Lefortovo Prison

Lefortovo Prison is a maximum security detention center in the Lefortovo District of Moscow, Russia, where suspects in pretrial detention are held in individual cells. The massive walls enclose a closed inner courtyard, while high metal fences and watchtowers shape the outer appearance.

The prison was set up in 1881 under Tsar Alexander III as a political detention facility to hold opponents of the regime. In the 1930s the NKVD used the facility for interrogations during the Great Purge, until it was finally placed under the Russian Ministry of Justice in 2005.

The name comes from the Lefortovo District, itself named after the Swiss officer Franz Lefort who served the Russian tsar in the 17th century. Today the building stands for a strict regime where inmates have few direct contacts and visits are tightly controlled.

The facility is located in a residential area and is not accessible from the outside. The grounds have no public areas and can only be entered by authorized persons such as lawyers or family members during approved visits.

Every incoming letter is opened and read before it reaches the recipient. Phone calls are only allowed in exceptional cases and are always monitored, so inmates have hardly any unobserved moments with the outside world.