Russia Closes Historic Women’s Penal Colony After Decades of Operation
Women’s Penal Colony No. 18 in Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Region, is being shut down. The Russian Ministry of Justice announced the decision in May, marking the end of operations for one of the oldest correctional facilities in the area. All convicted women have already been moved to other prisons in the region.
The closure process has now started for the historic site. Originally a monastery, Colony No. 18 later became a penal institution where female inmates primarily worked in garment manufacturing. Alexei Alexandrov, head of the FSIN regional press office in Nizhny Novgorod, confirmed the shutdown.
The region currently has nine correctional centres for convicts serving sentences with compulsory labour. Together, these facilities hold a total of 14,748 inmates. A new correctional centre is also planned to open in 2026, replacing some of the capacity lost by the closure.
With the transfer of all inmates completed, the site’s future remains undecided. The facility’s closure reduces the number of operational penal colonies in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Officials have not yet announced plans for the former monastery building.
