an unknown person shot people at a car wash and fled. One person perished; two others were wounded, one of them is in grave condition. On May 17, in Ardon, law enforcers detained a 22-year-old local suspect.

On May 29, in Stavropol, as a result of the explosion of an improvised explosion device (IED) near residential apartment buildings, two men perished. One of the casualties was Zaur Gurtsiev, First Deputy Mayor of Stavropol, a veteran of the special military operation (SMO) and a participant in the "Time of Heroes" programme. The explosion occurred after his acquaintance who had a small bag on his shoulder approached Gurtsiev; this is seen in the video. Investigators did not rule out the version of a terror act.

The above statistics cannot reflect the number of victims with 100% accuracy. Not all the data makes it into the news. It is not always possible to verify the truthfulness of the statements made by law enforcement bodies; and new data on events in the reporting period sometimes becomes known after the statistics have been published by the "Caucasian Knot".

Earlier, in April 2025, four victims were recorded in Northern Caucasus.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 2, 2025 at 01:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.