The Penal System of Ukraine in 2022. A Statistical Review

In the penal facilities of the Ukrainian correctional system controlled by the Ukrainian authorities—that is, excluding institutions in Crimea and the occupied parts of other regions—according to data provided to ‘Donetsk Memorial’ by the Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, 42,726 persons were held as of 1 January 2023 (letter from the Department No. 3/1-288-23/251-Pi dated 21.09.2023; here and hereinafter in parentheses – as of 01.01.2022 – 48,251 persons). Over the year, the number of persons in penal facilities decreased by 5,525 (1,572 persons), or by – 11.45% (–3.16%). The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine comprised 101 correctional institutions and a camp for the detention of prisoners of war.

The dynamics of the number of persons in correctional system institutions over the last six years are shown in the following Table 1.

Table 1

It is impossible to realistically calculate the number of prisoners per 100,000 population for Ukraine in 2022 for several reasons. While the number of prisoners is known, the country’s population – especially after the start of Russia's aggression – is impossible to determine. It is unclear whether to include in the current population of the country the millions of people who are currently forced to live outside the country. Furthermore, the number of residents in the occupied territories is only known very approximately. Therefore, it would be most fair to abandon the calculation of this indicator altogether this year. In 2021, it was 117.

Serious challenges faced the employees of the State Penitentiary Service and the department's management in connection with Russia's aggression. In particular, it was necessary to evacuate prisoners and staff from a considerable number of the system's institutions. Information characterising the evacuation process is provided in the annual Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (hereinafter – the Commissioner) on the state of observance and protection of human and civil rights and freedoms in Ukraine in 2022 (hereinafter – the Report):

“In accordance with the decisions of the heads of the regional military administrations of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions, the Ministry of Justice decided to evacuate convicts and persons taken into custody from 11 institutions located in areas close to combat operations.

The implementation of evacuation measures was ensured for convicts and persons taken into custody from 7 correctional colonies, 2 remand centres, and 2 correctional centres, including state institutions:

Orikhiv Correctional Colony (No. 88),

Vilniansk Correctional Colony (No. 20),

Sofiivka Correctional Colony (No. 55),

Kamianske Correctional Colony (No. 101),

Pokrovsk Correctional Colony (No. 17),

Toretsk Correctional Colony (No. 2),

Selydove Correctional Colony (No. 82),

Vilniansk Remand Centre (No. 11),

Bakhmut Remand Centre (No. 6),

Druzhelyubivka Correctional Centre (No. 1),

Novobuzke Correctional Centre (No. 103).

The total number of evacuated persons was 4,628, specifically: 648 persons taken into custody and 3,980 persons sentenced to imprisonment and restriction of liberty, including: 48 women, 7 minors, and 215 persons sentenced to life imprisonment.”

It is not difficult to verify that not all institutions that ended up in the combat zone and were on enemy-occupied territory were evacuated.

As of 1 January 2023, 12,904 persons were being held in custody in pre-trial detention centres and remand centres (14,568 persons a year ago), including 678 women (734 women a year ago). The number of minors in pre-trial detention centres was 53 (94 a year ago). Thus, over the year, the number of all persons held in custody decreased by 1,664 (the year before it decreased by 2,105), or by – 11.42% (– 12.63%).

In 2022, 8,796 persons did not enter correctional institutions from pre-trial detention centres and were released from them (last year – 8,380 persons). Among the main reasons why persons were released from pre-trial detention centres during 2022: due to a change in the pre-trial restriction – 5,173 persons (a year ago – 4,657 persons); due to the expiry of the sentence term (including parole) – 2,056 persons (2,462 persons); due to the court’s application of non-custodial sentences – 985 persons (a year ago – 880 persons); due to the dismissal of cases by courts and acquittal verdicts – 58 persons (a year ago – 33 persons).

Statistical data on the reasons for the release of persons from pre-trial detention centres in recent years are shown in Table 2.

Table 2

The number of convicted persons in 2022 decreased from 33,683 to 29,822, i.e., by 3,861 persons (the year before it increased by 533 persons), or by – 11.46% (+ 1.61%). On the other hand, it is worth considering that this decrease may be partially related to Russia’s armed aggression and the capture of certain territories of the country where correctional institutions are located.

