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Russian Convicts Cut Wrists En Masse on Train to Prison Colony

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Fifteen Russian convicts slashed their wrists in a self-harm protest aboard a train taking them to a prison colony in Russia's Far North on Wednesday, Russian media reported.

The train was transporting the convicts from the central city of Vologda to the northern Karelia republic, according to Interfax, but stopped at St. Petersburg's Ladozhsky Station after the prisoners began cutting themselves.

Medics were called to the scene and two of the convicts were hospitalized, but an unidentified Federal Prison Service representative said they would all continue their journey to the north after they were treated, Interfax reported.

The reasons for the protest were not immediately clear. Media reports suggested that the convicts were unhappy with their destination.

Incidents of self-mutilation are not an uncommon form of protest among Russian prisoners.

Wednesday's protest came barely a week after at least 30 inmates cut their wrists in protest at the conditions in a maximum security prison in Russia's Far East Amur region.

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