Russian special forces suppressed a short mutiny at a provincial detention center on Sunday, killing detainees, some accused of terrorism, who had escaped from their cells earlier in the day, according to Russian state media.
Six detainees who were awaiting their court appearance at a pre-trial detention center in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don managed to take control of the facility, state media reported. Armed with knives, the suspects took two guards hostage, according to reports.
A video posted on local news channels in Rostov and republished by some Russian officials appears to show a man identified as one of the detainees brandishing a knife and demanding a car to leave the detention center for an unspecified destination. A detainee is seen in the video holding a black flag associated with the Islamic State. The video could not immediately be verified.
Security officers surrounded the detention center on Sunday morning. Shortly afterward, Russian state media released a brief statement from the country’s prison service saying security officers had stormed the facility, “liquidated” the mutinous inmates and freed the hostages unharmed.
The governor of Rostov and senior federal officials have not yet commented on this episode.
The Rostov mutiny comes less than three months after the attackers the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia for over a decade in a concert hall near Moscow. The attack, which left nearly 150 dead, took place despite American intelligence services provide a detailed warning to their Russian counterparts of the impending plot.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the concert hall attack. President Vladimir V. Putin, however, blamed Ukraine and Western intelligence services for the situation, without providing evidence.
Critics of Mr. Putin said the accusations were an attempt to divert attention from his government. failure to confront the threat of Islamist terrorism as their attention turned to the war in Ukraine.
Sunday’s attack could reignite public debate about the threat, fueled by the Kremlin’s crackdown on separatist Muslims in Russia and Mr. Putin’s support for Islamic State’s enemies in Syria.
At least one Russian official has publicly questioned how Rostov inmates managed to escape from their cells and overpower guards.
“They had clearly been planning this for some time,” said Andrei Medvedev, a Russian propagandist and regional lawmaker in Moscow. wrote on the Telegram Sunday messaging app. “Where is the protocol for dealing with particularly dangerous inmates?
Hwaida Saad reports contributed.
