Russian Forces Storm Detention Facility, Kill ISIS-linked Hostage Takers

Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP
Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP
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Russian Forces Storm Detention Facility, Kill ISIS-linked Hostage Takers

Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP
Russian police, army officers and ambulances gather near a detention center in Rostov after several inmates took guards hostage. AP

Russian security forces stormed a detention center in southern Russia, ending a hostage standoff, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday.

The hostages at the facility in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service.

It said that the hostage takers had been “liquidated,” with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed.

State media said that some of the men were accused of affiliation with the ISIS militant group, which claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall in March.
Before special forces stormed the detention center, one of the hostage takers was shown by the 112 Telegram channel brandishing a knife beside one of the bound guards.
 



Israel Doesn't Want Regime Change in Iran, Says FM

Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)
Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Doesn't Want Regime Change in Iran, Says FM

Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)
Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday that the goal of its military campaign in Iran “is not a regime change.”

“This is for the Iranian people to decide,” Saar said in an interview on CNN. He said the Israeli security Cabinet set the objective as eliminating Iran's nuclear program and minimizing its ballistic missile threat.

“I believe what we are doing, as an ally for the US and for the Western civilization as a whole, is critical for stability in this part of the world,” Saar said, adding: “If we learn something from our history, when somebody says 'I'm going to eliminate the Jews,' take him at his word.”

He said Iran was within six months of being able to build as many as nine nuclear bombs.

Iran's foreign minister was scheduled to also be interviewed on CNN but had to cancel at the last minute, the network said.