Russia Behind Bars
A charitable foundation
A charitable foundation for convicted persons and their families
Russia Behind Bars
We are an independent team of like-minded people: lawyers, journalists, economists and simply people who have been in prison; we are in different cities of Russia and around the world. Despite the distance, we are united in our mission to help those who have suffered under the Russian justice system.
We have provided humanitarian and legal assistance to prisoners and their families in need since 2008.
More than anyone else, we can see the cruelty and inhumanity of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service system, where the lives of millions of former and current prisoners across Russia have been and continue to be ruined. That is why we set ourselves the global goal of a total reform of the penitentiary system in Russia. We believe that the time will come when we will be able to do so.
Our regional offices are in Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Yaroslavl.
The founder and inspirational figure of our foundation is the journalist and human rights activist Olga Romanova.
Russia Behind Bars is not only our team, but also each and every one of you! None of our projects would be possible without your financial support!
Russia Behind Bars is you!
Our Team
Russia Behind Bars
Foundation Director
Olga Romanova
Head of the Legal Department of Russia Behind Bars
Olga Podoplelova
Russia Behind Bars coordinator for initial processing of citizen petitions
Inna Bazhibina
These people are just small part of those who help us every day
Our employees and volunteers
- Ekaterina Shutova – General Coordinator
- Svetlana Osipova – Coordinator of the Sergei Sharov-Delonet School for Public Defenders operated by Russia Behind Bars
- Yulia Roschina – Coordinator of Prison Counselor and Prison Kids projects
- Tatiana Romanova – Coordinator of civic initiatives and volunteer projects of Russia Behind Bars
- Denis Timokhin – Special Investigations Coordinator
- Alexander Yolkin – Internet Projects Coordinator
- Milana Minaeva – Producer of the YouTube channel My Russian Rights
- Ivan Brushlinsky – Head of Psychological Support Services at Russia Behind Bars
We work outside of Moscow as well
Our regional representatives
- Yulia Vakhapova – Coordinator of Russia Behind Bars in the Volga Region (Yaroslavl)
- Anna Klimenko – Coordinator of Russia Behind Bars in the North-West (St. Petersburg)
- Vladimir Klopotov – Coordinator of Russia Behind Bars in Siberia (Novosibirsk)
They handle all legal matters at the Foundation
Our lawyers
- Leonid Abgadzhava
- Tural Ibragimov
How we help
Our Projects
Legal support
Legal assistance
The legal process of restoring justice is a complex, often very lengthy process that requires serious effort and patience. Especially in a country like Russia. We don’t have a magic wand which would make prison walls come crashing down, make courts change their decisions, and prosecutors apologize to you.
Nevertheless, in the toughest of circumstances over the years, our lawyers and human rights defenders have provided legal support in the following areas:
- Advice on the protection of rights in criminal proceedings and during the serving of a sentence;
- Client representation in cases, the results of which can affect the protection of the rights of many of those facing criminal prosecution or the correctional system;
- Working with international and national bodies on monitoring how prisoners’ rights are observed through drafting expert opinions and reports.
The Children of Russia Behind Bars project
Children Of Russia Behind Bars
We are especially proud of this project because it is the children of inmates who feel all the hardships of life the most, when one or both of their parents are incarcerated. Such children more often than others are forced to live by the “hit or run” law. They are not accepted by society. They often become victims of bullying by their peers because of the mistakes made by their parents. And most of all we want to show them that the world can be different.
We receive many letters from inmates who ask us to help their children. Their requests are quite modest – to send a toy for a birthday or a Christmas gift because inmates often earn just a few hundred rubles a month. We try to fulfill every request, and of course, we would not be able to do it without your support!
In addition to targeted assistance to those who contacted us, every year we help “the children of Russia Behind Bars” get ready for the school year by purchasing school supplies for them. And every year we organize “Secret Santa”, a charitable event to ensure that as many children in need as possible receive Christmas gifts.
