Snipers Neutralize Hostage-Taking Inmates Allegiant to IS in Russian Prison

Russian National Guard snipers killed four inmates who had stabbed four guards to death and held hostages, declaring allegiance to the Islamic State group. The incident occurred in a prison in Surovkino, Volgograd region. Details are sparse, and a discrepancy exists between the National Guard and Federal Prison Service's claims of neutralization.

On Friday, snipers from Russia's National Guard intervened in a deadly prison standoff, killing four inmates who had taken hostages and declared allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The chilling incident unfolded at a prison in Surovkino, located in the Volgograd region, about 860 kilometers southeast of Moscow. Reports indicate the four inmates had seized eight guards and four fellow inmates as hostages, fatally stabbing four guards—three of whom died on-site while the fourth succumbed to injuries at a hospital. Three other guards were injured and hospitalized.

Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding who was responsible for neutralizing the attackers. Both the National Guard and the Federal Prison Service claimed credit. Analysis of videos from the scene shows men brandishing knives, alleged attackers vocalizing support for the Islamic State and suspects from a March terrorist attack in Moscow, and guards lying in pools of blood. The state news agency Tass has reported that the attackers were from former Soviet Central Asian countries, linked to a March attack by IS affiliates at a Moscow concert hall that left 145 dead.