The Penal Enforcement System of Ukraine in 2023. A Statistical Overview.

In the places of deprivation of liberty of the penal enforcement system of Ukraine controlled by the Ukrainian authorities—that is, excluding the institutions in Crimea and the occupied parts of other regions—according to data provided to ‘Donetsk Memorial’ by the Department for Execution of Criminal Punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, as of 1 January 2024, there were 44,024 persons held (Department letter No. 57/60-pi/5.4.1/14-24/3/1/24.1-24 dated 26.02.2024; hereafter, figures in parentheses refer to the status as of 01.01.2023 – 42,726 persons). Over the year, the number of persons in places of deprivation of liberty increased—for the first time in over ten years—by 1,298 persons (a year ago, it decreased by 5,525 persons), or by +3.04% (–11.45%).

As of 1 January 2024, there were 100 penal institutions and two camps for the detention of prisoners of war within the State Penal Enforcement Service of Ukraine.

The dynamics of the number of persons in the institutions of the penal enforcement system over the last seven years are presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1

It is impossible to realistically calculate the rate of prisoners per 100,000 population for Ukraine 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 the millions of people who are currently forced to live outside the country should be considered part of the country’s actual population. Furthermore, the number of residents in the occupied territories is known only very approximately. Therefore, it is fair to refrain from calculating this indicator again this year. In 2021, it was 117.

As of 1 January 2024, 13,400 persons (12,904 persons) were held in custody in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions with pre-trial detention centre functions, including 830 women (678 women). The number of minors in pre-trial detention centres was 50 (53). Thus, over the year, the number of all persons held in custody increased by 496 (the previous year, it had decreased by 1,664), or by +3.84% (–11.42%).

In 2023, 8,217 persons were released from pre-trial detention centres without entering penal institutions (the previous year – 8,796 persons). Among the main reasons for the release of persons from pre-trial detention centres during 2023 were: a change in the pre-trial restriction measure – 5,715 (5,173 persons); the expiration of the sentence term (including early conditional release) – 1,675 persons (2,056 persons); the court’s application of penalties not involving deprivation of liberty – 781 persons (985 persons); and the termination of cases by courts and acquittal verdicts – 25 persons (58 persons).

Statistical data regarding 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 2023 increased from 29,822 to 30,624, i.e., by 802 persons (a year ago, it decreased by 3,861 persons), or by +2.69% (–11.46%).

However, it is worth considering that the situation could have been influenced by Russia’s armed aggression and the seizure of certain territories of the country where penal institutions are located.

In educational colonies for minors, 54 persons (46) are serving sentences, of whom 28 (26) are under the age of 18.

The number of convicted women serving sentences in penal institutions is 1,656 (1,577 women).

The number of life-sentenced prisoners as of 1 January 2024 was 1,591 (1,578 persons), including 26 women (25 women).

During the year, the number of life-sentenced prisoners increased by 13 (last year – by 3).

During 2023, 9,971 persons (10,496 persons) were released from the institutions of the State Penal Enforcement Service (SPES). However, there are difficulties with data on the number of persons newly arriving at the system’s institutions. The calculation of the balance of the total number of imprisoned persons in SPES institutions is rather strange.

In 2023, the total number of persons in the system’s institutions increased by 1,298, 9,971 persons were released, and 373 persons died; therefore, the number of persons who entered the system’s institutions during the year should have been around 11,640. Instead, the agency reports that 33,170 persons arrived at the system’s institutions.

Such a large number of newly arrived persons can only occur if persons transferred from one institution to another are counted as newly arrived every time and counted multiple times. Our request in the inquiry to the agency to inform us only of the number of persons entering the penal enforcement service institutions “from the outside,” so to speak, has so far been ignored. This is also strange because previously—ten years ago—such misunderstandings did not arise, as the agency’s experts could adequately count the number of persons entering the system’s institutions annually. Thus, it is currently impossible to provide the official data, rather than our own calculation, of the number of persons who actually enter the penal enforcement service institutions during the year.

In 2023, 3,274 persons were released on parole (a year ago – 3,265; seven years ago – 9,244) out of a total of 9,534 persons who formally qualified for parole (a year ago – 10,178). This constitutes 34.34% (32.08%) of the number of persons who formally qualified for parole. It is worth noting the specific dynamics of this indicator. Three years ago, it was 36.67%; five years ago – 37.8%; seven years ago – 41.15%; nine years ago – 53.5%. The trend is obvious, and it would be important to know its causes.

