Russian forces storm a detention facility to rescue staff taken hostage, killing hostage takers

By The Associated Press on June 16, 2024.

MOSCOW (AP) – Russian security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia, ending a hostage standoff, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday.

The hostages at the facility in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service.

It said that the hostage takers had been “liquidated,” with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

MOSCOW (AP) – Inmates at a pre-trial detention center in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don have taken two employees hostage, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said Sunday.

Russian state news agency Tass, citing unnamed sources in law enforcement, said that six hostage takers were in the central courtyard of the Rostov region’s Detention Center No. 1, armed with a penknife, a rubber baton and a fire ax. The prisoners include men accused of links to the Islamic State group, it said.

In a statement, officials said that the situation was “under control” and that negotiations were underway to free the hostages. It added that employees from the Federal Penitentiary Service’s central office were traveling to the scene.

IS have carried out a number of attacks on Russian soil in recent years, including most recently in March when gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.

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