Knife-wielding inmates, claiming to be IS supporters, attacked guards and took hostages at a prison in southern Russia.
TASS Three or four prisoners rioted and took “several” prison staff hostage during a meeting of the disciplinary committee of the IK-19 Surovikino prison in the Volgograd region of southern Russia today, the news agency reported. The number of hostages was not specified.
In the video by the news channel Mash posted, an inmate said he had pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). At least four prison staff in uniform could be seen unconscious in pools of blood. Another person sitting near the door had a knife held to his throat.
RT Three people are feared dead, with four injured people taken to hospital. “Measures are being taken to rescue the hostages,” the prison service said.
The inmates reportedly demanded $2 million in cash and a helicopter to escape the prison, describing the uprising as revenge for their “brothers,” other IS supporters imprisoned in Russia.
Volgograd is located near the North Caucasus region, which includes the republics of Dagestan and Chechnya. IK-19 is a high-security prison for male inmates with a capacity of 1,200.
A still from a video circulating online shows a man holding a knife standing in the courtyard of the IK-19 Surovikino prison. Photo: The base
Several news sites, citing security sources, said there were four attackers, citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Officials have not confirmed this information.
Islamic extremists have been stepping up attacks in Russia. In June, an IS-linked riot broke out at a prison in the southern Russian province of Rostov. Special forces shot dead six rioters.
In late June, at least 20 people were killed in shootings in two cities in the Muslim-majority Dagestan region of southern Russia.
In March, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on the Crocus City theater near Moscow that killed more than 140 people.