Prisons in Ukraine are regulated by the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, a part of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
As of 2000 [update] , there are 32 preliminary prisons, 131 penitentiary establishments for adults and 8 colonies for minor criminals in Ukraine. [1] According to Amnesty International, torture and ill-treatment by the police is widespread in Ukrainian prisons. [2] [3] Several police officers have been arrested for allegedly torturing detainees. [4]
In early 2010, there were over 147,000 people in prison and more than 38,000 in pre-trial detention facilities in Ukraine, a total three times that of Western European countries, [5] and half as much as in the United States. In 2009, the number of inmates in Ukraine rose for the first time in seven years. Coupled with this increase was a higher instance of suicide (44 prisoners) and HIV (761 deaths therefrom) in penal institutions during 2009; the former compares with 40 suicides in 2008. [5] Between 1996 and 2001, about 26 percent of inmates in various prisons across Ukraine tested HIV-positive. In a January 2006 study, between 15 and 30 percent of prisoners tested HIV-positive. [6] In early 2005, tests showed up to 95 percent of prisoners were hepatitis C positive. [6] In 2011, 6,000 inmates had HIV and 5,500 suffered from an active form of tuberculosis. [7]
In there were 2011 inmates who had been kept in pre-trial detention for up to 12 years; there was no legal limit as to length of such incarceration. [7]
According to Ukrainian authorities in January 2026 there were around 34,600 inmates in the entire Ukrainian penitentiary system. [8]
Convicts in Ukrainian prisons work 7 or 8 hours a day, except for weekends. [9] Prisoners get to keep part of the money raised from the sale of the items they produce. [9] They are limited to four pairs of shoes. [9] Computers, cell phones and other electronic gadgets are strictly forbidden in jail. [9] Bathing may be limited to once a week. [9]
According to the US Department of State Human Rights Report 2009, conditions in prisons and detention facilities in Ukraine are harsh, and pretrial detention was seen as arbitrary and lengthy. [10] According to Amnesty International, allegations of torture and ill treatment in police custody increased in 2010. [3]
In 2021 Amnesty International reported that the abuse of prisoners remained "endemic". [11]
In March 2022 the European Court of Human Rights had ruled against Ukraine in 115 cases . [11] The European Court found that Oleksandr Rafalsky had spent 15 years in prison despite good reasons to believe that his "confessions" had been extorted by torture. [12]