The Vladimir Prison, colloquially known as "Vladimirsky Central" , is a prison for dangerous criminals, about 100 miles northeast of Moscow in Vladimir

Vladimir

Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It was established in 1783. Most are serving a minimum of 10 years, and some are imprisoned for life. This prison is the largest in Russia.

Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

, the complex served as an infamous prison for political prisoner

Political prisoner

According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....

s of the Soviet regime. Among those who perished there was Polish politician Jan Stanisław Jankowski, commander-in-chief of the Estonian army Johan Laidoner

Johan Laidoner

Johan Laidoner was a seminal figure of Estonian history between the world wars. His highest position was Commander-in-chief of the Estonian Army in 1918–1920, 1924–1925, and 1934–1940.-Education:Laidoner was born in Viiratsi , Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire...

, Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop Mečislovas Reinys

Mecislovas Reinys

Mečislovas Reinys was the Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop, a professor at Vytautas Magnus University, a Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a social activist who publicly condemned racism and national hatred...

, Exarch of the Russian Catholic Church

Russian Catholic Church

The Russian Catholic Church is a Byzantine Rite church sui juris in full union with the Catholic Church. Historically it represents a schism from the Russian Orthodox Church. It is now in full communion with and subject to the authority of the Pope as defined by Eastern canon law...

 archimandrite Klymentiy Sheptytsky and German field marshal Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist

Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist

Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was a leading German field marshal during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...

.

Gary Francis Powers, a US U2 spy plane pilot shot down on May Day 1960 was imprisoned here until his release in February 1962. Famous Russian inmates here include Stalin's son, Vasily Dzhugashvili

Vasily Dzhugashvili

Vasily Iosifovich Dzhugashvili , known also as Vasily Stalin , , was the son of Joseph Stalin and his second wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva....

, Jewish Refusenik

Refusenik

Refusenik originally referred to citizens of the former Soviet Union who were refused permission to emigrate.Refusenik or refusnik may also refer to:*An Israeli conscientious objector, see Refusal to serve in the Israeli military...

 dissident Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky was born in Stalino, Soviet Union on 20 January 1948 to a Jewish family. He graduated with a degree in applied mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. As a child, he was a chess prodigy. He performed in simultaneous and blindfold displays, usually against...

, Ukrainian socialist federalist Serhiy Yefremov

Serhiy Yefremov

Serhiy Yefremov was a Ukrainian literary journalist, historian, critic, political activist, statesman, and academician. He was a member of the Ukrainian Academy of Science and Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv...

, and many others.