Russia fires prison officials, opens investigations after torture videos

Prison guards are seen outside the Regional Tuberculosis Hospital No. 1, a medical institution run by the Saratov region's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) department, in the city of Saratov, Russia October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Filipp Kochetkov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities said on Wednesday they had fired five senior prison officials and opened a slew of criminal investigations into alleged torture and sexual assaults at a jail in the Saratov region.

The authorities acted after a prisoner rights group, Gulagu.net, began publishing what it said was graphic video evidence of orchestrated sadism at the prison, located around 700 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow.