World Prisons
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Europe · Eastern Europe

Russia

High confidence
Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 1 May 2026
Fresh · 9d ago

Population has declined steadily since the 2000 peak above 1 million. FSIN operates a tiered penal-colony system rather than conventional prisons.

Compare RussiaWorld Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

282,000

Year: 2026

Rate per 100,000

197

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

67%

At or under capacity

Pre-trial / remand

30.1%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

8.9%

Foreign nationals

7.1%

Conditions risk — across 1000 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

19/100
national average
2 moderate998 unknown

How Russia compares

vs Europe (16) & global averages
Rate per 100,000this: 197 · region: 102 · global: 214
Occupancy ratethis: 67% · region: 98% · global: 125%
Pre-trial sharethis: 30% · region: 28% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year
2000: 1,060,404-56.1% over 22y2022: 465,896

What we know — and don't

Transparency about the boundaries of this data. Click sources where linked.

What we don't know

  • Conditions inside the strict-regime colonies remain opaque; foreign monitoring access severely restricted since 2022.

Prisons in Russia

Browse all 1,209 →

1,209 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

"SLEDSTVENNYI IZOLIaTOR N 2 UPRAVLENIIa ISPOLNENIIa NAKAZANII MINISTERSTVA IuSTITsII ROSSIISKOI FEDERATsII PO VORONEZhSKOI OBLASTI-UChREZhDENIE IZ-36/2

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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<<FKU LIU-5 UFSIN Rossii po respubliki Buriatiia>>

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Äänislinna IV concentration camp

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Abez labor camp

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Administrativnoe zdanie ITU-12

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Administratsiia LIU-1

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Akatuy katorga

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Akhtubinskii ITL

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Akhunskii ITL

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Akokan Gulag

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Aldanlag

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Aldanstroi

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Alexandrovsky Central

Russia

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Alluaivbud

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Altailag

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Amgun'lag

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

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Held

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Amurlag

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Angarlag

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Angarskaia vospitatel'naia koloniia

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Angarskaia vospitatel'naia koloniia

Russia

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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AO Avtomatika

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Aralichevs'kii VTT

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Arkhangel's'kii peresil'nii punkt OGPU

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Arkhangel's'kii VTT

Russia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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See all 1,209 prisons in Russia →

Data completeness

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population
143,500,0002026
Source-verified
20 May 2026
Source links
3 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Recent reports

  • IK-3 'Polar Wolf'16 Feb 2024

    Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny pronounced dead at IK-3. Cause disputed; Memorial calls for independent international investigation.

    OVD-Info / Memorial · source

  • Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6)1 Aug 2022

    Documented patterns of psychological isolation and movement-with-blindfold rituals applied to all inmates regardless of risk assessment.

    Russia Behind Bars · source