At least one person reported dead in prison guards taken hostage by Russian prisoners in Volgograd region – Meduza

Inmates at a prison in Russia's Volgograd region took several of the facility's employees hostage on Friday.said the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). “During a meeting of the disciplinary commission in penal colony No. 19, prisoners took penitentiary employees hostage. Efforts are currently underway to free the hostages,” the agency said in a statement.

The FSIN reported that there were injuries as a result of the situation, but did not provide details. Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing emergency services, that one person had been killed. According to Telegram channel Shot, the victim was a prison employee on duty who tried to resist the attackers. State news portal Interfax said three people had been taken to intensive care.

The total number of hostages is currently unclear. According to Shot, prison chief Andrei Devyatov and his deputy were taken hostage. Telegram channel Baza reported that Devyatov escaped but was injured and is now in intensive care, while Shot said the attackers had “handed him over.”

According to initial findings, there were three or four attackers. Baza and Mash have reported that they may be linked to ISIS, as was the case with the inmates who took hostages in a Rostov-on-Don prison in June. The channels reported that the hostage-takers demanded $2 million and a helicopter. Mash also wrote that a mullah from a Volgograd mosque will be brought to the prison to negotiate with the hostage-takers.

The Russian Investigative Committee has initiated criminal proceedings under the articles of the Russian Criminal Code against “taking hostages resulting in death” and “disrupting the operation of correctional facilities”. A team from the FSIN headquarters was sent to the prison.

This is an evolving story.