Logo
March 09, 2026

Transfers Taxed behind Bars

Transfers Taxed behind Bars
A penitential center in Moscow. Senate of Russian Federation, Flickr.

The independent Russian outlet Takie Dela reported that new regulations, which took effect in autumn 2025, permit the state to deduct a large share of funds sent by family members to cover prisoners’ upkeep costs, including food, utilities, and clothing.

Previously, those expenses were generally covered by prisoners’ wages or pensions, while money transfers from relatives were treated as personal funds that inmates could spend at their discretion. Many used the money to buy additional food, to supplement the limited prison diet.

Under the new rules, prisoners may be able to retain as little as 25% of the money transferred to them. Exceptions apply to pregnant women, minors under 18, and people with disabilities, who must be allowed to keep at least 50% of incoming funds.

One of the first public accounts of the policy came from Alexandra Popova, the wife of poet Artem Kamardin, who is serving a sentence in Correctional Colony No. 4 in Russia’s Vladimir Oblast after publicly reading antiwar poetry. In late December 2025, Popova said prison officials informed her they intended to deduct up to 75% from the money she sends her husband.

Popova said prices inside the colony’s shop have risen significantly in recent months. "We don’t yet understand what to do. Naturally, the amount I send him is not enough," she wrote.

In early February, supporters of 68-year-old Alexander Skobov reported similar deductions. Skobov, who openly opposed Russia’s War on Ukraine, is serving a 16-year sentence in Prison No. 2 in the city of Yelets, Lipetsk Oblast.

Friends of another inmate, Alexander Martynov, sentenced to six years in prison for anti-war graffiti, also said a portion of the money transfers had been withheld.

Human rights advocates warn that the policy could deprive prisoners of essential medicine, medical supplies, and adequate nutrition.

"Inside the system, there is often a shortage of basic medications," said Olga Romanova, a prisoners’ rights advocate. "Money transfers from outside are a way to buy what prisons don’t provide or provide irregularly. Proteins and vitamins are often obtained through the prison shop or packages from relatives."

"If the money is gone, the risk of deficiency conditions increases," she said.

Health concerns have already been reported by Elena Sokolova, a friend of Lyudmila Razumova, imprisoned over anti-war graffiti. According to Sokolova, Razumova is not allowed to receive vitamins or dietary supplements and must buy foods rich in essential nutrients herself. Her health has worsened recently, the friend said.

"I’m covered in flour again," Razumova wrote in a letter to relatives, referring to a skin condition she said she had read about in Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma Tales, a compendium of stories about camp life from the Soviet era that is both a literary classic and a rich documentary.

"He writes that it starts in the legs, like mine, and then spreads everywhere, and people called them ‘snowmen’ and avoided them like lepers," she wrote.

Alexei Matveyev, coordinator of the charity foundation Vo Imya Svyatogo Doktora Feodora Gaaza (In the Name of St. Doctor Fyodor Gaaz), said the amendments contradict the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "The current conditions of detention in Russian prisons are very difficult to consider adequate, given the scale of deductions from prisoners’ income," he said.

Tags: lawdissentpolitical prisonersrussia file

You Might Also Like

Past Reframed, Narrative Reset
  • February 24, 2026

Past Reframed, Narrative Reset

A Moscow museum dedicated to victims of Soviet repression will be replaced by a new institution focused on what officials call "genocide of the Soviet people" during World War II.
Dual Nationals Are Traitors, Again
  • February 20, 2026

Dual Nationals Are Traitors, Again

Russian authorities plan to crack down on dual citizens, adding penalties for those who fail to disclose a second passport.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Useful Links

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955

[email protected]