A person can be released earlier than the term set by the court not only by receiving parole but also in the case of a pardon. The relevant statistics testify to the chance of being pardoned. According to information provided by the Department for Citizen Appeals of the Office of the President of Ukraine, during 2023, the Pardon Division of the Citizenship, Pardon and State Awards Department of the Office of the President of Ukraine received pardon petitions for 482 convicted persons (a year ago – for 1,422 convicts). During the year, the Commission on Pardons under the President of Ukraine held four meetings (the previous year – three), at which pardon petitions for 354 persons were considered (the previous year – 848 persons). In 2023, no pardon decrees were issued (in 2022, four decrees on the pardon of 363 persons were issued) (letter No. 22/1-08/1092 dated 27.02.2024).

On the question in the request about what share of the pardoned persons were pardoned within the framework of hostage exchange agreements, the Office of the President did not provide any answer, as if such a question did not exist at all. That is, such information is being kept secret for unknown reasons. The inadequately increased secrecy of the President’s activities in the field of pardons is complemented by the fact that 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.

The number of able-bodied persons in penal institutions as of 01.01.2024 was 19,010 (a year ago – 20,219), or 62.08% (a year ago – 67.80%) of the total number of convicted persons; of these, 6,414 were provided with work (a year ago – 4,925). This constitutes 33.74% of the able-bodied number (on 01.01.2023 – 24.36%; for comparison – two years ago 32.11%, on 01.01.2017 – 47.2%) and 20.94% of the total number of convicts (a year ago – 16.51%).

The inclusion of convicts in work remains quite low in recent years. Among the probable reasons are the lack of demand for the products of the system’s institutions and the outdated industrial base of these enterprises, which is complemented by the state’s complete indifference to updating the policy of involving convicts in labour.

The average salary of working convicts in 2023 is unknown. In previous years, the agency could calculate it and reported it without hindrance. For instance, in 2022, it was 2,306.50 UAH, and two years ago – 2,067 UAH per month. Instead, for 2023, the agency reported the following: *“As of 1 May 2023, the salary amount for employed convicts under labour contracts and civil-law contracts is set at a level no lower than the legislatively defined minimum wage amount (in a monthly amount – 6,700 UAH, and in an hourly amount – 40.46 UAH).”*

It is obvious that this is not the actual average salary; it is an entirely different indicator, namely, the legislatively defined minimum wage amount. Meanwhile, the agency does not report what the actual average salary is.

A certain indicator of the complexity of problems in the medical sphere and 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 Healthcare Centre of the SPES of Ukraine (letter No. 588-TsA-24 dated 21.02.2024), during 2023, 373 persons (432 persons) died in the penal institutions of the SPES of Ukraine in the territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine, of whom 167 (177) died in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions. The number of suicide cases while persons were in all places of deprivation of liberty in 2023 was 66 (21), of which 37 (11) cases were in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions.

The information provided by the SPES seems quite strange. The agency reports 35 cases of suicide, of which 17 were in pre-trial detention centres. The reason for such a significant discrepancy is being clarified.

It is worth noting a decrease in the mortality rate of imprisoned persons from 10.11 cases per thousand prisoners to 8.47. At the same time, the number of suicide cases has tripled – 1.50 cases per thousand prisoners against 0.49 in 2022.

The number of prisoners with tuberculosis at the end of 2022 in the institutions of the SPES of Ukraine in the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine amounted to 537 persons (446 persons), including 152 (157) in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions. Calculated per 1,000 prisoners, the number of such patients in 2023 increased from 10.44 to 12.20, although this is significantly lower than the “pre-war” indicator of 2021, which was 16.60.

Such a significant change in the number of persons with tuberculosis (almost doubled) may be related to the fact that the specialized institution in which many such convicts were held was 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 people living with HIV and registered with the health facilities of the Healthcare Centre of the SPES of Ukraine in the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine as of 1 January 2024 was 3,611 (3,415 persons), of whom 1,096 (1,006) were in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions. In pre-trial detention centres, in addition to persons taken into custody, there are also convicts, in particular, household staff, and the Healthcare Centre of the SPES does not report how many of the persons in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions are specifically those taken into custody, as the reporting forms kept by the Healthcare Centre do not provide for a distinction in penal institutions between convicts and persons taken into custody. The indicator of patients per 1,000 prisoners increased slightly from 79.92 to 82.02, i.e., to the level of 2021, when it was 82.75.

