Russia has the largest prison population in Europe and ranks 17th worldwide, reports 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). Of the nearly 464,183 prisoners housed in Russian facilities, foreign prisoners make up 6.2% of the population, and 8.3% of all prisoners are female.
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Radio Free Europe reports Russian prisoners have faced dire circumstances related to overcrowding in the 21st century. So, if you happen to find yourself serving time in one of the penal colonies, hope you’re a people person. At its worst in the early 2000s, inmate personal space amounted to little more than a coffin’s worth. (No claustrophobia allowed.) 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.
As recent political unrest attests, a couple of weekends of protesting can overwhelm penal colonies, per Euro News. Summer 2021 demonstrations for Alexey Navalny took place across the nation, resulting in thousands of arrests for “illegal demonstrations.” By August, more than 800 protesters still sat behind bars. One video revealed 28 men in a cell made for eight. The room lacked cots, mattresses, and a flushing toilet. Instead, detainees used a squat toilet. (Basically, a hole in the floor.)
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