Alekseevskaya Correctional Colony (No. 25)
The State Institution “Alekseevskaya Correctional Colony (No. 25)” is one of the oldest and most well-known penal institutions in the Kharkiv region.
It is located in the Shevchenkivskyi District of the city of Kharkiv and has remained an important component of the Ukrainian penal system for over six decades.
The history of the institution began in accordance with Order No. 007 of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Kharkiv Regional Executive Committee dated 30 January 1957, issued in pursuance of orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR.
Initially, the colony was located in the settlement of Piatykhatky near Kharkiv; however, in 1958, it was relocated to the Alekseevka area, which subsequently turned into one of the city’s largest residential districts.
In 1959, the construction of a residential zone for convicts began, and from 1960, the construction of production facilities commenced.
Over the following decades, the colony’s enterprise became one of the largest production sites in the Kharkiv region’s penal system. Convicts manufactured components for the Kharkiv Tractor Plant, the FED plant, the Kharkiv Electromechanical Plant, as well as bicycle, bearing, and other machine-building enterprises. The production activity of the institution was closely integrated with the industrial complex of the city of Kharkiv.
In 1971, the colony was awarded the honorary title of “Colony of High-Productive Labour and Exemplary Behaviour”. For many years, the institution was repeatedly recognised as one of the best in the penal system of the Ukrainian SSR and was awarded transitionary honours by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After Ukraine gained independence and traditional production ties with state enterprises were severed, the colony reoriented towards manufacturing its own products, which allowed it to preserve its production potential, jobs for convicts, and the institution’s material and technical base.
Today, the State Institution “Alekseevskaya Correctional Colony (No. 25)” is a medium-security institution for the detention of men sentenced to imprisonment for a specific term who have previously served a custodial sentence. The institution ensures the execution of criminal sentences, the organisation of paid labour for convicts, professional training, social, educational, and psychological work, and the provision of medical care in accordance with legislative requirements.
With the onset of the full-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation, the city of Kharkiv has been under constant missile and drone attacks. Despite the difficult security situation, the colony continues to carry out its functions. Special attention is paid to the uninterrupted functioning of engineering systems and the organisation of the institution’s activities under martial law.
The Alekseevskaya Correctional Colony has repeatedly been the focus of national and international human rights organisations, as well as representatives of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the National Preventive Mechanism.
During monitoring visits, assessments are made of the conditions of detention, the realisation of rights to work, healthcare, education, and the maintenance of social ties, as well as the compliance of detention conditions with national legislation and international standards for the treatment of persons deprived of liberty.
Contact information Address: 44 Tsezarya Kyui St, Shevchenkivskyi District, Kharkiv, Kharkiv region, 61051.
Head of the institution: Viacheslav Mykolaiovych Popov.
Telephone: (057) 338-02-53. E-mail: [email protected].