Prisoners posing as “mujahideen” beat guards and take hostages in Russian prison

Knife-wielding inmates posing as IS fighters carried out a bloody attack on guards and took hostages in a Russian penal colony on Friday, state media and news agencies with links to the intelligence services reported.

A video published by one of the news channels, Mash, showed at least two attackers, one of whom shouted that they were “mujahideen” from the militant group Islamic State and had taken control of the prison in the Volgograd region.

At least four uniformed prison officers could be seen lying or sitting in pools of blood. Three lay motionless, one with his throat slit. Another sat upright in a doorway, where a man with a knife held him to his neck.

Russian state media said at least one prison staff member was killed, but the video suggests the death toll is almost certainly higher.

The prison service said in a statement: “During a meeting of a disciplinary commission, convicts took prison staff hostage. Measures are currently being taken to free the hostages. There are casualties.”

The prison is considered a “hard regime” penal colony and has a capacity of up to 1,241 male inmates.

News sites with links to intelligence agencies published the names of up to four suspected attackers and identified them as citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There was no official confirmation.

In Russia, whose defense and security agencies are heavily focused on the war in Ukraine, there has recently been a rise in attacks by militant Islamists.

In June, a bloody prison riot with links to the Islamic State broke out in the southern Rostov region, in which special forces shot dead six prisoners who had taken hostages.

Later that month, at least 20 people were killed in shootings in two towns in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia.

In March, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in which gunmen raided the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow, firing automatic weapons at the audience and setting the building on fire, killing more than 140 people.