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.

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

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.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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.

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.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955