In educational colonies for minors, 46 persons are serving sentences (a year ago – 54), of which 26 persons are under 18 years of age (a year ago – 30 persons).

The number of convicted women serving sentences in penal institutions is 1,577 (a year ago – 1,774 women).

The number of life-sentenced persons as of 1 January 2023 was 1,578 (a year ago – 1,575 persons, five years ago – 1,572 persons), including 25 women. During the year, the number of life-sentenced prisoners increased by 3 persons (last year – by 34 persons).

Miracles happen with this indicator in recent years: in some years it grows by several dozen people, and this can still be explained somehow, because on average more than 20 people are sentenced to life imprisonment every year. These data correlate, considering that several convicts die per year.

On the other hand, it happens that the number of life-sentenced persons grows by 2–4 people in a year, or even decreases. Then such a fact can only be explained by high mortality among life-sentenced persons. Thus, the Administration of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, upon a special request regarding the reasons for the decrease in the number of life-sentenced persons in Ukraine, reported in a letter dated 11 February 2019 that 33 life-sentenced persons died in 2017, and 27 persons in 2018. The same number of life-sentenced convicts died in 2019.

If at the beginning of 2021 the number of life-sentenced persons was 1,541 and, according to the State Judicial Administration, 19 people received a life sentence during the year, then at the end of the year the number of such persons could have been no more than 1,560 (1,541 + 19), but certainly not 1,575. And this is assuming that not a single life-sentenced convict died during the year. And this is also highly doubtful, because according to the State Penitentiary Service, the mortality of life-sentenced persons in previous years ranged from 27 to 33 people per year. It is unlikely that it suddenly dropped to zero.

Why there are “jumps” in the number of life-sentenced persons – this requires research. Perhaps, in addition to obvious factors, some additional, not at all obvious ones influence the situation. Perhaps there are no such factors. But such discrepancies look unrealistic and indicate significant problems in the State Penitentiary Service’s record-keeping of statistical data regarding life-sentenced convicts. Obviously, without researching this phenomenon, one cannot claim anything for sure.

During 2022, 10,496 people were released from the institutions of the State Penitentiary Service (11,722 people). But there are difficulties with the data on the number of people newly arrived at the system’s institutions. The calculation of the balance of the total number of prisoners in the State Penitentiary Service institutions is quite strange. Previously – about ten years ago – such misunderstandings did not arise because the department’s specialists could adequately count the number of people who entered the system’s institutions each year. However, according to the information provided for 2018, considering the number of people who arrived at correctional institutions during the year and the number of people who were released from them, the total number of inhabitants of the institutions should have increased by 214 people over the year. In fact, their number decreased by more than two thousand people. The same situation was observed in the following year, 2019: according to calculations based on the data provided, the total number of inhabitants of the institutions should have increased by more than 700 people, but in reality, there were 2,215 fewer of them. Despite requests to the management of the correctional service to explain the discrepancies, no clarifications were provided.

Regarding the data for the last two years, the situation is even more complicated. In 2021, 11,722 people were released and about half a thousand died. The total number of inhabitants of the institutions decreased by one and a half thousand, so the number of people who entered the system's institutions during the year should have been around 11,000. Instead, the department reports that the number of “newly arrived” people to the institutions during the year allegedly amounted to as many as 33,765.

In 2022, the total number of persons in the system's institutions decreased by more than 5,000, 10,496 were released, and 432 died. About 6,000 people should have entered, but the department reports that 29,356 people arrived at the institutions. Such a large number of newly arrived persons can only be the case if persons being transported from one institution to another are considered newly arrived each time and counted multiple times. Our request in the inquiry to report to us only the number of people who enter the correctional service institutions, so to speak, “from the outside”, has so far been ignored. Therefore, it is currently not possible to provide official data on the number of people who actually enter correctional service institutions.

3,265 people were released on parole in 2022 (a year ago – 3,820 people, six years ago – 9,244 people) out of a total of 10,178 people who formally qualified for parole (a year ago – 11,919 people). This is 32.08% of the number of people who formally qualified for parole. It is worth noting the specific dynamics of this indicator. It stood at 36.67% two years ago, 37.8% four years ago, 41.15% six years ago, and 53.5% eight years ago. The trend is obvious, and it would also be important to know its causes.

