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Russian Prison Riots Spread to Bashkiria

A riot in a maximum-security prison in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan has left six inmates hospitalized with injuries, Russian media reported.

More than 100 inmates participated in the prison riot in the town of Salavat in Bashkortostan, also known as Bashkiria, a spokesperson from the regional penitentiary service said, TASS reported Sunday.

The riot was the second outbreak of prison unrest in the country this month, coming after a brawl at a Nizhny Novgorod region prison for inmates suffering from tuberculosis reportedly left one dead and more than 20 injured.

The inmates in Bashkortostan, which is located just west of the Ural Mountains, demanded a "softening of the security regime regulations, the regional penitentiary service spokesperson was quoted by TASS as saying.

Twelve of the inmates "barricaded themselves on the roof of one of the units," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Rioters also beat at least 11 of their fellow inmates, causing six of them to be hospitalized in the prison's infirmary, the spokesperson said, TASS reported.

Life News agency placed the number of injured at 12, adding that a medical officer said "all traumas were suffered during the fight with other inmates."

The riot "calmed down" after Bashkortostan's prosecutor-general Andrei Nazarov arrived at the prison, Life News reported, without providing details.

Federal Penitentiary Service spokesman Ilshat Kikbulatov told news agency TASS that prison guards did not use force against inmates.

A spokesperson for the Federal Penitentiary Service said that the riot was started by a 30-year-old inmate service an 18-year term for armed robbery, "banditry," ammunition theft and illegal possession of drugs, Life News reported.

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