IK-3 is situated in Russia’s Arctic, in Kharp, a settlement in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district some 2,000 kilometres northeast of Moscow. It is situated in an area with extremely harsh weather conditions.
Quoting Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov, Moscow Times reports that the IK-3, which was founded in 1961 on the site of a former Soviet gulag forced labour camp, is ‘one of the most northern and remote’ prison colonies in Russia.
As per human rights defender Igor Kalyapin, “The conditions (in special-regime colonies) are quite terrible. Kalyapin told Moscow Times, “It is clear that this (Navalny transfer) is detention in maximum isolation.” He added, “I think that Navalny was sent so far precisely in order to ensure this maximum possible physical isolation, so even taking a trip there would be a problem.”
As per an old article by Russian journalist Leonid Nikitinsky, “IK-3 has always functioned as a colony for especially dangerous repeat offenders.”
Ivan Vostrikov, who was previously Navalny’s former Tyumen regional coordinator, who has visited Kharp, said, “It is almost impossible to escape from there — there are hundreds of kilometres of tundra on one side, and the mountains of the Polar Urals on the other.”
Inmates at the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony reportedly face harsh conditions, including limited resources and basic amenities. Accounts from current and former IK-3 prisoners make mention of particularly harsh environment, as well as physical and psychological brutality. Some prisoners, as per media outlet Vyorstka, also complained about a lack of clothing and other essentials in the colony.
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