Inmates from Ingushetia and Chechnya are named as hostage-takers in Rostov-on-Don

Prisoners from Ingushetia, convicted under terrorist articles, took part in hostage-taking at the Rostov SIZO (pre-trial prison), said the head of Ingushetia. Sources have added that prisoners from Chechnya were also among hostage-takers.

On June 16, inmates of the Rostov SIZO took two SIZO employees hostage. They identified themselves as members of the "Islamic State" (IS)* and demanded a car, weapons and the opportunity to leave the SIZO, sources have informed. A law enforcer source said that two hostage-takers were shot dead, and four others were detained.

According to the source, all six hostage-takers are dead, the "161.ru" outlet reports. Earlier, a source from law enforcement bodies said that four of the six prisoners were dead, and two others were seriously injured.

Four inmates who took part in the hostage-taking are natives of Ingushetia, the head of the republic, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, has written in his Telegram channel. "They had been convicted of terrorism and sentenced to 18 years of freedom deprivation each," he wrote.

The prisoners who took hostages had been convicted of preparing a terror act in Karachay-Cherkessia; three of them were from Ingushetia and Chechnya, a law enforcement source has clarified.

The "Kommersant" has confirmed that the hostage-takers had been convicted under terrorist articles. According to the outlet, in April 2022, Shamil Akiev, Tamerlan Gireev and Azamat Tsitskiev joined the "Islamic State" (IS)* and planned a terror act at the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessia by using an improvised explosive device (IED).

On December 19, 2023, the court sentenced Tsitskiev to 18.5 years, and Gireev and Akiev to 18 years in colony, the "Kommersant" has added.

*On December 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL or IS) as a terrorist international organization and banned its activities in Russia.