Russia plans to build seven superprisons for more than 20,000 inmates
By 2035, Russian authorities plan to establish seven large Federal Penitentiary Service facilities that will simultaneously serve as pretrial detention centers and prisons with various security levels. In total, they will be able to accommodate more than 20,000 people.
The new complexes are set to be built in the Kaluga, Astrakhan, and Tyumen regions, in Buryatia, in the Trans-Baikal Territory, and in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region. The first such facility is scheduled to begin operations in Tatarstan by 2030.
The project calls for 5,380 beds in pretrial detention centers and another 15,120 in correctional colonies. The preliminary cost of building a single complex is estimated at 13–20 billion rubles. The Russian Ministry of Justice expects that consolidating these facilities will reduce the costs of housing prisoners and suspects by 25–30%, and that the investment will pay for itself in about 10 years.
They also plan to locate the new “superprisons” outside city limits. Specifically, the complex near Ulan-Ude is intended to relocate a pretrial detention center and four penal colonies outside the city.
The Russian Ministry of Justice states that such facilities will utilize modern engineering solutions and IT technologies. The plan is to provide inmates with opportunities to work, learn a trade, and receive medical and educational assistance.
The decision to undertake this large-scale construction project comes amid a decline in the prison population in Russia and funding challenges facing the correctional system. According to the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, since the end of 2021, the number of people in correctional facilities has decreased by nearly 40%—to 282,000 in 2026. About 85,000 of them are in pretrial detention centers.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has not yet decided whether to attend the G20 summit and, accordingly, whether to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
As a reminder, Zelenskyy effectively proposed to the Kremlin leader that they hold a face-to-face meeting specifically during the G20 summit in December 2026.
U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet decided whether to invite Russia to the G20 summit, which will take place on December 14–15, 2026, in Miami.
