Four terrorists seize prison, kill employees in Volgograd region

Four terrorists staged a riot at Penal Colony No. 19 in Volgograd, Russia. The attack took place during the meeting of a disciplinary commission. The rioters, wielding knives, attacked prison employees and killed three people. It is believed that they may have acquired the knives on the territory of the colony for a bribe.

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WARNING: The terrorists have released several videos that have made during their attack. The videos are extremely graphic and disturbing. Watch at your own discretion.

More details about the prison riot:

• The attack occurred during a disciplinary committee meeting at around 12:00.
• The attack was carried out by three/four prisoners. They call themselves members of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia).
• The attackers took advantage of the fact that they all gathered together in one room next to several prison employees.
• At least one person was killed: the colony's duty officer tried to resist the terrorists, but they stabbed him to death.
• Five people were seriously injured: four employees (including the 45-year-old prison chief Colonel Andrei Devyatov, his deputy and one prisoner.
• The terrorists released Andrei Devyatov, he was hospitalized in intensive care. Devyatov has been heading the colony since 2014.
• The terrorists demanded a helicopter with a pilot, two million dollars and an air corridor to the southeast in order to escape from Russia.

Special forces are conducting an operation to free the hostages.

Penal Colony No. 19 is mostly used for first-time convicts. There are about 1,230 prisoners in the colony. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, the colony was repurposed from a medical-labor colony to a strict-regime correctional labor colony.

Here is the list of the terrorists who seized Penal Colony No. 19 in Volgograd:

• Ramzidin Toshev, 28, native of Uzbekistan. He was sentenced to 8 years on October 25, 2023 for attempted drug trafficking).
• Rustamchon Navruzi, 23, native of Tajikistan. Sentenced to 7 years on June 23, 2022 for attempted drug trafficking).
• Nazirchon Toshov, 28, native of Tajikistan. Sentenced to 8.5 years on April 19, 2023 for attempted drug trafficking).
• Temur Khusinov, 29, native of Uzbekistan. Sentenced to 6 years on November 9, 2018 for intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm.

*Islamic State is recognized as a terrorist organization, banned in Russia

Details

A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to a correctional facility located in a remote location, it is more commonly used to refer to communities of prisoners overseen by wardens or governors having absolute authority. Historically, penal colonies have often been used for penal labour in an economically underdeveloped part of a state's (usually colonial) territories, and on a far larger scale than a prison farm.