Sending parcels to Russian prisons
Sending parcels with humanitarian aid
Our coordinators and volunteers regularly collect and send parcels to all Russian prisons, from the western borders to the Far East. Many of our coordinators have experienced the horrors of incarceration and they know like no one else what things inmates need. One of the most frequent requests is for clothes to wear when they are released. When convicted persons arrive at a prison, all their civilian clothes are taken away for safekeeping, and over the years of serving their sentence, these clothes simply rot away. A huge number of prisoners do not have any family, or their families cut off all contact with them, there is no one to send them clothes, and they simply have nothing to wear when they walk out of the prison gates.
Importantly, our coordinators regularly send parcels with essential items, such as tea, coffee, instant noodles, canned food, personal hygiene items, and stationary supplies, reading glasses, and many other “little things” that make life in Russian prisons a little more bearable.
Prisoners who never receive parcels or letters from the outside are known to be more likely to experience aggression and violence from their cellmates. They have absolutely no moral or material support behind prison walls. Russia Behind Bars often is the last hope for such people.
Prison Counselor of Russia Behind Bars
Prison counselor
Prison Counselor is an online encyclopedia with all the necessary information for people facing the Russian system of criminal prosecution and penitentiary. Our basic advice and recommendations to follow in difficult situations are presented based on the practice of Russia Behind Bars foundation. This resource is regularly updated, primarily with stories from personal experience shared by people who have spent time in Russian prisons and pre-trial detention facilities.
Prison Counselor of Russia Behind Bars is a resource which was created as part of the Human Rights Incubator project implemented by Memorial Human Rights Center with the support of the European Commission.
Saving prisoners from being sent to the front
Preventing Prisoners From Being Sent To War
With the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Wagner Private Military Company began recruiting prisoners to send them to war. Since June 2022 the recruitment campaign expanded; inmates from prisons from Kaliningrad to Magadan and from Murmansk go to war in droves, believing the promises of the head of the Wagner Private Military Company’s head Yevgeny Prigozhin that they will receive a pardon after six months of service. About 35,000 prisoners have been recruited to this date (as of December 2022).
It is worth noting that the very existence of private military companies in Russia is an offense punishable by Russian criminal law. Pardon and release papers issued on behalf of Prigozhin have no legal force. Prisoners are promised not only imaginary freedom, but also a large reward and, should they die on the battlefield, as much as 5 million rubles in compensation to their relatives. But we know for a fact that most of them have not seen this money, and family members are left with nothing after the death of their “heroes”.
And most importantly, prisoners who join fighting in Ukraine as members of private military companies are considered war criminals. Therefore, if they do not fall in battle, they need to brace themselves for another prison term, this time in Ukraine.
Moreover, prisoners who followed Prigozhin may receive another “surprise” – they may be facing torture for “educational and patriotic purposes” and extrajudicial executions for desertion. We are familiar with more than 40 documented cases of Wagner prisoners who were executed – a figure that continues to grow with each day of the war.
We carefully follow the fate of many prisoners who went to the front. Interestingly, almost none of them were sent home to the promised “freedom” with combat wounds or at the end of a 6-month “contract”. Our darkest fears were confirmed when we received dozens of death certificates of mercenary prisoners, in which the primary cause of death was “smashing of the skull” and “military operations” was listed as an indirect cause. This likely means that the Wagner group has no need to spend extra money and treat their wounded – they are simply finished off.
Despite the virtually total lack of military training and undermined health from years spent in horrific conditions of Russian prisons, the private military company sends prisoners directly into the thick of the fighting. Both the Ukrainian and Russian side have repeatedly confirmed that the prisoners are used as “cannon fodder” by both regular Russian troops and Wagner’s regular mercenaries. The death rate of prisoners at the front is 90%.
Most importantly, nothing stops Russian prisoners from committing war crimes on Ukrainian soil.
So, we are doing everything we can to stop the flow of prisoners to the front.
- We are in constant contact with Russian prisons. Thanks to our sources, we know exactly where and how prisoner recruitment takes place.
- Our lawyers receive requests for help from relatives of prisoners – they have already managed to save several dozen prisoners from being sent to the front line.
- We provide information and legal training to prisoners, their relatives and society by providing legal advice, through our social networks and interviews in the media.
- In addition, our lawyers have put together instructions on what anyone can do to save their family member from being recruited from prison.
