With the recent release of former marine Trevor Reed from a Russian prison, many people are
wondering what the conditions of these facilities are like.
While overcrowding and abuse were rampant years ago, have conditions improved at all
in recent years?
Here's what life in a Russian prison is really like.
Russia has the largest prison population in Europe and ranks 17th worldwide, according
to the Center for Eastern Studies.
Today, there are roughly 321 inmates per 100,000 of the national population, according to Prison
Studies.
For perspective, America's prison population peaked between 2006 and 2008 at 1,000 inmates
per 100,000, according to the Pew Research Center.
Out of more than 464,000 prisoners housed in Russian facilities, foreign prisoners make
up 6.2% of the population, and 8.3% of all prisoners are female.
Radio Free Europe reports Russian prisoners have faced dire circumstances related to overcrowding
in the 21st century.
At its worst in the early 2000s, inmate personal space amounted to little more than a coffin's
worth, and inmates had to take turns sitting and lying on bunks.
Although the government has slashed the prison population by more than half since 2000, too
many bodies remain crammed in tight spaces.
And you can wind up in these tight spaces for a variety of reasons.
Summer 2021 demonstrations for the imprisoned Alexey Navalny, Russian opposition leader
and anti-corruption activist, took place across the nation, resulting in thousands of arrests
for, quote, "illegal demonstrations."
By August, more than 800 protesters still sat behind bars.
Inmates in Russian prisons are surrounded by chronic illness.
Diseases abound, including AIDS and hepatitis, which can prove fatal over the long haul.
They also lead to a general deterioration in the quality of life both before and after
prison.
But potential disease dangers don't end there.
According to the Newsline People AIDS Coalition, more than 100,000 individuals in the prison
system have tuberculosis, and thousands of these inmates have drug-resistant versions
of the illness.
In one two-year period, roughly 20,000 prisoners died from TB.
Reuters paints an even grimmer picture, claiming that nearly half of all inmates in Russia's
prison system are sick, with HIV as the biggest culprit.
Statistics from 2010 claim that of the 846,000 prisoners in the system at that time, approximately
55,000 had AIDS.
Forty thousand prisoners suffered from tuberculosis, and 15,000 had syphilis.
Finally, 67,500 inmates reported mental health issues.
To make matters worse, human rights advocates argue that the Russian prison system underreports
the number of sick prisoners.
While gaining access to more accurate statistics proves challenging, Nikolai Krivolapov of
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service told journalists, quote, "The big picture remains
abysmal."
Russian prisons aren't known for cutting-edge technology or posh amenities.
Most date from before the 1970s, and many go all the way back to the Russian Empire.
The result can lead to subhuman conditions for prisoners.
According to the Archive of European Integration, it's hard for inmates to maintain basic hygiene
because the prisons are in disrepair and worsened by overcrowding.
Lack of clean facilities exacerbates the likelihood of contracting deadly diseases.
According to one former inmate of Colony No. 14 in Mordovia, Svetlana Bakhmina, she lived
with 100 female inmates who were only permitted to shower once a week.
Many resorted to covertly drawing water from prison radiators to wash during the week.
If caught, they faced punishment.
Bakhmina also described a lack of adequate toilet facilities, claiming only one toilet
served her barracks, and it didn't work.
So, inmates resorted to using an outhouse.
An op-ed by Olga Romanova reporting for The Moscow Times argues that this "obsolete infrastructure"
has its origins in the gulag system.
But corruption today has exacerbated the problem in new ways because of, quote, "the practice
of nationalizing losses and privatizing profits."
Prisoners help pay for their stays, yet funds evaporate in the Russian penal system without
clear improvements to correctional facilities.
Convicts of the Russian prison system shouldn't expect regular visits from friends and family.
Most penal colonies are located in remote areas, and vast distances impede families
and friends from regular visitation.
Even in cases where prisoners are closer to home, calls and visits get limited by prison
officials, according to France 24.
So, inmates must foster long-distance relationships from the penal colony, mainly through handwritten
correspondence.
According to Arkansas Online, some penal colonies now offer limited internet access through
a third party.
While inmates are not permitted to access the internet directly, they may give handwritten
letters to guards.
These guards scan the letters and attach them to emails, transmitting replies.
Although the system may sound a little backward, it represents a massive improvement over complete
reliance on snail mail.
But not all convicts are allowed digital communication access, so letters remain the most effective
way of staying in touch for many.
As a Russian prison system inmate, your fate is intertwined with the penal colony where
you get assigned.
The system contains four types of facilities.
The most lenient of these are known as colonies-settlements.
In these facilities, house inmates reside in large barracks and can move about freely.
They wear civilian clothing, enjoy leave passes, and even meet with family members, making
these placements highly coveted among prisoners.
The next step up the security ladder is the ordinary regime penal colony, which has much
stricter rules.
If you're an inmate at one of these facilities, expect housing in large barracks, typically
with a 150-bed capacity.
You can't move around the facility freely, and you face constant supervision.
As for strict regime and special regime penal colonies, they house the nation's most dangerous
criminals.
Inmates stay locked in cells containing between 20 and 50 convicts.
The European Convention on Human Rights stipulates prisoners receive a minimum of 40-plus square
feet of personal space, and Russian law states that inmates must receive at least half of
that.
But actual overcrowding puts convicts in much tighter quarters.
And the higher the level of security, the more dangerous the other prisoners you're
housed with.
Apart from these differences, all Russian inmates in any one of these facilities face
isolation and the potential for forced labor.
While you likely don't want to go to a Russian prison at all, there are some that are truly
horrifying, even by those standards.
For example, Penal Colony No. 2 is infamous for "unbearable" conditions, according to
ABC News.
