Polar Owl
Federal Governmental Institution — penal colony No. 18 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, commonly known as the Polar Owl is a Russian prison located on the bank of the Sob River near the Polar Urals in the Kharp urban-type settlement. It is one of the seven supermax corrective labor colonies operated by the Federal Penitentiary Service for convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in Russia. In addition to special regimen it has sections with common and strict regimens.
History
was founded in 1961 during the construction of the Salekhard–Igarka Railway. The core of the new settlement was a camp for prisoners who worked on laying the railway. Subsequently, the camp was transformed into a prison for particularly dangerous recidivists. The prison received the status of a colony for life convicts in 2004.In 2010–2012, there were reports in the media that some employees of the colony were involved in a scandal with the falsification of confession. Some unscrupulous guards were suspected of beating testimonies from prisoners with the use of physical and psychological violence. Novaya Gazeta reported 190 false confessions, while Izvestia reported 32. According to Novaya Gazeta, the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug tried to hush up the case, since high-ranking officials could be involved in it.
Notable inmates
| Name | Born | Notes |
| Nikolai Ageyev | 1974 | Russian serial killer |
| Firuz Aituganov | 1990 | Russian serial killer and rapist |
| Alexander Elistratov | 1954–2011 | Made an unsuccessful escape attempt in 2011 Russian robber and serial killer |
| Alexander Greba | 1980 | Russian serial killer |
| Yevgeny Kolesnikov | 1984–2016 | Killed himself at the colony, Russian serial killer |
| Nikolay Korolyov | 1981 | |
| Nur-Pashi Kulayev | 1980 | |
| Alexander Lokhtachyov | 1981 | 1/2 pair of Russian serial killers who raped and murdered eight women and girls around Magnitogorsk |
| Sergey Osipenko | 1970 | Kazakhstani-Russian serial killer and rapist |
| Ivan Panchenko | 1968 | Russian rapist and serial killer. |
| Alexander Pichushkin | 1974 | Serial killer |
| Sergey Pomazun | 1981 | Mass shooter |
| Oleg Ten | 1975 | Uzbekistani-born Russian serial killer and former policeman |
| Dmitry Voronenko | 1971 | Kyrgyzstani-Ukrainian serial killer |
| Mikhail Yudin | 1975 | Russian serial killer |
| Abdufatto Zamanov | 1973 | Tajik-born Russian serial killer |
| Sergey Zastynchanu | 1979 | Moldovan serial killer |
| Alexander Zhizhich | 1979 | One half of a killing team with his brother |