Russian prison officers are still baffled...

A spokesman for Moscow prosecutors was unable to explain how such a daring escape could have taken place, saying that the 26 year-old Belarusian man "scaled" the outer prison wall, which was covered with razor wire.

"While being taken to a washing facility, the man pushed a prison guard out of the way, ran to the prison yard, scaled the prison wall and escaped," Vladimir Marchenko said.

Other sources suggest the man "jumped over" the fence.

"I know it"s hard to believe, but the man jumped over the prison fence and the razor wire like a contestant at the Olympics," spokesman for Moscow"s penitentiary department Sergei Tsygankov said.

The 26 year-old man, who is on the international wanted list for several thefts in Belarus, was detained in Moscow late last year. He was transferred to the prison"s mental ward after a failed suicide attempt.

Butyrka is one of Russia"s oldest penitentiary facilities. Though the modern building was constructed in 1879,

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