Knife-wielding prisoners identifying themselves as Islamic State terrorists staged a bloody attack on guards in a Russian penal colony on Friday and seized hostages, according to state media and news outlets with ties to the security services.
The prison is designated as a “harsh regime” penal colony with capacity to hold up to 1,241 male prisoners.
Russia, whose defence and security agencies are heavily focused on its war in Ukraine, has seen a recent upsurge in Islamist terrorist attacks.
ISIS attacks in Russia
In June, a bloody Islamic State-linked prison uprising took place in the southern region of Rostov, where special forces shot dead six inmates who had taken hostages.
In March, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in which gunmen raided the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow, sprayed the audience with automatic weapons fire and set fire to the building, killing more than 140 people.
