Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre

The State Institution “Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre” is one of the most well-known and oldest penitentiary institutions in Ukraine.

The institution is located in the historical Lukianivka area in the city of Kyiv and ensures the custody of persons held under arrest, as well as certain categories of convicts in cases provided for by Ukrainian legislation. The history of the Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre originates from the Kyiv Prison Castle, which was located on the territory of the Pechersk Fortress in the 18th century.

In the first half of the 19th century, the old prison no longer met the city’s needs: it was overcrowded, technically outdated, and did not allow for proper separate detention of different categories of inmates.

This became the basis for a lengthy discussion regarding the construction of a new prison complex.

In the mid-19th century, a decision was made to build a new Kyiv Prison Castle outside the fortress—beyond the former Zhytomyr checkpoint. Construction of the main block was completed in 1863. The complex was designed for hundreds of inmates and included cells, infirmaries, and administrative and utility rooms. Later, workshops, medical premises, utility buildings, and additional security blocks were set up on the institution’s territory.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the institution was substantially expanded: new blocks, a hospital, utility rooms, and other infrastructure facilities were built. During the Soviet period, the Kyiv prison was used as one of the main places of pre-trial detention in the Ukrainian SSR. Thousands of people passed through it, including political figures, representatives of the Ukrainian dissident movement, human rights activists, writers, and public figures. The history of the Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre is inextricably linked to the history of political repression, the Soviet punitive system, and the struggle for human rights in Ukraine.

At various times, individuals persecuted for political motives, as well as prominent Ukrainian public and political figures, were held in the institution. That is why this facility possesses not only penitentiary but also important historical and human-rights significance.

Following the restoration of Ukraine’s independence, the Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre became part of the system of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine. Today, it continues to perform the functions of a pre-trial detention centre, ensuring the custody of persons against whom a preventive measure in the form of detention has been applied, as well as convicts who have been kept in the facility to perform work related to the institution’s housekeeping. Given the significant age of the buildings, high occupancy, and the institution’s special role in the pre-trial detention system, the Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre is constantly under the attention of state and public oversight bodies.

Over the years, it has been visited by representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and independent human rights organizations. During monitoring visits, the conditions of detention for those arrested and convicted, the state of medical care, compliance with the right to privacy, access to legal aid, the organization of nutrition, sanitary and hygienic conditions, disciplinary practice, working conditions for persons kept for housekeeping, and the compliance of the institution’s activities with national legislation and international standards for the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty were evaluated. The Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre remains one of the key pre-trial detention institutions in Ukraine.

At the same time, its historical nature, the prolonged use of the buildings, and the systemic challenges inherent to pre-trial detention centres necessitate the further modernization of the infrastructure, the improvement of detention conditions, and the strengthening of guarantees for the protection of human rights.

Contact information for the State Institution “Kyiv Pre-trial Detention Centre” Address: 13 Dehtiarivska St., Kyiv, 04050

Head: Volodymyr Ihorovych Khalavka

Telephone: (044) 483-79-27

Email: [email protected], [email protected]