Russian Limbo

Although there is much secrecy surrounding Russia's penitentiary system, is even less is known about the country's correctional facilities that are home to some 45,000 female inmates, the highest of any nation in the world. Women inside Petchatniki Detention Center, Moscow's only female pre-trial facility and site Pussy Riot's detention, not only face overcrowding, corruption, and squalid living conditions but also additional hardships never faced by male inmates, from pregnancy behind bars to a systemic failure to protect women's mental and physical health.

In the center of Moscow lies a prison infamous for the inhumane treatment of inmates. Since its first incarnation 250 years ago, Butyrka Prison has been home to a long history of harsh living conditions, human rights violations, and spectacular escape attempts. While long notorious within Russia, in 2009, the death of Sergei Magnitsky brought global attention to Butyrka and became a focal point of rising international tensions between Russia and the West.

Over the last century, Saint Petersburg's Kresty Prison has been home to some of Russia's most famous political activists, authors, poets, and scientists. The red brick walls on the banks of the Neva house 200 years of stories of oppression, brutality, and torture. However, more recent stories reveal an institution, with an already bleak reputation, only worsening in the last two decades under an increasingly authoritarian Russia.