Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service plans to move prison facilities outside of cities

Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) is planning to move its facilities — prisons and pre-trial detention centers — outside of urban areas, Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko said in an interview with the television channel Rossiya 24 on December 3, as quoted by Interfax.  

According to Chuychenko, the corresponding changes are set to take place within the FSIN’s development framework; a pilot project for the withdrawal of prison facilities from urban areas is already being implemented. 

“The goal of this project is to streamline everything and remove the reality associated with imprisonment from our people, from our cities, and establish separate sites,” the Justice Minister said.

Currently, there are eight pre-trial detention centers in Moscow. In St. Petersburg, there are four pre-trial detention centers and four prisons, including a juvenile correctional facility.