This is the prison where opposition leader Alexey Navalny got sentenced to in 2021.
Attorney Pyotr Kuryanov of the NGO Fund for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights has nothing
good to say about the prison.
Located in the Russian village of Pokrov, Kuryanov refers to it ominously as "a breaking
camp."
Former inmates have gone on record arguing that Navalny likely won't face physical torture
because of his high-profile status.
But as one-time convict Vladimir Pereverzin elaborates,
"They will psychologically break him."
Other prisons considered among the toughest in the nation include the Black Dolphin, located
on the Kazakhstan border.
Expect to share space with cannibals, terrorists, and serial killers if you find yourself here.
And don't assume you'll fare better as a woman.
Penal Colonies No. 13 and 14 in Mordovia house two women's prisons with fearsome reputations.
Penal Colony 14 is so dreaded, women attempt suicide to avoid it, according to Radio Free
Europe.
In 2018, Russian media broke the story of Yevgeny Makarov, whose brutal torture at IK-1
in Yaroslavl, near Moscow, got caught on tape, per the BBC.
The footage caused a public outcry, leading to the prosecution and sentencing of 13 guards
seen in the video.
But Dmitry Nikolaev, former boss of the prison, and Igit Mikhailov, his deputy, secured full
acquittals.
Sadly, Makarov's case is far from an isolated incident.
In November 2018, a prisoner named Sultan Israilov got beaten to death by four guards,
who initially tried to cover up the event as a suicide.
Only after a prison-wide hunger strike did authorities step in to examine the case further.
Not only should you expect beatings at a Russian penal colony, but extortion is also a reality
some prisoners face.
Some families of prisoners at IK-7 have faced the extortion of millions of rubles by two
officials to secure the safety of imprisoned family members.
In addition to psychological and physical torture, Russian prisoners also face forced
labor.
The nation's correctional system decided to revive "compulsory labor as a criminal punishment"
on January 1, 2017.
Prison officials argue it's better than keeping inmates isolated from the world.
What's more, Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Maximenko argued
that prisoners who work receive perks like living in more desirable, lower-security facilities.
But according to Nadya Tolokonnikova of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, working at a
penal colony is definitely not a privilege.
In 2013, she penned a letter about her experiences at Penal Colony No. 14 writing:
"Everyday life in the colony is set up in such a way that prisoners who head a brigade
and take orders from managers break a person's will, bully them, and turn them into silent
slaves."
"When you're in prison, the day lasts forever."
Fellow prisoner Svetlana Bakhmina backed up Tolokonnikova's claims, stating that work
proceeded like an assembly line from dawn to dusk with compulsory overtime.
Any woman who refused to work faced harsh consequences.
Bakhmina also noted that production goals constantly increased, leaving prisoners exhausted
and worked to the bone.
Zara Murtazalieva described sewing everything from gloves to army uniforms and tents while
making little more than $20 per month.
She also experienced beatings and the constant emotional strain of having surveillance cameras
watching her every move.
On May 10, 2015, a riot broke out at IK-2, a strict regime prison in Salavat.
The riot involved approximately 100 inmates and led to the seizure of one of the colony
buildings.
Later, inmate/family forums stated the riot's cause as, quote, "dissatisfaction with the
results of the amnesty for the 70th anniversary of the Victory."
Inmates of Russian penal colonies only have so much recourse when protesting the horrible
conditions.
There are hunger strikes, both by individuals and groups, and prisoners riot when things
reach a boiling point.
Unfortunately, riots don't improve prisoner conditions, as reported by France 24.
Instead, they can lead to a vicious cycle of escalating abuse, including sexual violation
and torture.
To avoid prosecution, prison officials often command other inmates to do the dirty work.
This systemic punishment ensures there's always a fall-guy apart from higher-ups.
One inmate who admitted to violating other inmates is Denis Golikov.
In the wake of a deadly riot in April 2020, prison officials ordered him to get confessions
from 150 fellow convicts.
He later detailed in a handwritten statement,
"Everything — except corpses — is permitted."
As a Russian prisoner, every aspect of your existence is controlled by the Federal Penitentiary
Service, or FSIN.
In other words, say good-bye to democratic concepts like the rule of law and fundamental
human rights.
Established in 1998, the FSIN employs approximately 325,000 workers and operates as a "state within
a state" without consistent oversight.
"The deputy director of Matrosskaya Tishina says everyone always blames the prison but
he says we're not the only ones who are responsible."
Although prisoner populations have declined in recent years, FSIN employee numbers have
remained relatively stable.
As a result, there are 2.3 times as many penitentiary system employees to inmates compared to American
prisons.
To survive in this system, you must follow the rules made by correctional officers, even
when they show blatant disregard for morality or legality.
In the Russian penal colony, the FSIN alone is sovereign.
One former prisons inspector, Akir Mirzoyey, told Reuters,
"[Russian prisons] are crushing the prisoner as an individual and calling it the betterment
of a person.
That is the main aim."
After Trevor Reed's imprisonment in 2019, the American and former Marine thought he'd
never see his home again.
This fear grew into utter despair after 985 days in the Russian penal system.
Reed was arrested after he allegedly got into an altercation with a Russian police officer
while intoxicated.
At his lowest point, he learned about the war in Ukraine, assuming it represented the
final nail in his coffin.
But then the unthinkable happened.
A prisoner exchange secured his release.
The Biden administration negotiated the return of Konstantin Yaroshenko, conditional upon
Reed's liberation.
Yaroshenko, a pilot and convicted drug runner, had been sentenced to 20 years in prison in
2011 on charges of trafficking cocaine.
Thanks to the international deal, Reed became a free man on April 27, 2022.
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