In Irkutsk region, a large scale search continues for four convicts who escaped from IK 19 through a tunnel under the fence. Police, special forces, internal troops and aviation are involved, and the main forces are concentrated in Irkutsk and Shelekhov districts, where the fugitives may have appeared. Residents and summer house owners are asked to stay alert and report any suspicious people, a large reward has been offered for help in their capture.

Let us recall that on the morning of May 18, four convicted inmates were found missing from Penal Colony No. 19, a maximum-security facility, after escaping through a tunnel under the main fence. Three of them were found guilty by the court of the group murder of migrant workers in the village of Moskovshchina, while another was convicted of robbery and armed robbery.
In accordance with the operational plan “Volcano-5,” servicemen of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, special forces of the GUFSIN and SOBR, and 12 territorial police units of the region—from the Shelekhovsky to the Nizhneudinsky districts—have been brought in for the search operations. Despite the weekend, the daily readiness regime remains in effect there.
Greatest attention is being paid to the Irkutsk and Shelekhovsky districts, where the day before 1,130 personnel and about 200 vehicles were deployed. From the air, helicopter units of the aviation squadron of the internal troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs are surveying the taiga area.
According to reports from vigilant citizens who called the duty units of law enforcement agencies, suspicious people were seen in the area of the settlements of Moty and Shamanki. This confirms the investigators’ version that the fugitives will try to hide in the forested area, and also corresponds to the identity of the presumed leader of the fugitives – 37-year-old Vladimir Avdeev. In 2005, after the bloody massacre in Moskovshchina, Avdeev, who has survival skills in the wild, managed to hide in the taiga for almost three months.
The police are urging residents of the Irkutsk and Shelekhovsky districts, as well as summer residents and gardeners who have plots of land in these areas, to exercise special vigilance and caution. If suspicious individuals are found, please call the duty unit of any police department.
A large cash reward has been announced for information that will help in the detention of the criminals.
Police duty unit: 21-65-11, 21-68-05.
GU MVD hotline: 21-68-88.
GUFSIN duty unit: 8 (3952) 26-80-31.
Based on materials from the press service of the GU MVD of Russia for the Irkutsk Region