Perhaps there is no such person in Russia who would not know that the famous Lefortovo prison is located in Moscow (or, as everyone used to call it, the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center). This isolator received its fame due to its long existence (since 1881), and to individuals who at various times were in this pre-trial detention center and continue to be held.
A bit of history
As already mentioned, the building of the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center was built by the architect P. N. Kozlov back in 1881. Initially, the prison kept the military, who committed crimes of minor gravity.
Since 1917, Lefortovo came under the jurisdiction of the NKVD and for many years was used for the terrible torture of repressed citizens.
From 1954 to 1991, the specified pre-trial detention center was in full possession of the KGB. And after 4 years, the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center was transferred to the FSB of Russia.
From 2005 to the present, the Lefortovo Prison is at the disposal of the Ministry of Justice.
Mode object
Despite the fact that there are a large number of closed-type sensitive facilities in Russia (these are the well-known Butyrka, Sailor's silence), the Lefortovo detention center is the most closed and inaccessible place.
It is impossible to get into the territory of the isolation ward (well, unless, of course, you are not an employee of the institution, investigator, lawyer, and not convicted). In 1993, the only exception was made: for example, this year journalists were allowed into the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center (at a press conference). This was the only case when outsiders appeared in the walls of the insulator.
Architecture features
The building of the insulator is located almost in the very center of the capital. However, not even all residents of the houses adjacent to Lefortovo are aware of such a “dangerous” neighborhood. This is largely due to the architecture of the SIZO building.
The insulator is located right among ordinary Stalinist high-rise buildings. It is also noteworthy that the walls of the SIZO No. 2 building are painted in the same color as the walls of neighboring buildings. All this allows the insulator to dissolve in the housing estate.
The only difference from residential buildings is the presence of a high stone fence around the perimeter, but nowadays high fences no longer surprise anyone.
Over the 130 years of its existence, the building of the insulator has been modified many times: it was completed, re-planned, new buildings were built and connected to the main building). But the external appearance of the prison remained unchanged: pale yellow walls, silver roofs surrounded by a high stone wall with heavy gates through which prisoners are brought to jail.
What's inside?
Since Detention Center No. 2 is a regime facility, it is impossible for ordinary citizens to visit it. Photo and video shooting in the walls of Lefortovo is also prohibited. Therefore, to learn about what the insulator inside is, it is possible only from the recollections of the former prisoners.
According to former prisoners, in Lefortovo there are so-called psychic chambers: the walls in them are painted black, there is a round-the-clock light. Allegedly, it is impossible for a normal person to stay in such an environment for a long time. Therefore, placing a person in such conditions is always associated with the commission of any offense.
There is a famous and terrible “soft” corridor in Lefortovo: a soft floor, the walls and doors of which saw execution executions being carried out.
Currently, of course, no one is shot in the walls of the isolation ward: prisoners and convicts are sitting in stone cells, in which, apart from the so-called beds, a table and a small window, there is nothing more.
But the “mixing” of prisoners exists to this day: almost every month they are transplanted from one cell to another, changing the situation of their neighbors.
Corridors "confuse footprints"
The internal structure of the building is quite unusual. Stairways are designed only for one person, therefore, to climb them, for example, together, you can only gib. There are practically no direct corridors and passages in the building: all the corridors, stairs and openings loop, as if confusing the tracks.
It is practically impossible for a person who was in this building for the first time to get out of it on his own. This is a kind of maze.
Since the building itself was repeatedly completed and rebuilt, many "surprises" appeared in it. So, it looks three-story, it inside is easily four-story.
The walls of the insulator are painted in bright colors: blue, beige, white; absolutely the entire pre-trial detention center is under round-the-clock surveillance. Camcorders are everywhere. Several employees of the detention center in real time monitor everything that happens in the pre-trial detention center.
Special mode
The regime in the Lefortovo detention center can be called the strictest. This is practically the only pre-trial detention center in Russia in which it is simply impossible to carry drugs and other prohibited items. In addition, there is absolutely excluded the possibility of communication between prisoners in different cells (there is no so-called rope telegraph).
Security at Lefortovo is carried out only by FSB officers, which it is simply impossible to negotiate with.
Most prisoners are held in double cells, whose area is about 10 meters. There are triple cameras, but they are much smaller. There is also the possibility of getting into a single chamber.
Currently, absolutely all pre-trial detention centers in Russia are guided by the general standards for staying in them. The Lefortovo insulator is no exception: for example, it is also forbidden to use electric kettles in it, all food is served in one dish. In addition, the toilet (contrary to international standards) is located directly in the cell and is separated from the common room by a low partition.