Contact your family in Ukraine
Searching for ukrainian prisoners and displaced civilians
This area of our work is now very important. Since the beginning of the war, tens of thousands of people – Ukrainian military personnel, civilians, and prisoners – have been transferred to Russian prisons from the occupied territories of Ukraine. The whereabouts of most of them remain unknown – in the conditions of Russian prisons, these people have no way of contacting their families in Ukraine. We work together with Ukrainian and international human rights organizations to ensure that the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war and civilian displaced persons are complied with in case of Ukrainian citizens regardless of their status. We are actively searching for Ukrainian military personnel, civilians, and prisoners in Russian prisons to ensure that legal and humanitarian aid can be provided to them in a timely manner. We have every reason to believe that the criminal cases of Ukrainian prisoners transferred to Russian prisons will be “re-tried” under Russian law with the intention of increasing the terms of imprisonment. We also fear that Ukrainian prisoners transferred from the occupied territories will be subject to recruitment by the Wagner private military company, or drafted into the Russian armed forces, which directly contradicts the norms of international law. We will do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that the whereabouts of each of them are established. We have already found many of them and we will not stop searching. Our work in this area does not pass unnoticed. Our foundation received a commendation from the UN High Commission for its work on the search for displaced Ukrainian prisoners from the Kherson region.
Psychological Assistance Service
Psychological assistance
Facing a Russian prison is an extremely stressful experience. As a rule, the Russian prison system cripples rather than corrects. Pre-trial detention facilities, prisons, and prison settlements evoke fear, uncertainty, and depression, which are difficult to cope with alone. We believe that no one should be left alone with the prison system. That is why we set up a psychological help service.
We help:
Former prisoners
Relatives of people under investigation or in custody
People whose rights were violated by law enforcement officers
Victims of crime
Political and social activists facing burnout
Political emigrants who were forced to leave Russia.
Free webinars
Public Defender School
The School of Public Defenders is a joint project of Russia Behind Bars, the Sakharov Center, and OVD-Info. This is a project for those who want to know their rights and learn to protect themselves and their loved ones in the courts in criminal and administrative infraction cases, as well as against illegal actions of law enforcement authorities. Our lawyers offer free webinars on what to do if you are detained at a rally, if police come knocking on your door, or if they call you and invite you over “just for a conversation”, or if your loved one is imprisoned.
Public Defender School webinars take places several times a year. We announce the dates and plans for the School in a timely manner in our social networks.
Answers from our financial experts
Facilitating financial literacy
…When Russia Behind Bars began this project, which was in 2016, we first conducted a large survey among inmates and their relatives. We asked what kind of knowledge they needed most.
We were all struck by a question asked by a woman who was serving a sentence for murder. She asked:
“My husband took out a loan. Then we had a fight, and I killed him. Do I have to pay back the loan?”
The answer, unfortunately, is yes.
What if this woman had known the answer to this question before?
It may often seems that we do not need to know the answers to financial questions ourselves – you can always ask staff, or some Center, or the accountant at work, or from a knowledgeable neighbor. Well, or the manager knows.
But there are questions they cannot answer.
How do you pay rent if you are in prison?
How do you pay child support?
How do you get your pension?
What deductions can be made from the pension you receive behind bars, and what deductions are illegal?
How do pay back a consumer loan?
There are hundreds or, rather, thousands of such important questions. Russia Behind Bars brought together financial experts, and they came up with detailed and easy-to-understand answers. We printed these answers in five brochures, published 50,000 copies, and we put them in the parcels that we send to people in prison. We also have short, easy memos. Before printing all this, we had our experts’ answers checked by the Ministry of Finance. You can read these answers on our website, too.
This was initiated as a joint project with the World Bank. Now we continue implementing it on our own.
Russia Behind Bars
We have provided humanitarian and legal assistance to prisoners and their families in need since 2008.
Russia Behind Bars
We stand for a total reform of the penitentiary system in Russia. We believe that the time will come when such reform will be possible.
Russia Behind Bars
Our regional offices are in Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Yaroslavl.
Russia Behind Bars
