Prison "Polar Owl" for life-sentenced prisoners: where it is located, conditions, life and other details, video

Even repeat offenders are afraid to go to this prison. However, it’s not just that they’re afraid—she personifies absolute hopelessness for them. Some, having learned about the transfer to the Kharpovsky correctional colony number 18 of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which is the official name of the “Polar Owl,” choose to commit suicide. If even from the gloomy “Black Dolphin” there is at least a theoretical possibility of being released on parole, here you can say goodbye to this hope.

General information

IR "Polar Owl" is located in the village of Kharp, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. This is a gated community. Near the colony are the Rai-Iz Mountains and the Sob River. All this only adds to the harsh climate and makes escape impossible even in theory.

If in the “Polar Owl” there are criminals sentenced to life imprisonment, then in another colony, IK-3, in the same village, there are simply prisoners under strict regime. But in Polar Owl itself, in addition to 330 life prisoners, there are about a hundred who received shorter sentences. They live in prison-settlement conditions.

Who is eligible for parole?

By law, anyone sentenced to serve at least twenty-five years of a life sentence can apply for parole. Moreover, if he was distinguished by exemplary behavior.

But the statistics are not encouraging: so far only one prisoner has succeeded in this - Anvar Masalimov, who was released in 2016.

Prison workers admit that the penitentiary system is in no hurry to grant such requests. The point is not that most criminals have not repented. It’s just that, according to the prison administration, they don’t know how to do anything other than commit crimes.

Sometimes requests for parole are not granted purely out of mercy. For example, the administration does not see the point in releasing the murderer Alexei Popkov, who has reached his ninth decade. He can no longer work, and he almost never gets out of bed, his health is so bad. He is not a serial killer, he “only” killed his wife and son with extreme cruelty. In freedom he has nowhere to go, but here he is, at least under the supervision of the state, provided with food, housing, and free medical care.

origin of name

The official name of this zone is FKU IK-18 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. But among the people, of course, the name “Polar Owl” is better known. Sometimes you can find the White Owl variant. All these names come from the statue of an owl, which is located on the territory of the colony, as well as from its polar location and the “white” polar day.

It is also interesting why the owl sculpture was placed in the colony. According to one version, this is due to the endurance of these birds living in such harsh conditions. According to another, the owl is a mythical messenger of the underworld. And here in prison, it symbolizes the fact that many prisoners are on the verge of death.

"White Swan"

The official name is PKU OIK-2 OUCD GUFSIN of Russia for the Perm Territory .
Popularly known as the "White Swan". Located in the city of Solikamsk (Perm region). Built in 1938. Designed to accommodate 962 people. The name “White Swan” was invented by the convicts themselves. Here, in their opinion, many have their last berth, their last swan song. Later, local craftsmen from among the prisoners themselves depicted a swan in a mosaic, as well as in the form of a weather vane on the roof.

Currently, there are actually two colonies: strict regime IK-1 and special regime IK-2 for persons sentenced to life imprisonment, which is located inside IK-1. At the moment, those convicted of especially serious crimes are serving their sentences in the colony (how is a colony different from a prison?). These are serial and mass murderers, rapists, gang members, leaders of organized crime groups, and terrorists. Currently there are about 300 of them.

The conditions of detention of convicts comply with international standards and Russian legislation. There are from one to three people in one cell (what do cells look like in Russian prisons?). You are allowed to read literature, make purchases in the prison store, and correspond. All other contacts with the outside world are severely limited.

During the first 10 years of detention, visits with relatives are prohibited, correspondence is no more than one letter per year, and 24-hour video surveillance is conducted.

If the prisoner does not have any violations of the regime, the conditions of detention are slightly relaxed. Throughout the colony, prisoners move in a pose bent 90 degrees forward with their arms raised behind their backs (the so-called “swan pose,” which is also how the colony got its unofficial name).

During Soviet times, the colony was actively used as a tool for the re-education of thieves in law. According to unverified data, about 130 criminal authorities were “uncrowned” in the White Swan. The most famous thief who found himself within the walls of the colony was Vladimir Babushkin, known as Vasya the Diamond, who was imprisoned there until his death in 1985.

Among other famous prisoners, it is worth noting another thief in law Aslan Usoyan (Ded Khasan), who served part of his 15-year sentence here, serial killer Sergei Ryakhovsky, who died within these walls in 2005, and a famous political figure in St. Petersburg, A. Sobchak's associate Yuri Shutov, convicted as part of an organized criminal group for organizing contract killings.

But the most famous prisoner of the “White Swan” is the Chechen field commander and terrorist Salman Raduev , “famous” for the seizure of a hospital in the city of Kizlyar, who died in prison in 2002.

Currently, among other prisoners in the colony are serving their sentences:

• Dmitry Vinogradov is a mass murderer who shot six colleagues in 2012;
• Nikolai Dudin - serial killer from Ivanovo;
• Dmitry Karimov is a serial killer from Yekaterinburg.