The number of able-bodied persons in correctional institutions as of 1 January 2023 was 20,219 (a year ago – 21,891), or 67.80% (a year ago – 64.99%, two years ago – 57.32%) of the total number of convicted persons, of whom 4,925 persons were provided with work (a year ago – 6,481). This constitutes 24.36% of the number of able-bodied persons (as of 1 January 2022 – 29.61%, for comparison – two years ago 32.11%, as of 1 January 2017 – 47.2%) and 16.51% of the total number of convicts (a year ago – 19.24%). It is obvious that there is a clear trend: the extent to which convicts are engaged in work has been steadily falling in recent years. The average monthly salary of convicts in 2022 was 2,306.50 UAH. Two years ago, the salary was 2,067 UAH per month.

One can be released from imprisonment not only through parole, but also by receiving a pardon. According to information provided by the Department for Citizen Appeals of the Office of the President of Ukraine (letter No. 22/1-08/4606 dated 17.10.2023), during 2022, pardon petitions for 1,422 convicted persons were received by the Pardon Department of the Citizenship, Pardon, and State Awards Department of the Office of the President of Ukraine (a year ago – for 510 convicts). The Commission on Pardons under the President of Ukraine held four meetings during the year (a year earlier – three), at which pardon petitions for 848 persons were considered (a year earlier – 417 persons). In 2022, the President of Ukraine issued four decrees pardoning 363 people (a year earlier – two decrees pardoning 32 convicted persons). Information regarding what proportion of them were pardoned within the framework of hostage exchange agreements, and what proportion outside these frameworks, was not provided. There were no press conferences, briefings, or even the publication of press releases about pardons during 2022, just as no publications on these issues were initiated in the media.

A certain indicator of the complexity of problems in the medical sphere and in the provision of medical services is the level of morbidity, mortality, and the number of suicide cases in the department’s institutions.

According to the data of the Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine (letter No. 2951-TsA-23 dated 19.09.2023), during 2022, 432 persons died in the correctional institutions of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine in territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine (454 persons), including 177 persons in pre-trial detention centres and remand centres (189 persons). The number of suicide cases while persons were in all penal institutions in 2022 was 21 (45), including 11 cases in pre-trial detention centres and remand centres (20 persons). The provided data indicate that the mortality rate has risen slightly over the last year, while the suicide rate has fallen by half. It is difficult to say whether the war influenced these changes.

The number of prisoners with tuberculosis at the end of 2022 in the institutions of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine in territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine was 446 (801), including 157 persons (193 persons) in SIZOs and remand centres. Calculated per 1,000 prisoners, the number of such patients decreased significantly in 2022 – from 16.60 to 10.44.

Such a significant change in the number of persons with tuberculosis (almost by half) may be related to the fact that the specialised institution where many such convicts were held is located in Kherson and ended up in the occupied part of the country. Accordingly, the prisoners of this institution likely did not enter the statistics.

The number of persons living with HIV who are registered in the health care facilities of the Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine in territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine as of 1 January 2023 was 3,415 (3,993 persons), of whom 1,006 were in SIZOs and remand centres (1,167 persons). Since SIZOs house not only persons taken into custody but also convicts, in particular, household maintenance staff, it is not reported how many of these persons are persons taken into custody, because the reporting forms maintained by the Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine do not provide for a distinction in remand centres between convicts and persons taken into custody. The indicator of patients per 1,000 prisoners has decreased slightly for the first time in recent years – from 82.75 to 79.92.

The dynamics of these indicators over the last years are shown in Table 3

Morbidity and mortality in the Department's institutions in 2003, 2012, and in 2016–2022

Table 3

As of 1 January 2023, 1,029 persons with disabilities were held in correctional institutions of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine (a year earlier – 1,364 persons), of whom 233 persons were in pre-trial detention centres and remand centres (291). How many of these persons are exactly persons taken into custody is not reported, because the reporting forms maintained by the Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine do not provide for a distinction between convicts and persons taken into custody.

According to the Probation Centre, as of 01.01.2023, 61,897 persons convicted to non-custodial sentences and released from serving sentences with probation were on the register of authorised probation bodies (a year earlier – 63,531 persons), including 477 minors (a year earlier – 713 persons) (letter No. 138/142-ZPI/1/Yan-23 dated 18.09.2023).

