The practice of transporting prisoners explained the lack of information about Zhuravel's fate.

The situation with Nikita Zhuravel, whose parents have been unaware of his whereabouts for four months, is typical of the Russian system: the law does not guarantee prisoners the right to contact while being transported, and Zhuravel risks additional isolation in the penal colony, lawyers noted.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the family of former Volgograd student Nikita Zhuravel has not received letters from him for three months, leading them to worry about his health and life. The Federal Penitentiary Service claims that Nikita Zhuravel's mother was sent information about his whereabouts, but she has not received any such information. Human rights activist Eva Merkacheva called the agency's response "very strange."

Alexandra Isaenko, a lawyer with the Anti-Torture Team*, Irina Biryukova, and Timur Filippov commented on the issue of informing relatives of prisoners' whereabouts during transfers from pretrial detention centers to penal colonies to the "Caucasian Knot."

The rights of a convicted person whose sentence has entered into legal force are regulated by the Criminal Executive Code of Russia. The process of transferring a convict to the place of serving a sentence from a pre-trial detention center or transferring a convict from one correctional facility to another can last for weeks and months, reported Alexandra Isaenko.

“During such transfers along the route for the temporary detention of prisoners, so-called transit and transfer points are created, and the maximum period of stay for a prisoner at such a point is no more than 20 days. This is the only time limit established by the Criminal Executive Code regarding the procedure and timing of the transfer of prisoners. No one from the Federal Penitentiary Service can ever say with certainty that such-and-such a prisoner will arrive at such-and-such a penal colony on such-and-such a date; transfer is a journey into the unknown. The law requires that prisoners being transferred be provided with appropriate living and hygienic conditions and medical care, but in practice, transfer in Russia itself becomes cruel and degrading treatment. Convicts should be given the opportunity to inform their relatives of their whereabouts by phone or regular letter, but in reality, this is never possible. Furthermore, the administration of the correctional facility to which the prisoner is being sent has no obligation to inform them of the progress of the transfer or their final destination, so the prisoner remains isolated from the outside world for some time,” She explained.

Isaenko emphasized that Zhuravel has the right to inform his family of his whereabouts, and they, in turn, have the right to know where he is. "The Criminal Executive Code obliges the prison administration to notify one of the convict's relatives of his arrival, of which he is chosen, within 10 days. Typically, such notification, signed by the head of the correctional facility, is sent by registered mail after the convict has indicated the relative's details in an application. However, the convict himself can also, for example, inform one of his relatives of his whereabouts by phone; this right is guaranteed by Article 92 of the Criminal Executive Code," the lawyer told the "Caucasian Knot."

Transportation in Russia itself becomes cruel and degrading treatment.

During transfer, relatives or lawyers of the convicted person are not informed of the route of his travel, and the transfer itself can last indefinitely – “from several hours to several months,” since the law does not regulate the overall duration. Irina Biryukova confirmed that the incommunicado regime (which, in international law, describes "the deliberate creation of a situation of uncertainty for the family and the use of isolation itself as punishment") during a prisoner's transfer does not contradict Russian law.

"We have repeatedly attempted to amend the law to require relatives to be informed of the prisoner's whereabouts during transfer, but they have not been passed. The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has prevented this, explaining that this is all done for the safety of the staff and the prisoner and to prevent attacks on the convoy and escapes," she noted.

Upon arrival at the correctional facility, the prisoner has the right to notify their immediate family by phone or letter. "If they are unable to do so due to physical or other reasons, the prison administration must do so at their request," Biryukova said.

It's typical for the Russian penal system for relatives to be unaware of a convict's whereabouts during transfer, stated Timur Filippov.

“The law stipulates the obligation to notify of a convict's arrival at a specific facility, but this obligation arises after the fact, after the person is delivered to the penal colony. During transfer, there is virtually no notification mechanism. Formally, this is not considered a violation, since the Criminal Executive Code does not guarantee the convict the right to communication during transfer. In practice, this means a regime of virtual complete isolation. There is no contact with relatives, and access to a lawyer is simply physically impossible,” he told the Caucasian Knot.

This is a consequence of current practice, in which transfer effectively becomes an additional form of punishment.

It's worth considering that after arrival at the new facility, communication is also not possible. The document is reinstated instantly: it takes time to process and register, and this process can take several days or more, Filippov noted.

All lawyers agree that those convicted in high-profile cases attract special attention from prison administration and risk additional isolation upon arrival at the prison. According to Filippov, if the case has received widespread public attention, the situation for the convicted person almost always becomes more difficult. "The administration's increased attention in practice translates into increased control. This translates into a stricter detention regime, restrictions on contact, and, in some cases, the risk of informal pressure, including through other inmates. The lack of information about the inmate's whereabouts in such situations is a consequence of current practices, in which transfer effectively becomes an additional form of punishment," Timur Filippov emphasized.

Irina Biryukova noted that prison administration pays special attention to inmate behavior. "If he starts writing complaints, actively voicing his position, attracting the attention of the media and activists, he will likely be permanently isolated from the general prison population—held in solitary confinement, a single cell, and subjected to further deterioration of the regime. This will entail a lack of packages, visits (both short-term and long-term), and placement on various preventive records. This will be practically isolation from society, because even letters, which cannot be banned, will become difficult to send and receive," stated Irina Biryukova.

The level of attention paid to prisoners depends on many circumstances: the prisoner's behavior, the rules of the prison, the region, and other factors, according to Alexandra Isaenko.

“The prison administration may understand that such a prisoner is being monitored by the media and human rights activists, so they may either prevent information about his situation from reaching the outside world or, conversely, demonstrate a show of discipline. For the prisoner himself, this may manifest itself in more frequent searches and inspections; he may be more frequently isolated by placing him in solitary confinement on trumped-up grounds, or grounds for disciplinary action may be sought, but there is generally no single, definitive scenario,” she concluded.

A Caucasian Knot correspondent was unable to contact Zhuravel’s family. His lawyer, Andrei Sabinin, sent a request for legal advice to ascertain Nikita’s whereabouts, but received no response. "There's been no response yet, but the Federal Penitentiary Service usually says it doesn't maintain a centralized record. There's also been no response from the Volgograd pretrial detention center," he wrote in the comments to Eva Merkacheva's Telegram post on March 26.

According to Sabinin, Zhuravel sent him a letter from a pretrial detention center in Moscow on December 20, and wrote to his mother from Ulyanovsk on December 24. These letters reached their recipients in January, and there have been no further letters or notifications since then.

“Why is the FSIN’s response questionable? They say they notified the mother, but the mother is sounding the alarm and asking the lawyer to write everywhere possible because there are no notifications. The FSIN says that her son received a letter on January 21st—thanks, but what does that prove? That Nikita received some letter, sent who knows when. (...) The main thing they’re missing is why there haven’t been any letters from him for three months? He’s run out of paper and envelopes. What’s the point of a sobbing mother looking for her son if she’s been told where he is?” the lawyer explained in a comment.

* is included in the register of foreign agents.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.