The siege was lifted several hours later, and the captured law enforcement officers were not harmed, officials say
Two law enforcement officers have been freed after being taken hostage by a group of inmates at a prison in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, local officials have said.
The hostage situation began on Sunday when the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service said two of its agents working with the penitentiary inspectorate were being held by undisclosed perpetrators. It noted that talks were underway and that law enforcement agencies were working at the scene.
Several outlets reported that the perpetrators had been charged with terrorism. The Baza Telegram channel claimed that there were six perpetrators, three of which had been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after being found guilty of belonging to the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist organization and preparing a terrorist attack on the Supreme Court in the Karachaevo-Cherkessian Republic in southern Russia.
The perpetrators managed to overtake the prison’s duty station after breaking the bars of their cell, according to the outlet.
The two hostages reportedly included the head of the operational department and a junior inspector of the duty service. The perpetrators reportedly demanded a vehicle to leave the prison.
A video shared on social media shows one of the assailants, armed with a knife and wearing a black do-rag with an inscription in Arabic, sitting next to one of the handcuffed hostages, who appeared to be unharmed. The other agent also appeared to be in good health, except for blood on his elbow.
The 112 Telegram channel reported that the inmates were blocked inside one of the areas of the detention center, and were unable to reach the gun room. Later, it said law enforcement agencies launched an assault on the detention center, as the talks did not yield any results. At least several shots were fired in the area, according to videos shared on social media. Baza noted that it took the law enforcement agents three minutes to storm the building.
The Federal Penitentiary Service confirmed that there had been “a special operation to free hostages in a detention center” in Rostov Region, adding that “the criminals were eliminated” and the hostages were not injured.
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