On Friday, inmates at the IK-19 Surovikino penal colony in Russia’s Volgograd region took control of the facility and held hostages, resulting in the deaths of at least three prison guards. The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) confirmed that special forces neutralized all four attackers. The uprising occurred about 120 kilometers west of Volgograd, at a facility capable of housing over 1,200 prisoners.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The FSIN reported that four inmates took eight prison staff members and four fellow inmates hostage during a disciplinary meeting. Videos circulating on social media depicted bloodied guards and a guard being coerced into appealing to President Vladimir Putin for the attackers’ demands. Unverified footage also showed the attackers brandishing knives and shouting “Allahu Akbar,” with some suggesting links to ISIS and potential motives related to ethnic tensions.
Governor Andrei Bocharov stated that the attack involved four prisoners: three convicted of drug trafficking and one for manslaughter. There were hints that the attackers might be Central Asian nationals. The siege concluded with security forces regaining control of the prison, and there were no threats to the general public, according to officials.
The incident follows a similar hostage situation in June at a Rostov region prison involving ISIS-aligned prisoners. The recent violence is part of heightened ethnic tensions in Russia, exacerbated by a deadly March attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, claimed by a Central Asian ISIS branch. This attack, alongside others in Dagestan, has led to significant criticism of Russian authorities’ handling of security.⬤
