Two former employees of the Surovikino penal colony have been convicted in connection with the hostage-taking case.

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The Volgograd Regional Court upheld the sentence of the former duty assistant to the head of Correctional Colony No. 19 in Surovikino and his deputy, who were convicted of negligence that led to the hostage-taking in August 2024.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on August 23, 2024, in Penal Colony No. 19 in Surovikino, four prisoners (natives of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), declaring themselves supporters of the "Islamic State"*, took 12 people hostage. Three prison staff members were killed, and another later died in the hospital. Kommersant later reported, citing the Volgograd Region Health Committee, that another prison staff member had died in the hospital; this information was not officially confirmed. Those involved in the assault were killed. The Volgograd Region Federal Penitentiary Service called reports of poor living conditions and harassment of Muslims fake, without providing evidence.

The Volgograd Regional Court upheld the sentences of two former employees of Penal Colony No. 19, who were convicted of negligence leading to the hostage-taking and deaths of three of their colleagues in August 2024, Interfax reported on April 10.

The court found that the former duty assistant to the prison warden and his deputy improperly performed their official duties while on duty on the day of the incident. Three prisoners were summoned from the production area to a disciplinary committee. The deputy, aware of the inspector's absence, failed to organize their escort, and the duty officer failed to supervise his subordinate's actions. As a result, the prisoners entered the administrative building unhindered.

The deputy duty officer also failed to search the prisoners or use a metal detector, yet they smuggled in two hammers, six knives, an awl, a telephone, and a dummy explosive device.

Both defendants were found guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 293 of the Russian Criminal Code (negligence resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence). The duty assistant was sentenced to five years in a general regime penal colony, and his deputy to four years.

The defense and prosecution appealed the sentence, but the regional court found no grounds for modification and upheld it.

As a reminder, the hostage-taking in Surovikino was the second in the Southern Federal District in three months. It was preceded by a similar incident that occurred in mid-June in a Rostov pretrial detention center. In both cases, the attackers declared themselves supporters of the Islamic State*. Details have been compiled by the "Caucasian Knot" in the report "Hostage Takings in the Volgograd Penal Colony and Rostov Pretrial Detention Center in the Summer of 2024".