We invite you to watch a video about the White Swan prison:

History of the prison

Over the years of its existence, the Polar Owl prison has repeatedly changed its status and purpose. The village of Kharp itself was founded only in 1961 specifically to serve the colony. At that time, people disliked by the authorities and convicted under political charges were exiled to it. But with the onset of the Khrushchev Thaw, the purpose of the colony changed. It became a prison for repeat offenders. In 1981, it was given the status of an IC. The Polar Owl became a zone for holding life prisoners in 2994.

Where is it located and how to get there?

Colony address: IK-18, Kharp village, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Index: 629420.

Getting to it is not at all easy, because there is no regular transport to the village. Therefore, from Salekhard you will have to take a taxi or passing cars. The closest city to the village is Labytnangi. From there you can also take a taxi. If you need to travel from other regions of Russia, you will have to fly by plane or go by train to Salekhard. And from there it’s time to get to the colony.

The prison does not have its own website on the Internet (it was deleted in 2016). All information can be found either in the local media and on the website of the Federal Penitentiary Service, or through a personal appeal to the colony.

Schedule

Like other special security prisons, Polar Owl has a strict daily routine:

• Wake up at 6am;
• 15-6.30 – exercise;
• Before 7 – breakfast;
• Another half hour for cleaning the cells, which the prisoners do on their own;
• From 7 to 8 the guards inspect the cells;
• 30-9.30 – examination of prisoners by the colony doctor on duty;
• 12-12.30 – lunch time;
• From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., all prisoners go for walks, but in strict order. The walk lasts one hour;
• 17-17.30 – dinner time;
• 20-20.40 – check of cells by guards;
• The next hour is reserved for the prisoners for their personal affairs;
• Lights out at 22.00.

In addition to fulfilling all these instructions, prisoners work in prison workshops. Since the prison is self-sufficient, prisoners must do all the work to maintain it themselves.

Watching TV is allowed only once a week. You can also read books from the prison library or listen to the radio, which plays in the colony all day long.

Black Dolphin

One of the oldest colonies in Russia, founded back in 1773 near the town of Sol-Iletsk in the Orenburg region. It houses life-sentenced prisoners, and a special regime operates within the correctional facility. It is believed that this is the most terrible prison in Russia.

The first life-long prisons began to appear on the map of the Orenburg region during the reign of Catherine II. The first to try their cameras were participants in the Pugachev uprising. It received its popular name from the fountain that operates in the courtyard of the institution.

The daily routine is strictly regulated, and the radio is on almost constantly. Prisoners' walks take place in a special cell, and not in the yard. It is slightly larger than the cells in which prisoners are kept.

By the way, on our website most-beauty.ru you can find out which institutions are in the TOP 10 most luxurious prisons in the world in this interesting article.

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Conditions of detention

Prisoners are kept in cells of two or three. But there are also single cells. This is largely due to the requirement to select cellmates according to psychological type, but it is very difficult to find a cellmate for a maniac or pedophile.

You can only talk with cellmates and only in a whisper. While walking, talking is prohibited. For violating the rules, prisoners are put in a punishment cell for several days.

There is also a ban on creative and amateur activities in the colony.

During the day, you are not allowed to lie or sit on the beds in the cells. Movement around the territory of the colony is carried out in a bent position, with arms drawn back and handcuffed.

Showering is allowed once a week and only for 10 minutes.

The prison library also has a special feature. There are no fiction books in it, only religious treatises and works of philosophers.

There is a minimal set of furniture inside the cell:

• Bed;
• Nightstand;
• Product shelf;
• Table and chair;
• Bathroom;
• Hanger;
• A barrel of water.

These things allow you to distribute all the necessary things of prisoners and simplify the search of the cell by guards.

Escapes

Attempts to escape from this prison are doomed to failure, because the conditions of the Arctic do not leave a single chance for the fugitive to survive. And the strict regime of detention reduces the success of the escape to zero.

No escapes have been officially registered, but it is likely that there have been at least several attempts throughout history. And due to difficult climatic conditions and the lack of any infrastructure nearby, even if you escape from the territory of the penitentiary institution, then a person may simply die - due to severe frost, lack of food and water.

Sailor's silence

The penitentiary institution received its seemingly romantic name from the name of the street, Matrosskaya Tishina, on which it is located.

This place in Moscow has a long history. A Strait House was founded here in 1775, and literally a year later it was converted into a prison. In the first years of Soviet power, minors were kept in the building, and then the institution served as a detention facility for especially dangerous criminals. In 1956, it began to perform the functions of a pre-trial detention center.

It became famous in the 90s, when leaders of gangster groups were kept there. Sergei Mavrodi served his sentence here for financial fraud.

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