Hello!

I'm Maxim Polyakov, a correspondent for the online magazine '7x7'. By 2030, prison complexes will be built in Russia. These facilities will combine pre-trial detention centers, courts, and penal colonies with various regimes on a single territory. The first three complexes will be constructed in the regional capitals of Ulan-Ude, Chita, and Kaluga. Citizens oppose this plan, but local authorities are attempting to silence their protests. In this letter, I will describe what these prison complexes will look like and explain why people are against them.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Statistics

In 2013, Russian penal colonies and prisons held over 700,000 inmates, but their number has been decreasing over the past 10 years. By 2021, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it had dropped to 475,000. At the end of 2023, the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) reported having 266,000 prisoners.

Tens of thousands of men and women were recruited for the war effort. Initially, they were hired by the Wagner PMC and later by the Ministry of Defense. The exact number of people who have been pardoned and deployed to Ukraine remains unknown.

Following the decrease in the number of inmates, Russian prisons began to shut down. Another reason for their closure was outdated infrastructure. FSIN claims that old prisons do not meet current standards. A few years ago, the authorities in St. Petersburg closed the well-known Kresty remand prison and constructed a new facility, Kresty-2, which became the largest pre-trial detention center in Europe.

In March 2023, during a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the head of the Ministry of Justice, Konstantin Chuyko, stated that remand prisons should be removed from city centers because they are “very dilapidated” and “ruin the urban environment.” Chuyko emphasized that prison complexes would also be established in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

Altogether, Russia plans to build 14 prison complexes, with construction costs varying from 128 to 213 million euros.

The Structure of Prison Complexes

One prison complex may accommodate up to 3,000 individuals: 830 men, 110 women, and 60 suspects and defendants. Authorities in Ulan-Ude stated that they would need to clear 80 hectares of forest to build such a facility. In Moscow, a similar area will be used to construct a new residential district.

According to the tender documentation for the prison complex in Kaluga Oblast, the facility will have an octagonal shape split into seven sectors. Each sector will house one establishment: two strict regime colonies (one for first-time offenders and the other for repeat offenders), a TB hospital, warehouses, two general regime colonies, and premises serving as pre-trial detention centers.

A separate building will contain cell-type rooms (essentially a prison within a prison for rule breakers) and punitive units. A segregated complex will house a settlement colony. The administrative building will include rooms for off-site court sessions and remote connections to court hearings.

People Against Prisons

Residents of three cities where the first prison complexes are slated to appear are opposed to this decision, and authorities are attempting to suppress their protests.

• Kaluga: protests by families with many children. In early March 2024, residents of Zherelo village, near the proposed prison construction site, met with ombudsman Yuri Zelnikov. Members of large families expressed their concerns about having convicts as neighbors. "This will create new job opportunities and other benefits. It is certainly better than having a cement plant nearby," countered the official. On April 10, citizens staged a picket and collected signatures. However, a few days later, protesters were summoned before an administrative panel, accused of deliberate damage to the lawn, and issued warnings. Activists filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office, which apparently advised them to pursue legal action. Residents of Kaluga continue to discuss the issue on VK and Telegram and submit appeals, hoping to avoid living near a prison complex.

• Ulan-Ude: war of districts. Authorities planned to build a prison complex for 3,000 inmates near the suburban settlement of Steklozavod. Its residents collected 4,500 signatures against the construction and launched the 'No to Penal Colony' campaign, recording videos to explain their stance. Residents voiced concerns about potential increases in crime and pointed out the existing "depressive facilities" in the area: a TB hospital, a psychoneurological dispensary, a hospital for the homeless, a cattle burial site, and a sewage treatment plant. Local authorities suggested relocating the prison complex to the other side of the city near the Energetik settlement. However, residents of Energetik also opposed this plan and gathered over 9,500 signatures against the construction. Nevertheless, Buryatia authorities approved the clearing of forests in Energetik for the prison complex. Regional head Alexander Tsydenov claimed that Steklozavod residents would regret not having a prison complex and assured Energetik residents that the construction would not cause problems.

Purpose of Prison Complexes

Perm journalist Oksana Asaulenko, who covers subjects related to the FSIN, suggests that the service anticipates an increase in the number of prisoners in Russia in the near future.

"Some penal colonies in Perm are half-empty. However, the implementation of the plan to construct prison complexes indicates an influx of inmates. They release one group of prisoners only to replace them with another. This abnormal state functioning does not address the prevention of crime," explains Asaulenko.

Another issue is that prison complexes will house inmates from various regions of Russia. Consequently, the prisoners will face difficulties in seeing their relatives and receiving food and other items. Human rights defender Anna Karetnikova, formerly a FSIN analyst in Moscow, highlighted this concern:

"The same complaints persist: this is inconvenient for relatives who wish to send packages and visit detainees. It is also challenging for prison staff, who are reluctant to work in remote locations. As a result, the facilities may experience understaffing. The primary argument we, as human rights defenders, emphasize is that individuals will fade from the public eye simply because accessing these facilities is difficult," says Karetnikova.

The prison system in Russia could become even more isolated, further diminishing inmates' human rights.

Police Complicity

Law enforcement officers employ various methods to detain girls and return them to their families, including fabricating legal cases. Quite often, relatives themselves file complaints, accusing the escapees of stealing jewelry, which serves as a pretext to declare the girls wanted. The case is not investigated at the location of the alleged theft but in their native republics. Once the girls are transferred there and handed over to the relatives, the latter withdraw the complaint, and the case is closed. Such a complaint was filed against Leyla Gireyeva from Ingushetia, who fled to St. Petersburg but was eventually returned to the republic. Selima Ismailova from Chechnya was detained at the airport for allegedly stealing 85,000 rubles and taken back to the region as well. Seda Suleymanova was registered as a witness in a case involving stolen jewelry.

Relatives also often forge certificates of incapacity. Leyla Gireyeva was declared incapacitated, and her father became her legal guardian. Marina Yandiyeva from Ingushetia received the same label based on the documents that, in her opinion, were fabricated. Due to this alleged evidence of mental illness, she was unable to seek help from the police.

"This is absolutely illegal; certificates of incapacity cannot be issued so easily. But if the police accept them without any additional proof, we immediately understand whose side they are on," explains Anokhina.

Women from Chechnya may also be monitored through the 'Magistral' system, which identifies any attempt to buy a transport ticket using their documents. In 2019, Aminat Lorsanova escaped from home and tried to fly to Moscow from Mineralnye Vody, but she was refused boarding. Previously, Aminat filed a complaint with the police against the exorcist of genies whom her relatives took her to. The exorcist did not face any charges, and the girl was added to the tracking system. This way, law enforcement learned about her purchase of a plane ticket and came to take her back to Chechnya alongside Aminat’s father.

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