Solonyanska Correctional Colony (No. 21)
The State Institution “Solonyanska Correctional Colony (No. 21)” is a medium-security facility for housing men sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment who have previously served custodial sentences.
The facility is situated in the village of Apolonivka, in the Dnipro District of the Dnipropetrovsk Region, and is part of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine.
The history of the institution dates back to the pre-war period. A children’s labour colony for minors and orphans functioned on its premises. The primary purpose of the facility was to provide upbringing, education, and vocational training for children left without parental care. During the Second World War, the wards were evacuated, and the site was repurposed as a military hospital. At various stages of the war, it provided medical assistance to Soviet military personnel, and the premises were subsequently used by the occupying authorities to house a German hospital.
Following the end of the war, the operations of the children’s labour colony were restored. In the post-war years, the facility provided vocational training to minors in agricultural specialities. The wards were trained as drivers, tractor operators, combine harvester operators, and other specialists for the agricultural sector. The institution held significant land holdings, which were utilised for agricultural production and practical training. As the issue of child homelessness was gradually resolved in the early 1960s, the need for such institutions declined significantly. In 1961, in accordance with a joint decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, the Solonyanska General Regime Correctional Labour Colony was established on the site of the children’s labour colony. In the early years, the inmates were primarily engaged in agricultural production; however, from the beginning of the 1960s, the active development of the facility’s industrial base commenced. Production workshops were constructed, and new areas of activity were developed. In 1964, the production of agricultural machinery, specifically seed drills for mineral fertilisers, was established. Over the next decade, the colony developed rapidly.
By 1972, a robust industrial base had been formed, the grounds had been improved, and residential buildings for staff and social infrastructure facilities had been constructed. In the same year, the general regime colony was reorganised into a strict regime institution, which led to an increase in capacity and the further development of the industrial complex. Since then, the primary activity has been the manufacture of industrial products. In the 1990s, following the collapse of the USSR and the destruction of production links between enterprises of the former Soviet republics, the colony’s industrial operations underwent significant changes. The production of certain types of agricultural machinery ceased, and difficulties arose regarding the supply of raw materials and the sale of products. Under these conditions, the institution’s management sought new production avenues, mastered new types of products, and adapted the enterprise’s activities to market conditions.
After the declaration of Ukraine’s independence, the Solonyanska Correctional Colony became part of the national penitentiary system and subsequently became a component of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine.
Today, the institution continues to fulfil its state-mandated tasks regarding the execution of criminal sentences, ensuring appropriate conditions for the detention of inmates, and organising their labour, professional training, and social and educational programmes.
Contact information: State Institution “Solonyanska Correctional Colony (No. 21)”, 52406, Dnipropetrovsk Region, Dnipro District, Apolonivka village, Viyskove Mistechko St., 37
Head of the institution: PUSTOVIT Oleksandr Volodymyrovych
Telephone: +38 (098) 426-70-41 E-mail: [email protected]