Hostage-Taking Crisis In Russian Prison Ends With Eight Dead
The Russian National Guard said its snipers killed four hostage-takers when security forces stormed a prison in the southwestern region of Volgograd after knife-wielding prisoners reportedly launched a deadly attack on guards and held some staff hostage.
The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) said in a statement that four prison guards died on August 23 after four inmates took eight guards and four other inmates hostage at the correctional colony No. 19 in the town of Surovikino in the Volgograd region.
"The perpetrators inflicted stabbing wounds of various types on four prison employees, three of whom died. The other four, who resisted, were hospitalized, and one of them died in hospital," the FSIN's statement said, adding that four other inmates also were wounded in the hostage-taking crisis.
Media reports as the incident began said several people died when the hostage-taking took place while a disciplinary commission was in the penitentiary.
Telegram channels close to the penitentiary service issued a video showing four inmates who called themselves "Islamic State fighters" wielding knives and standing next to three bodies in FSIN uniforms and another uniformed person who was injured.
One Telegram channel identified the four inmates as two men from Uzbekistan and two from Tajikistan, three of whom are serving terms for illegal drugs and one for inflicting serious damage to a person’s health. That information has not been confirmed officially.
In another video, an inmate states that prison guards "had violated Muslims' rights."
"We killed those who humiliated and tortured Muslims. They took away books from some of us, prayer rugs from some of us. So, we did the same to them. No mercy," the man in the video says.
The reports are likely to further exacerbate the xenophobic aftermath of the worst attack inside Russia since 2004, which left 145 people dead after gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow on March 22. Ten Tajiks have thus far been arrested in Russia in connection with the attack claimed by the Islamic State group, including four accused of being the gunmen.
The Baza Telegram channel, which is close to law enforcement structures, reported that the prison’s warden Andrei Devyatov was hospitalized with wounds after he and four other hostages, including an inmate, managed to escape.
In another video, an inmate urges Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet the hostage-takers' demands and says he needs a doctor. Putin said in televised remarks that he had been briefed on the situation by the head of the FSIN.
One video shows four inmates standing next to a black banner with an Arabic inscription on it, chanting "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is great!"), while one of them holds a uniformed man.
Media reports say riot police units are deployed near the prison and the imam of the Volgograd region had arrived at the site to hold talks with the hostage-takers.
This is the second hostage-taking event in a Russian penitentiary this summer.
In June, several inmates took hostages at a detention center in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Russian officials said at the time that the hostage-takers were members of Islamic State. Five hostage-takers were killed and two hostages wounded during that crisis.
Another incident occurred in the mainly Muslim region of Daghestan, where at least 20 people were killed in shootings in two cities in the southern Russian area.
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