Four officers killed in hostage-taking in Russian prison

Four prison employees were killed after several inmates organized a revolt and took hostages in a remote Russian penal colony, federal authorities said.

Special forces stormed the IK-19 Surovikino facility in the southwestern Volgograd region after knife-wielding prisoners posing as Islamic State (IS) fighters claimed to have taken control of the sprawling complex.

Authorities said the special forces operation resulted in some hostages being freed and all attackers being “neutralised”, but later confirmed that four prison staff had died.

An unverified image posted on social media appears to show an inmate standing over a bleeding prison guard with a knife during the riot.

The Russian National Guard Rosgvardia said that four attackers were shot dead by snipers during the rescue operation.

The National Guard filmed the arrival of heavily armed troops at the prison in video footage posted on the messaging app Telegram.

The attack began during a meeting of the disciplinary commission, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) said in a statement. The attackers are said to have beaten guards and injured several prison employees.

According to the FSIN, eight prison employees and four prisoners were taken hostage. Some reports in Russian media suggested that the director and his deputy were among the hostages.

“The perpetrators inflicted stab wounds of varying severity on four employees, three of whom died. Another four who resisted were taken to hospital, one of whom died in hospital.”

The FSIN denied that the attackers had taken control of the entire prison, stating: “The criminals took hostages and occupied a single room on the territory of the colony.”

According to a law enforcement source quoted by the Russian state news agency TASS, there are “reasons to believe that the hostage-taking was prepared in advance and well planned.”

Russian media named the attackers as Ramzidin Toshev (28), Rustamchon Navruzi (23), Nazirchon Toshov (28) and Temur Khusinov (29). All were from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

In dramatic cellphone footage released by the attackers, they identified themselves as IS fighters. The men said their motive was a desire to avenge the persecution of Muslims.

The video also showed prison officers lying in pools of blood, while other clips showed the attackers marching through the prison yard.

The governor of the Volgograd region, Andrei Bocharov, had previously stated that the hostage-taking posed “no danger to the civilian population”.

President Vladimir Putin was filmed attending a virtual meeting with security chiefs where he said he was briefed on the current situation.

The hostage-taking in Volgograd is the second incident of this kind this summer. six prisoners who swore loyalty Two guards belonging to the terrorist group “Islamic State” were kidnapped at a facility in the neighboring Rostov region.

Five of the prisoners were killed and a sixth was sentenced to 20 years in prison after the attack.

The public prosecutor's office said it had initiated proceedings for hostage-taking.

IK-19 Surovikino is a maximum security penal colony. It is estimated that about 1,200 prisoners are housed there.