Russian special forces have freed hostages taken by four men linked to the Islamic State who carried out an attack at a high-security prison in the southern Volgograd region, resulting in the deaths of several prison guards.
Russia’s national guard announced in a statement that special forces snipers “liquidated” all four hostage-takers before the colony was stormed and the hostages were freed.
Earlier on Friday four prisoners identifying themselves as Islamic State militants staged a deadly attack on guards at the penal colony and seized 12 hostages, most of whom were prison guards. Prison authorities later reported that the attackers had stabbed four prison guards to death and injured three others.
The incident happened during a meeting of the prison’s disciplinary commission, the prison service said.
A graphic video circulating on several Russian Telegram channels earlier showed the hostage-takers wielding knives and standing over what appeared to be injured or dead prison guards lying motionless in a pool of blood.
One of the hostage-takers says in the clip that the group are “mujahideen” of Islamic State (IS).
In another video, one of the hostage-takers says their actions are retaliation for the “mistreatment” of Muslims in “Russia and worldwide”.
Subsequent videos showed four attackers pacing about in a prison yard where one of the prisoners held a knife against the neck of the bloodied prison staffer. Another prisoner involved in the incident appeared to have an improvised explosive vest and the others were carrying knives and hammers.
News sites with security connections published the names of four alleged attackers, identifying them as citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There was no official confirmation of their identity and motives.
The Kremlin said the president, Vladimir Putin, had been briefed on the attack.
Russia has experienced a series of Islamist terror attacks recently, prompting questions about whether its extensive security agencies have been distracted by the invasion of Ukraine and the internal crackdown on anti-war dissent.
In March, the Afghan branch of IS, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, claimed responsibility for a mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall, the deadliest terror attack in years, which killed 139 people.
And in June, gunmen opened fire in two cities in Russia’s north Caucasus region of Dagestan, targeting a synagogue, two Orthodox churches and a police post, killing at least 15 police officers and a priest.
IS-Khorasan is known to recruit nationals from Tajikistan and other central Asian countries, many of whom migrate to Russia in search of work.
The latest hostage-taking incident is likely also to raise questions about security measures within Russian prisons. It follows a similar incident this summer, in which Russian special forces freed two guards and killed six men linked to IS who had taken them hostage at a detention centre in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
Russia has seen rising ethnic tensions since the IS-claimed Moscow concert hall attack, which was carried out by four Tajikistani citizens currently in pre-trial detention. Millions of people from Central Asia, a region that was once part of the Soviet Union, live in Russia, many of them working low-skilled jobs to send money back to their families.
