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Russia · Orenburg Oblast · Sol-Iletsk

Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6)

Federal penal colonySupermaxmaleOvercrowded (100%)ModerateMedium
Verified · Data dated
Aging · 5mo ago
Sources last reviewed on · data-as-of

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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.

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How to send mail, money, and visit Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6)

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Photograph of Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6)

Russia's flagship special-regime colony for life-sentenced prisoners. Operates the strictest known regime in the Russian system.

Background

Federal Governmental Institution - Penal Colony No. 6 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Orenburg Oblast, commonly known as the Black Dolphin Prison (Russian: Чёрный дельфин, romanized: Chyorny delʹfin) and formerly known as NKVD Prison No. 2 is a prison in Sol-Iletsk, Orenburg Oblast, Russia, near its border with Kazakhstan. It is one of the oldest prisons in Russia, and one of the first in the Orenburg Oblast to accept prisoners with life sentences. It gets its unofficial name from a prisoner-constructed sculpture depicting a black dolphin, which is set in front of the main entrance.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

700

Current population

700

Occupancy

100%

Year opened

1999

Operational

Figures from official sources · verified 28 May 2026 · methodology

Facility profile

Population held

male

Opened

1999

Region

Orenburg Oblast

Security level

Supermax

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

Inmates spend 22+ hours per day in two-person cells. Movement is escorted with blindfolds and stress positions.

Visiting

Short visits (up to 4 hours) twice per year; long visits (up to 3 days) twice per year. Often denied in practice.

Mailing

Mail screened by the colony censor; outgoing letters limited per month. Russian FSIN format with colony number required.

Practical info

Family parcels permitted to limits set by regime tier; pre-approval often required.

Known issues

Reports of psychological isolation regime. Memorial and OVD-Info have documented restricted access for monitors.

Notable inmates

  • Kegashbek Orunbayev
    1962 · serial killer
  • Mikhail Popkov
    1964 · militsiya
  • Novosibirsk Serial Killer
    Novosibirsk Serial Killer
    1965 · serial killer

    Yevgeny Alexandrovich Chuplinsky (Russian: Евгений Александрович Чуплинский; born 14 March 1965), known as The Novosibirsk Maniac (Russian: Новосибирский маньяк), is a Russian serial killer who killed at least 19 prostitutes in the Novosibirsk Oblast from 1998 to 2005.

  • Salaudin Timirbulatov
    1960 · military personnel
  • Vadim Krotov
    1967–2011 · serial killer

    Vadim Sergeevich Krotov (Russian: Вади́м Серге́евич Кро́тов; born 11 February 1967), known as The Nakhodka Chikatilo (Russian: Находкинский Чикатило), is a Russian serial killer, child molester and producer of child pornography.

  • Oleg Naumov
    1978 · military personnel

    Oleg Vladimirovich Naumov (Russian: Оле́г Влади́мирович Нау́мов; born 1978) is a Russian mass murderer, convicted for the killing of seven people on 26 January 1998, in Sakhalin Oblast.

  • Vladimir Nikolaïev
    1959 · serial killer

    Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikolayev Alho (Russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Никола́ев Алхо) (born March 16, 1959) is a Russian murderer from Novocheboksarsk. Nikolayev is best known for the cannibalism of his victims, and of distributing and selling their flesh to others in disguise of exotic animal meat.

  • Vladimir Mukhankin
    1960 · serial killer

    Vladimir Anatolyevich Mukhankin (Russian: Владимир Анатольевич Муханкин, born 22 April 1960) is a Russian serial killer, convicted for the murder of 9 people in Rostov Oblast in 1995.

  • Alexey Pichugin
    1962 · military officer

    Alexey Vladimirovich Pichugin (Russian: Алексе́й Влади́мирович Пичу́гин; born July 25, 1962, in Orekhovo-Zuevo, Moscow Oblast, USSR) is a former manager in the security department at the Russian oil company Yukos.

Showing 9 of 12. Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.

Contact & address

Sol-Iletsk, Sol-Iletsk 461505
Official site

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

16/100
Moderate concern16/100
Overcrowding
5/30
Oversight reports
6/30
Structural flags
5/15
Death signals
0/15
Conditions text
0/10

What the score is responding to:

  • · Operating at 100% of design capacity
  • · 1 oversight report in the last 5 years
  • · Substantial documented known-issues record

This facility scores 16. The national average across 2,130 scored Russia facilities is 19 — 3 points below national average.

Related facilities

All in Russia →

Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.

Compared to other facilities in Russia

2129 peers
Conditions risk scorethis: 16/100 · peers avg: 22/100 (27%)

Higher risk than 0% of peer facilities in Russia.

Capacity (beds)this: 700 · peers avg: 1082 (35%)

Reports

  • Russia Behind Bars1 Aug 2022

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

    source

Data completeness

96%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA
World Prisons. (2026). Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6). Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/black-dolphin
Chicago
"Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6)." World Prisons. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/black-dolphin.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-black-dolphin,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Black Dolphin Prison (IK-6)},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/black-dolphin},
  urldate = {2026-10-15}
}