The Wall Street Journal reports:

The Russian national anthem blares from loudspeakers each morning at the IK-17 penitentiary in Russia’s Mordovia region, awakening prisoners to another day in a labor camp known for hazardous work, limited nourishment and summary stints in solitary confinement.

Guards and inmates refer to IK-17 as a “fashion colony,” mainly for its brightly painted exteriors meant to impress occasional visitors. But accounts from current American inmates paint a much darker picture of the remote penitentiary, 300 miles east of Moscow, where Russia houses many of its foreign prisoners accused of crimes ranging from spying to drug trafficking.

IK-17 is also a likely destination for jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, should he be convicted and sentenced to a prison term, according to Russian penal-system experts. Gershkovich is awaiting trial in Russia on an espionage charge that he, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny.

In addition to dealing with dangerous working conditions and scant medical care, American inmates at IK-17 say they face corrupt administrators, severe retribution for perceived infractions and barely enough food to get by. They say dozens of their fellow inmates have volunteered to fight on the front lines of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine in a dangerous bid to win amnesty. [Continue reading…]