Prisoners have taken control of part of a penal colony in Russia’s Volgograd region. They are holding hostages, killing at least one security guard and seriously injuring several others, Reuters reports. The kidnappers want 2 million dollars and a helicopter to free the captives, reports the Russian Telegram channel VCHK-OGPU.
The attackers are four, and there is information that they have declared belonging to the “Islamic State”. They have also posted videos showing them in uniform lying in pools of blood.
In their latest video, the kidnappers say they have taken revenge on anyone who harassed Muslim prisoners. As examples of the harassment, they point out that the colony’s leadership banned certain Islamic books and forced prisoners to shave their heads. The guards who oppressed, mistreated and tortured them were killed. The video ends with shouts of “Allah Akbar!”
A source on the Telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU reports that the prisoners want more weapons, cars and the release of their leaders, convicted on charges of terrorism and extremism.
“During a meeting of the disciplinary commission, convicts took prison officers hostage,” the Russian prison service said in a statement. According to preliminary data, the kidnappers are from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and some of them are serving sentences for distributing drugs in particularly large quantities.
Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said measures were being taken to free the jailed guards at the Volgograd colony. The road to the penal colony is blocked.
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