Despite this, many people consider the conditions in this isolator to be quite good.
How to get there?
As mentioned above, getting into pre-trial detention center No. 2 is very difficult. Naturally, only employees of the isolator, as well as persons who committed serious crimes (prisoners), can easily get into the isolation ward. For everyone else, including lawyers, the entrance to Lefortovo is very problematic and long.
The fact is that, despite the large number of prisoners held in the detention center, there are only 6 cells in which they can talk with their lawyers. Therefore, many lawyers can’t go on so-called visits to their clients for weeks.
Surprisingly, lawyers have to draw lots: there is a person on duty around the insulator building who keeps a list of lawyers' queues. The defenders enter their data into the list, after which they draw the lot: whoever gets the “happy ticket” passes.
It has always been difficult to break into the isolation ward, as it contains citizens accused of committing the most high-profile crimes. Therefore, many lawyers have to queue in the night and stand all day near the checkpoint in the hope that the line will reach him.
Memories of seasoned: Moscow, Lefortovo
The prison was visited by many famous, influential and high-ranking citizens. So, in different years in the dungeons of this pre-trial detention center there were: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Vasily Stalin (son of Stalin himself), Viktor Abakumov (Minister of State Security), Inessa Armand, Salman Raduev, Valeria Novodvorskaya, Evgeny Ginsburg, Eduard Limonov and other public people.
It is thanks to their memories that you can plunge a little into the atmosphere of the isolator. For example, Ginsburg in one of his books talks about the basement of the detention center in which prisoners were shot. He writes that execution of execution sentences was carried out to the loud noise of tractor engines. The corridor leading to the basement, according to Ginsburg, was sheathed with soft cloth, the upholstery of doors and walls - everything was soft, silent and specially prepared for the execution of the sentence.
Visitors note the dungeon and the demented constant hum and vibration coming from the TsIAM laboratory located in the vicinity of the insulator.
In their essays, former "visitors" of Lefortovo write about the features of the regime. For example, if two people are simultaneously leading along the corridor, then dark bags are put on their heads (so that they do not see who exactly was walking towards them).
Some prisoners recalled that in the corridors of the isolation ward there were special officers of the pre-trial detention center, the so-called distributors. They led prisoners to different corridors so that they would not meet each other.
Interesting Facts
Detention centers and prisons in Moscow, as a rule, were built in the last century. Lefortovo is no exception. This insulator is shrouded in many legends, myths and interesting stories.
For example, during the construction of the insulator in 1881, the church of St. Nicholas was built above the entrance. It housed solitary small booths in which there were praying prisoners. Moreover, everything was arranged in such a way that the prisoners could not communicate with each other.
In Soviet times, the church premises became a place for cruel torture and execution of people.
An interesting fact is that the walking yards in this insulator are not located in the courtyard, but on the roof of the building. There are 15 such courtyards in total. Prisoners take turns walking in them: the first walks begin already at 8 a.m.
Special pride
Oddly enough, it is precisely Detention Center No. 2 that holds one of the oldest and largest prison libraries. It began to be collected at the beginning of the 19th century, and today it includes more than 2 thousand unique books. For example, among them are the lifetime editions of Pushkin himself and the complete works of Leskov for 1897.
But there are no articles and books on the history of the prison itself in the prison library. As there are none of them anywhere. Historical essays about this pre-trial detention center were not made for several reasons: firstly, Lefortovo, even in Soviet times, was a functioning prison and prison. And secondly, it was always under the control of such departments, which did not allow to disclose any information about this object.
The head of the pre-trial detention center, Viktor Makov, who is very interested in the history of the detention center, found out that some historical essays about Lefortovo are in the FSB museum. However, access to them is strictly limited.
Summarizing
Moscow pre-trial detention facilities are special sensitive facilities. However, it is Lefortovo that can be called the most strict and secret. This is due to the fact that its walls contain criminals who have committed the most resonant and serious crimes. Quite often, in the walls of this prison you can see once high-ranking and influential people.
Lefortovo is also famous for its history: the insulator built almost 130 years ago throughout its entire time did not stop working even for one day. Largely due to the fact that it has always been an active object, there are practically no historical essays and articles about it.
“Lefortovo” (or pre-trial detention center No. 2) is located in the very center of the capital and is located at the address: 5 Lefortovsky Val, Moscow .