The dynamics of these indicators in recent years are shown in Table 3.

Morbidity and mortality in the Department’s institutions in 2003, 2012, and in 2018–2023

Table 3

As of 1 January 2024, 1,069 persons with disabilities were held in penal institutions of the SPES of Ukraine (the previous year – 1,029 persons), including 233 in pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions (291). How many of these 233 persons are specifically those taken into custody is not reported for the aforementioned reason.

According to the Probation Centre, as of 01.01.2024, 67,345 persons convicted of offences not involving deprivation of liberty and released from serving a sentence with a probation period were registered with the authorized bodies on probation (the previous year – 61,897 persons), of whom 457 were minors (the previous year – 477 persons) (letter No. 19/21-ZPI/1/Yan-24 dated 28.02.2024).

During 2023, a decision was made to terminate the state institution ‘Novobuzkyi Correctional Centre (No. 103)’ and the state institution ‘Kherson Pre-trial Detention Centre’ through their liquidation.

The structure of changes in the number of SPES institutions in recent years is discussed in the Annual Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on the state of observance and protection of human and civil rights and freedoms in Ukraine in 2023 (hereafter – the Report):

“According to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, there are 182 penal institutions in the structure of the SPES of Ukraine. As of 31 December 2023, the following are not functioning:

• 29 penal institutions located in the territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, temporarily not controlled by the government of Ukraine since 2014;

• 5 institutions in the TOT of the AR of Crimea and Sevastopol;

• 7 penal institutions located in territories temporarily occupied by the RF since 24 February 2022;

• in 9 penal institutions, convicts and prisoners are not being held due to evacuation and location in the de-occupied territories of the Kherson region;

• 2 penal institutions have been repurposed into a camp for the detention of prisoners of war;

• 1 educational institution.”

In the structure of the state institution ‘Healthcare Centre of the SPES of Ukraine’ (hereafter – HC SPES), there are 99 healthcare facilities, including: 5 specialized tuberculosis hospitals, 7 multidisciplinary hospitals, 83 medical units, and 4 feldsher-midwifery stations. During 2023, 4 HC SPES institutions were liquidated, 4 institutions were combined into two, and one medical unit was created. As a result of constant rocket shelling, 22 penal institutions suffered destruction, 15 suffered minor destruction and property damage, and partial destruction of buildings, among which 2 institutions are unsuitable for further use (state institutions ‘Orikhiv Correctional Colony (No. 88)’ and ‘Druzhyliubivskyi Correctional Centre (No. 1)’).”

Imprisoned persons are also found in some other departments.

As of 01.01.2024, the territorial bodies of the National Police have 117 temporary detention centres (125) with a total occupancy limit of 2,470 places (2,723 places). As of 1 January 2024, there were 112 persons in them (115 persons). In total, during 2022, 34,128 persons were held in temporary detention centres (29,989 persons) (letter No. 26253-2024 dated 16.02.2024).

During 2023, two people died in temporary detention centres, and two suicides occurred.

At the same time, the Commissioner’s Report presents entirely different information, citing the National Police as the source:

“According to information from the National Police of Ukraine, as of 31 December 2023, out of 109 temporary detention centres (TDCs), the operation of 28 has been temporarily suspended (9 – due to reconstruction and repair work, 3 – the issue of liquidation or repair is being decided, 6 – due to hostilities, 4 – destroyed (partially destroyed) during the armed aggression of the RF in Ukraine, 6 – are located in the TOT). 81 TDCs continue to function.”

The reasons for such a significant discrepancy are unknown. However, a year later—as of 01.01.2025—the National Police reported the existence of 95 TDCs.

The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) reported that in 2023, there were no cases of death of persons held in SBU temporary detention centres. Regarding other traditionally requested data, the service reported that “taking into account the provisions of Article 22 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Access to Public Information’, as well as the fact that during the operation of the legal regime of martial law, the dissemination of information relating to the internal service activities of a state special-purpose body with law enforcement functions may have signs of illegal activity directed against Ukraine, we inform you about the impossibility of providing other requested information in full.” The requested information can be provided after the termination or cancellation of the legal regime of martial law in the prescribed manner (SBU letter No. 16/B-12-P/39/1076-v dated 19.02.2024).

