Guide · Russia
How to write a letter to a political prisoner in Russia
A letter is the one form of support that reaches a prisoner directly. People held in pre-trial detention and in colonies say the same thing in interviews and in their own letters: mail is what tells them they have not been forgotten, and days with mail are different from days without it.
Every letter to a Russian prison is opened and read by staff before the prisoner sees it. That single fact decides almost everything below. The goal is not to say something brave. The goal is to write a letter the censor has no reason to hold.
Write in Russian
Letters in other languages are routinely held or returned, because the censor must be able to read them. If you do not write Russian, write in your own language and translate the text. The translation does not have to be elegant, it has to be understandable and free of anything on the list below. The letter tool on this site produces a Russian version of your text and flags the phrases that most often get a letter blocked.
What the censor removes
A letter can be withheld in full, or arrive with lines blacked out. Content that is regularly stopped:
- The war, the army, mobilization, and anything that reads as a political opinion.
- The prisoner's own case: the charges, the trial, appeals, lawyers, what to say to investigators.
- Insults directed at officials, the courts, or the prison.
- Anything that looks like code: abbreviations, blanks, brackets, [redacted], hints that "you know what I mean". Coded letters are discarded outright.
- Sexuality and LGBT topics, which are treated as prohibited material.
What to write instead
The letters prisoners describe as the best ones are ordinary. Who you are and where you live. What your day looked like. A book, a film, a recipe, a walk, the weather, your dog. A question they can answer, because a question gives them a reason to write back. If you know something about their interests from their case page, start there.
Say plainly that you are thinking of them and that people outside know their name. That is the content. It does not need to be dressed up.
Finding the address
Each case page on this site lists the facility where the person is held when a source has published it, and links to the projects that maintain mailing addresses. Prisoners are moved, often without notice, so check the address shortly before sending rather than reusing an old one.
Address the envelope with the prisoner's full name and year of birth, the facility's full name and postal address, and your own name and return address. Mail without a sender address is not delivered.
Paper mail and electronic services
Ordinary post works from any country, and a postcard is the simplest thing that arrives. International mail to Russia is slow and sometimes stops for weeks, so send more than once and do not read silence as refusal.
Inside Russia, paid electronic services deliver typed letters to most facilities: the letter is printed and handed over, and the reply can be scanned back. Volunteer projects also relay letters from abroad, translating and posting them on the writer's behalf. The Detained is not affiliated with any delivery service and does not handle letters itself; treat each one as an option to evaluate.
What to expect
- Delivery takes weeks. A reply, if one comes, takes longer, and many prisoners cannot answer everyone who writes.
- Keep a copy of what you sent. If a letter is returned, the reason is usually the address, not the content.
- Do not enclose money, stamps or objects unless the facility's rules and the person's relatives say it is allowed.
- Do not send anything you would not want the prison, and the investigator, to read. They will.
Questions
- Can I write in English?
- You can, but letters the censor cannot read are often held or returned. Translate the letter into Russian; the tool on this site does a first draft and flags risky phrases.
- Will the prisoner get in trouble because I wrote?
- An ordinary letter about everyday life does not create a problem for the prisoner. Political content, discussion of the case, or anything that looks coded can. Keep to the list above.
- Where do I get the address?
- From the case page on this site when a source has published it, and from the letter projects it links to. Check shortly before sending, because prisoners are transferred.
- Can the tool guarantee my letter gets through?
- No. It flags the phrases that most often get letters blocked and a person can review your draft, but no letter is guaranteed to pass the censor.
Check and translate a letter with the letter tool