Prison email services in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Region resume following The Insider’s report

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Correctional facilities in Russia’s central Siberian Krasnoyarsk Region have begun restoring electronic mail services following a report by The Insider. The affected facilities include Correctional Colony No. 17 (IK-17), where imprisoned journalist Ivan Safronov is currently being held. Officials said money will be refunded for letters that were not delivered during the suspension, which had been attributed to apparent “technical work.”

In mid-September, The Insider revealed that all prisons, penal colonies, and detention centers in the region, which currently hold dozens of political prisoners, had been disconnected from electronic mail services, severely restricting inmates’ communication with the outside world. (Explanations for the abbreviations mentioned below, such as “IK” and “SIZO,” can be found here.)

After The Insider’s report was published, other independent media outlets and human rights groups, including Novaya Gazeta and Slovo Zashchite (lit. “Word to the Defense”), picked up the story, and the issue was widely discussed in prisoner support chats. One of the providers, ZT (formerly ZonaTelecom), later acknowledged the problem. Company representative Dmitry Buzin said in one chat that the service had resumed in some facilities:

“A small but positive update. In Krasnoyarsk, electronic mail is slowly coming back. Yesterday, electronic letters started working again in two pretrial detention centers [also known by their Russian acronym СИЗО, or “SIZO”] — SIZO-3 [in Achinsk] and SIZO-5 [in Kansk]. The other detention centers will most likely be reconnected [to the system] early next week. Letters are also working again in five colonies. We have no updates yet on prisons, but we hope they will be restored as well.”

Buzin later noted that electronic mail via ZT had also resumed in Krasnoyarsk’s SIZO-1 and, by Sept. 29, in all detention centers across the region.

According to ZT’s website, electronic letters can now be sent to the following institutions:

• SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk, SIZO-3 Achinsk, SIZO-4 Norilsk, SIZO-5 Kansk, SIZO-6 Sosnovoborsk
• Penal Colonies IK-5 Startseva, IK-6 Krasnoyarsk, IK-15 Norilsk, IK-17, IK-22, IK-27 and IK-31 Krasnoyarsk, IK-24 in Novobiryusinsky
• Kansk Juvenile Colony
• Prison hospitals KTB-1 in Krasnoyarsk, LIU-32 in Minusinsk, and LIU-37 in Sosnovoborsk

The Insider confirmed the list with ZT’s support service (a necessity given that the company had previously misled clients by accepting payments for letters during months-long “technical work” without warning senders). Support staff now say: “At SIZO-4, SIZO-5, SIZO-6, IK-5, IK-22, VK, KTB-1, and LIU-37 there is ongoing equipment maintenance; optimization work at IK-6. But electronic mail is available at all listed facilities.”

In short, ZT continues to charge for services at facilities where delivery may be delayed indefinitely.

According to information obtained by The Insider, refunds for undelivered letters may be granted. Two days after publication, Buzin said in the same chat:

“Yes, we will refund [money] for Krasnoyarsk under a simplified scheme. I am finalizing it with all my colleagues, but the main approvals are already in place.”

Support staff explained that refunds will apply only if a letter was not delivered or printed within 90 working days. Senders must provide the order number, sender and recipient details, and a receipt. Prisoners may still use old blank forms for replies if they have them, though free reprints are available only upon request from prison administrations.

At the same time, some facilities remain disconnected: IK-42 in Oktyabrsky, KP-10 in Ust-Ilimsk, KP-13 in Tagary, KP-19 in Krasnoyarsk, KP-48 in Kurdoyakov, LIU-37 in Minusinsk, and the prisons in Minusinsk and Yeniseisk.

Another provider, F-Pismo, also resumed operations in the region after The Insider’s report. Its services are now available again in IK-15 Norilsk, SIZO-1 Krasnoyarsk, SIZO-4 Norilsk and SIZO-5 Kansk. However, SIZO-6 Sosnovoborsk and the prisons in Minusinsk and Yeniseisk remain offline. Before the report, F-Pismo cited “a decision by the Krasnoyarsk regional FSIN” as the reason; now it says suspension is occurring due to “technical reasons.”

The Rodnaya Svyaz service has not restored Krasnoyarsk to its list of cooperating regions. In addition, some local prisons were never connected to any electronic mail provider: KP-13 Tagary, IK-34 Startseva, KP-12 Sychyovka, KP-33 Minusinsk, KP-39 Sosnovoborsk, IK-42 and KP-44 in Oktyabrsky.