A prisoner in the Tula region close to Moscow who took three people hostage Tuesday was shot dead and the hostages released, news reports said Tuesday.
A man serving a 10-year prison sentence for robbery seized three members of the prison staff Tuesday morning, threatening them with items including an improvised explosive device, the Interfax news agency reported.
The man said he was not guilty of the crime he was convicted of, and demanded to be released from the institution, the report said, adding that it wasn't the man's first conviction.
The staff members were released three hours later and the prisoner was shot dead during an operation to resolve the situation, Interfax cited an Investigative Committee spokesperson as saying.