The request to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine to provide information on the number of persons in disciplinary battalions and guardhouses was refused. In letter No. 306/PPS/2897 dated 12.03.2024, signed by Colonel Oleksandr Ivanov, acting head of the Military Law Enforcement Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is stated:

“In accordance with paragraph 7 of clause 5 of subparagraph 5.1 of the List of Information of the Armed Forces of Ukraine constituting official information (PSI – 2023), approved by the order of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dated 30.01.2023 No. 12, information-analytical activity in wartime regarding facts of detention of military personnel by law enforcement agencies on suspicion of committing a crime or corrupt acts is classified as official information.

Considering the above, exclusively in the interests of national security and in accordance with clause 2 of part one of Article 22 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Access to Public Information’, the information requested by you cannot be provided at this time.

Such information can be provided to you after the end of martial law.”

This position of the agency is understandable. The last time information was provided was for 2020. The 2020 Report stated that, according to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, as of 01.01.2021, 19 persons were held in the disciplinary battalion of the Military Law Enforcement Service (MLES), and 39 military personnel taken into custody on suspicion of committing crimes were held in MLES guardhouses. During the year, 254 military personnel taken into custody were held in guardhouses (Ministry of Defence of Ukraine letter No. 306/3/1367 dated 26 February 2021).

However, ‘Ukrainska Pravda’ reported, citing the press centre of the judiciary, that in 2023, 4,266 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/).

Children who committed criminal offences under the age of 14 are sent to schools and vocational training schools for social rehabilitation. These institutions are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. As the Ministry reported, at the beginning of 2024, two institutions are operating in Ukraine: one is the Makiyivka Vocational School of Social Rehabilitation named after A.S. Makarenko for boys, which is temporarily housed in the Balakhivka School of Social Rehabilitation, Kirovohrad region, Balakhivka urban-type settlement (designed for 180 persons). As of 01.01.2024, nine pupils were receiving vocational education there—eight boys and one girl (a year ago – 6 boys).

Another educational institution for children needing special upbringing conditions is the Komyshuvakha School of Social Rehabilitation for boys, which was located in the Zaporizhzhia region, Orikhiv district, Komyshuvakha urban-type settlement (designed for 160 persons). Currently, “in order to create safe and comfortable conditions for the education and living of minors, temporarily, for the period of hostilities in the Zaporizhzhia region, pupils are sent in accordance with Ministry of Education and Science vouchers to the school of social rehabilitation at the address of the Makiyivka school.

As of 19.02.24, according to court rulings, in accordance with the orders of the Ministry of Education and Science dated 27.10.23 No. 1318, dated 08.12.23 No. 1498, and Ministry of Education and Science vouchers dated 31.10.2023 No. 2, dated 11.12.23 No. 3, there are two pupils (boys) in the school of social rehabilitation” (letter No. 6/190-24 dated 19.02.2024). There is no information about the conditions of detention of children in these two institutions, nor about any possible shortcomings in this regard.

The level of compliance with the law during the detention of prisoners is evidenced by the number of violations by the staff of the institutions. It is impossible to estimate the true number of such cases, but the statistical data obtained from the Office of the Prosecutor General provide some idea of the scale of the phenomenon.

The Office of the Prosecutor General provided information on specific indicators of the work of prosecutors regarding supervision of compliance with laws during the execution of court decisions in criminal cases for 2023 (in parentheses – for 2022), which is presented in Table 4.

Table 4

* including not only penal institutions but also psychiatric hospitals, military units, and some others.

According to data from the Office of the Prosecutor General, 87 (79) employees of the state penal enforcement service were brought to criminal responsibility during 2023 (the previous year – 79 persons), of whom 30 were identified in the current period (44 persons) (Office of the Prosecutor General letter No. 27/3-334 out-24 dated 21.02.2024).

As can be seen from the table, 1,291 prosecutorial response documents regarding employees of correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centres with measures taken to eliminate violations of the law were considered. For comparison: in 2019, 1,758 prosecutorial response documents regarding employees of correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centres with measures taken to eliminate violations of the law were considered. At the same time, 1,913 persons were brought to disciplinary, administrative, and material responsibility, and 47 SPES employees were brought to criminal responsibility.

