Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza is a Russian-British political activist, journalist, author, filmmaker, and former political prisoner. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, he is vice-chairman of Open Russia, an NGO founded by Russian businessman and former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which promotes civil society and democracy in Russia. He was elected to the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition in 2012, and served as deputy leader of the People's Freedom Party from 2015 to 2016. He has directed two documentaries, They Chose Freedom and Nemtsov. As of 2021, he acts as Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He was awarded the Civil Courage Prize in 2018.
Ilya Valeryevich Yashin is a Russian opposition politician who led the People's Freedom Party (PARNAS) from 2012 to 2016, and then its Moscow branch. He was also head of the Moscow municipal district of Krasnoselsky and former chairman of the Council of Deputies of the Krasnoselsky district from 2017 to 2021.
A corrective colony is the most common type of prison in Russia and some other post-Soviet states. Such colonies combine penal detention with compulsory work. The system of labor colonies and camps originated in 1929, and after 1953, the corrective penal colonies in the Soviet Union developed as a post-Stalin replacement of the Gulag labor camp system.
Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny was a Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in 2011. He was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his work on human rights.
The Federal Penitentiary Service is a federal agency of the Ministry of Justice of Russia responsible for correctional services.
Sergei Stanislavovich Udaltsov is a Russian left-wing political activist. He is the unofficial leader of the Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM). In 2011 and 2012, he helped lead a series of protests against Vladimir Putin. In 2014 he was sentenced to 4¹⁄₂ years in a penal camp for organizing the May 2012 protest which ended in violence between the police and demonstrators.
Federal Governmental Institution — Penal Colony No. 6 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Orenburg Oblast, commonly known as the Black Dolphin Prison and formerly known as NKVD Prison No. 2 is a correctional facility in Sol-Iletsk, Orenburg Oblast, Russia, near its border with Kazakhstan. The prison is one of the oldest 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.
Kharp is an urban locality in the Priuralsky District of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, on the bank of the Sob River near the Polar Urals. Population: 6,413 (2010 Census); 7,278 (2002 Census); 5,381 (1989 Soviet census).
Prisons in Russia consist of four types of facilities: pre-trial institutions; educative or juvenile colonies; corrective colonies; and prisons.
Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, commonly referred to as the Russian opposition, can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and the various non-systemic opposition organizations. While the former are largely viewed as being more or less loyal to the government and Putin, the latter oppose the government and are mostly unrepresented in government bodies. According to Russian NGO Levada Center, about 15% of the Russian population disapproved of Putin in the beginning of 2023.
Ildar Ildusovich Dadin also known by his nom de guerreGandhi (Ганди) is a Russian activist, accused of violent acts and derailing during demonstrations and hence constantly receiving increased attention from the authority. He is the first person to spend one year in a penal colony solely for his activity.
The Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny announced his intention to run for President of Russia in the 2018 election on 13 December 2016. The primary themes of his campaign have been focusing on domestic issues, including combating corruption in Russia and improving the economy. Commentators noted that Navalny's campaign was unprecedented in modern Russia as politicians usually do not start campaigning until a few months before the election.
Dmitry Andreevich Artyukhov is a Russian politician who has served as the Governor of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug since 29 May 2018. As of May 2018, he is the youngest head of a federal subject in Russia. In 2021, Artyukhov 's official income was 26 409 000 rubles. His wife owned 15 076 000 rubles.
Kira Aleksandrovna Yarmysh is a Russian public figure and writer. She is the former press secretary and assistant of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the author of the 2020 novel Incredible Incidents in Women's Cell No. 3.
FKU Corrective Colony No. 2 of the UFSIN of Russia for Vladimir Oblast, also known simply as IK-2 Pokrov or Pokrov correctional colony, is a general regime corrective colony located on the outskirts of the town of Pokrov in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. It is known for its strict rules and harsh punishments.
Federal Governmental Institution — penal colony No. 18 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, commonly known as the Polar Owl is a Russian prison located on the bank of the Sob River near the Polar Urals in the Kharp urban-type settlement. It is one of the seven supermax corrective labor colonies operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service for convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in Russia. In addition to special regimen it has sections with common and strict regimens.
FKU Corrective Colony No. 2 of the FSIN of Russia for the Republic of Mordovia, or simply IK-2 Yavas, is a women's corrective colony in Russia. It is located near Yavas, Mordovia, about 300 mi (480 km) southeast of Moscow. It is known for the incarceration of WNBA player Brittney Griner.
Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gorinov is a Russian qualified lawyer and deputy of Moscow's Krasnoselsky District Council who was sentenced to seven years in prison for speaking out against a proposal to hold a children's dance and drawing competition despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was the first court sentence in years under tough new laws introduced by Russia in the early days of the invasion. Gorinov was the first convict who did not admit his guilt in protest against this invasion.
FKU IK-3 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, also known as Polar Wolf or Yamskaya Troika, is a men's maximum security corrective colony in the town of Kharp in the Priuralsky District in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It has an occupancy limit of 1,085 people.
On 16 February 2024, at 14:19 Moscow time, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug announced that Russian opposition activist and political prisoner Alexei Navalny died while serving a 19-year prison sentence in corrective colony FKU IK-3, in the village of Kharp in the Russian Arctic. Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, confirmed his death the next day and demanded his body should be returned to his family as soon as possible. One report from Russia Today suggested the cause of death was a blood clot, but this diagnosis was disputed by Alexander Polupan, who had treated Navalny before. Navalny was 47 years old when he died.
