Graphic footage of a handcuffed inmate being repeatedly kicked in the belly and slapped in the face as he cowers in a fetal position at a Rostov-on-Don prison has led to three guards being detained.
The video showed six correctional officers applying "special methods and physical force" on the "extremely challenging" inmate at Prison No. 10, the Federal Prison Service said in a statement Thursday.
Three of the officers face charges of abuse of authority. Two officers had already been fired from the prison service before the video appeared online, said the statement posted on the agency's website.
The inmate, who had been sentenced to 3 1/2 years for robbery and infliction of bodily harm, refused to hand in his civilian clothes and put on a prison uniform, the prison service said.
He was then taken to the prison's security office and videotaped while the "special methods" were being applied, the statement said.
The six-minute video was posted on YouTube on Tuesday but quickly removed because it violated the site's policy on "shocking and disgusting" content.
Against the backdrop of a prison revolt this week in Chelyabinsk, the Investigative Committee was quick to react, conducting a preliminary investigation and publishing the details of the incident online.