One of the few institutions in the country that has the authority to check compliance with human rights in places of deprivation of liberty is the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (hereafter – the Commissioner). Since 1 July 2022, this position has been held by Dmytro Lubinets. The role of the Commissioner is particularly significant for imprisoned persons because the law obliges the administrations of penal institutions to send prisoners’ complaints to the ombudsman without hindrance. Moreover, in accordance with Article 19-1 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights’, the Commissioner is entrusted with the functions of the National Preventive Mechanism (hereafter – 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 Secretariat of the Commissioner, within the framework of the implementation of the NPM during 2023, NPM groups (the Commissioner’s Secretariat together with representatives of the public) carried out 538 visits to places of deprivation of liberty (345 in the previous year). The Commissioner’s annual Report notes that out of 538 visits to places of deprivation of liberty in 2023, 117 visits were made to institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (SPES), 85 visits to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, 9 visits to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, and 2 visits to the SBU.

The Secretariat reported that based on the results of visits to places of deprivation of liberty, reports were drawn up, and submissions were made with recommendations and proposals for eliminating identified violations of human and civil rights and freedoms. During 2023, the Commissioner made 140 submissions to public authorities, local self-government bodies, associations of citizens, enterprises, institutions, and organizations regardless of the form of ownership, and their officials and officers, regarding the elimination of identified human rights violations in places of deprivation of liberty. Recommendations and proposals provided as a result of monitoring visits are contained in visit reports and submissions; their number is not counted separately. The Secretariat also cannot report what portion of them concerns penal institutions, noting that such separation regarding institutions of individual departments is not provided for by statistical reporting.

Regarding the number of representatives of public organizations involved in monitoring visits, who must obtain an authorization from the Commissioner to participate in the visits, the Secretariat reported that during 2023, the Commissioner issued 177 such written authorizations (141 authorizations in the previous 2022). One healthcare specialist was also involved in the visits on a paid basis (letter No. 2259.2/195.13/24/ZI/24/39.4 dated 27.02.2024).

According to the data posted in the Report, the Commissioner sent 316 requests and initiative letters based on the results of visits during the year, conducted two human rights awareness events, and the number of publications, explanations, informational materials, etc., totals 222.

The Report also contains the results of work with citizens’ appeals.

“During the year, the Department for Human Rights in Places of Deprivation of Liberty received 1,005 oral and written (including electronic) appeals, which contained 3,013 reports of human rights violations in penal institutions, pre-trial detention centres, temporary detention centres, and other places of deprivation of liberty, among which 1,969 were regarding inadequate conditions of detention, 603 regarding the failure to provide medical assistance and the establishment/extension of disability groups, 527 regarding torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and 70 regarding violations of the right to work.

Based on the results of reviewing such appeals, the Commissioner made 14 submissions to heads of central executive bodies and heads of law enforcement agencies, and also sent 1,732 letters to law enforcement agencies and public authorities. Based on the results of inspections initiated by the Commissioner regarding reports of violations of persons’ rights in places of deprivation of liberty, law enforcement agencies launched 23 criminal proceedings, and prosecutors’ offices issued 87 mandatory instructions regarding the elimination of identified violations of persons’ rights in places of deprivation of liberty.

As a result of the measures taken by the Commissioner, the rights of 85 persons held in such places were restored.”

In 2023, the Commissioner received 3,957 appeals with reports of violations of the right to information. During 2023, 44 protocols (1.11% of the number of appeals, 1.52% in 2022) were drawn up regarding administrative offences under Article 212-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences. As a result of their consideration, 7 resolutions were issued on imposing penalties in the form of a fine on officials. During 2023, 6 submissions of the Commissioner regarding the violation of the requirements of the Law ‘On Access to Public Information’ and the Law of Ukraine ‘On Citizens’ Appeals’ were made.

Regarding the question about conclusions and recommendations aimed at improving the state of ensuring human and civil rights and freedoms in the sphere of access to public information, the Secretariat noted that it cannot provide them because, at the present time, the Commissioner’s annual report is in the process of development, and therefore the requested conclusions and recommendations had not yet been created or recorded (letter No. 45.1/159.14/196.13/24/ZI dated 26.02.2024).

* * * * *

The authors of this statistical overview are grateful to the agencies that provided information to ‘Donetsk Memorial’s’ requests regarding persons deprived of liberty who are in the institutions of the department or to whom the department has a connection. We are grateful to the Department for Execution of Criminal Punishments of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Healthcare Centre of the SPES 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 overview. The data and information provided in the overview may be clarified and supplemented if corresponding additional information is received.