ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 12. /TASS/. The penitentiary chief in southern Russia’s Rostov Region and his first deputy stepped down following last month’s hostage taking at a local pre-trial detention center, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) said on its website.

As an official inspection was conducted at the facility, four other prison officers were fired and 16 others were subjected to disciplinary liability after the incident that occurred in mid-June, the FSIN added.

A team of highly experienced FSIN staff had been dispatched to the detention center to stabilize the situation there, the service said.

The materials of the inspection have been sent to the Russian Investigative Committee and the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office.

On June 16, six prisoners took employees of the Rostov-on-Don pre-trial detention center hostage. While the rebels were liquidated, their captives were safely released in the course of a special operation. A criminal probe was launched.