During 2022, no decisions on the closure or conservation of correctional institutions were made. At the same time, convicts, persons taken into custody, and staff were evacuated from 11 institutions.

Prisoners are also held in some other departments.

Territorial bodies of the police as of 01.01.2023 had 125 temporary detention centres (126) with a total capacity of 2,723 places (2.7 thousand places). As of 1 January 2023, 115 persons were being held in them (113 persons). In total, during 2022, 29,989 persons were held in temporary detention centres (51.9 thousand persons) (letter No. 2781zi/37/03/03-2023 dated 26 September 2023). During 2022, 2 persons died in temporary detention centres.

The department considers it impossible to provide information regarding the number of police officers who died in 2022 “for the purpose of complying with national security interests.” Conversely, according to data for the previous year, 2021, 103 police officers died, of whom 7 police officers died under circumstances not related to the performance of official duties.

The Commissioner’s Report on the results of monitoring places of detention, which are subordinate to the National Police, states the following:

“Employees of the Commissioner’s Secretariat, together with representatives of the public, visited 69 places of detention subordinate to the National Police during 2022, of which: 31 police departments; 25 police stations; 10 temporary detention centres; 3 police sectors. During the visits to places of detention of the National Police of Ukraine in 2022, violations of constitutional human rights and freedoms by police officers during detention and stay in the bodies and units of the National Police continued to be revealed, which is reflected in the relevant reports and response acts.”

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) operates one temporary detention centre in Kyiv – for holding persons suspected of preparing or conducting reconnaissance, subversive, or terrorist activities, and committing other crimes, the investigation of which is assigned to the competence of SBU bodies. The capacity of the detention centre is 48 persons. As of 01.01.2023, 3 persons were held in it (last year – 14 persons), and in total, 106 persons were held during 2022 (84 persons). There were no cases of death of detained persons in 2022 (letter of the SBU No. 16/B-8-P/v/39/4996-v dated 19.09.2023).

Children who have committed criminal offences under the age of 14 are sent to social rehabilitation schools and vocational schools. These institutions are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. As of the beginning of 2023, one school is operating in Ukraine – the Makiivka Vocational School of Social Rehabilitation for boys, which is temporarily housed in the Balakhivka School of Social Rehabilitation, Kirovohrad region (designed for 180 persons). As of 01.01.2023, ten boys were receiving vocational education there (a year ago – 6 boys).

Another educational institution for children in need of special educational conditions is the Komyshuvakha School of Social Rehabilitation for boys, Zaporizhzhia region, Orikhiv district, Komyshuvakha urban-type settlement (designed for 160 persons). In the specified institution, there are no pupils, although a year ago 7 boys were held there. All students were expelled by court decision (due to the expiry of the period of stay and due to transfer to a social rehabilitation school).

In accordance with the order dated 01.09.2022 No. 45-K, the employment contracts with school staff were suspended for the period of martial law (letter No. 4/3290-23 dated 20.09.2023).

A request to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine with a request to provide information regarding the number of persons held in disciplinary battalions and guardhouses remained unanswered. Instead, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing the press centre of the judiciary, that “in 2022, 1,569 military personnel were brought to administrative responsibility (arrest with detention in a guardhouse) under Article 172-20 of the Code of Administrative Offences” (https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2025/01/29/7495760/).

The number of violations by institution staff serves as evidence of the level of legality during the detention of prisoners. It is impossible to estimate the true number of such cases, but statistical data received from the Department and from the Office of the Prosecutor General provide a certain idea of the scale of the phenomenon.

The Office of the Prosecutor General provided information on separate indicators of prosecutors' work regarding supervision over the observance of laws during the execution of court decisions in criminal cases for 2022 (in parentheses – for 2021), which is shown in the table:

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, during 2022, 79 employees of the State Penitentiary Service were brought to criminal responsibility (a year ago – 83 persons, including 44 from the current period) (letter of the Office of the Prosecutor General No. 27/3-1849 out-23 dated 25.09.2023).

For comparison: in 2019, 1,758 prosecutorial response documents regarding employees of correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centres were considered, with measures taken to eliminate violations of the law. At the same time, 1,913 persons were brought to disciplinary, administrative, and material responsibility, and 47 State Penitentiary Service employees were brought to criminal responsibility (see item 42 of the 2019 Report).

One of the few institutions in the country that has the authority to monitor the observance of human rights is the Ombudsman (Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights). In 2022, this position was held by Lyudmyla Denisova until 30 June, and by Dmytro Lubinets from 1 July. The role of the Ombudsman is especially significant for prisoners because the law obliges the administration of correctional institutions to unhinderedly forward prisoners' complaints to the Ombudsman. Moreover, in accordance with Article 19-1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights”, the Ombudsman is entrusted with the functions of the National Preventive Mechanism (hereinafter – NPM) in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

According to the data provided by the Commissioner's Secretariat, within the framework of the implementation of the NPM, employees of the Secretariat carried out 345 monitoring visits to places of detention during 2022 (a year earlier – 981 visits, two years earlier – 815 visits). In response to the request, the Secretariat also laconically reports that the Ombudsman “sent 21 response acts, issued 141 written orders in accordance with Part 4 of Article 19.1 of the Law ‘On the Ombudsman’.” This is all that was provided in response to the request for information about the implementation of the NPM by the Ombudsman.

At the same time, the annual Report of the Ombudsman for 2022 states that during the year, within the framework of implementing the functions of the NPM, 61 institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine system were visited (out of 345 visits), including: 23 – pre-trial detention centres; 15 – correctional colonies; 11 – correctional institutions; 10 – medical units of branches of the state institution “Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine”; 1 – correctional centre; 1 – educational colony. How many of the visits to these 61 institutions involved the recipients of the 141 written orders from the Ombudsman is not reported.

The Ombudsman’s Report for 2022 contains information that during the year, the Ombudsman received 687 appeals, which contained 1,717 reports on human rights violations in correctional institutions, pre-trial detention centres, temporary detention centres, and other places of detention, among which 1,107 were regarding inadequate conditions of detention and 299 – regarding the non-provision of medical care, 40 – regarding the violation of the right to legal assistance.

Thus, the Secretariat refused to provide information that is actually created, exists, and is in the Secretariat’s possession. By refusing to provide information that “already exists” in the Secretariat, its officials violated the Law.

The Secretariat did, however, provide certain information in response to the request, noting that it was providing it within the framework of the Law “On Citizens’ Appeals”.

“The Ombudsman sent 21 response acts to state authorities, law enforcement, and judicial bodies regarding the elimination of violations of fundamental human and civil rights following the results of the implementation of the NPM function in 2022. Of these, four response acts related to the penitentiary system. The implementation of the provided recommendations regarding the elimination of the detected violations of human and civil rights specified in the response acts is under the constant control of the Ombudsman. Monitoring of the implementation of the provided recommendations is carried out through unscheduled visits of the NPM and relevant correspondence. Following the consideration of the submissions, the Secretariat received responses on the elimination of the detected violations.”

So, the Ombudsman’s Secretariat does not help in forming an idea about the progress in the fight against cruel treatment and torture in Ukraine, or the lack thereof, or even about the possible significant deterioration of the situation.

In 2022, the Ombudsman received 2,237 appeals reporting violations of the right to information (in 2021, 4,530 appeals were received). During 2022, 34 protocols on administrative offences were drawn up under Article 212-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences in connection with the violation of the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” (hereinafter – the Law), (during 2021, 175 protocols on administrative offences were drawn up, two years ago – 174, three years ago – 240), which is 1.52% of the number of appeals (last year – 3.86%, the year before last – 4.8%). As a result of the consideration of these appeals, according to the information available in the Secretariat as of October 2023, courts have made decisions to bring 4 persons to administrative responsibility for violating the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” (as of 31.12.2021, 12 persons had been brought to administrative responsibility). That is, 4 persons were actually punished out of those who were mentioned in the 2,237 appeals.

During 2022, 5 (a year earlier – 6) submissions from the Ombudsman regarding violations of the requirements of the Laws of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information” and “On Citizens’ Appeals” were filed to state authorities and local self-government bodies.

* * * * *

The authors of this statistical review are grateful to the departments that provided information upon the requests of “Donetsk Memorial” regarding persons deprived of liberty who are in the institutions of the department, or to whom the department has a relation. We are grateful to the Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, the Probation Centre, the National Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and the Office of the President of Ukraine.

The information provided by them was used in the preparation of this review. The data and information presented in the review may be clarified and supplemented if relevant additional information is received.