Research reveals how Russia’s ‘thieves-in-law’ fraternity governs prisons from afar
An article by Associate Member Elena Racheva and former Head of Department Federico Varese has explored order and governance in Russian prisons.
They found that in prisons where formal authority was weak or fragmented – due to overcrowding, resource scarcity or weak state capacity – the criminal fraternity vory-v-zakone (‘thieves-in-law’) created its own system of order and governance.
The vory system is institutionalised, coexisting with, and sometimes supplementing, state authority. The fraternity’s functions include negotiating with prison administration, mediating conflicts between inmates, coordinating punishments, regulating gambling, and instigating collective action (such as riots).
The system relies on reputation, communication networks, coercion and redistributive mechanisms, producing a form of authority that many inmates perceive as more predictable and even more humane than formal prison administration.
The extent of this influence varies between institutions. Russian prisons are commonly divided into ‘red’ prisons, where authority is primarily exercised by the administration, and ‘black’ prisons, where vory rules are more influential.
Yet the vory themselves are rarely physically present among the general prison population. There are only around 400 active members of the fraternity, with as few as 110 currently in prison. Instead, control is exerted through appointed representatives known as overseers and watchmen.
This case demonstrates how a remarkably small and often physically absent criminal elite can sustain governance at a distance across hundreds of penal institutions.
One of the principal tools used to exercise authority are progony: handwritten edicts containing rules, interpretations, dispute resolutions and announcements. The documents circulate between prison cells using ropes hung between windows and, increasingly, via mobile phones, allowing them to spread rapidly amongst inmates.
Dr Racheva and Dr Varese analysed 85 progony issued between 1988 and 2023, alongside seven interviews with former prisoners. They found that the vory’s system of governance began to shape prisoners’ lives from the moment they entered an institution.
The status of new inmates was evaluated – those accepted into the main prison population could not be abused without the vory’s permission, while those designated ‘untouchables’ – including some sex offenders and drug dealers – could be subjected to violence and humiliation.
Those who became part of the main prison population were expected to pay a contribution to the vory’s common fund, with the amount determined through negotiation and according to the inmate’s income. Most contributions took the form of cash, while some inmates contributed their skills, such as legal expertise.
This common fund was used within prisons, to support vory members and pay bribes, and externally, to support vory families or sustain other criminal activities.
These findings show that entering a prison under the control of the vory entails a negotiated process through which inmates receive a status and a set of obligations.
These practices contribute to sustaining a redistributive system that operates selectively, benefiting prisoners aligned with the vory while reinforcing criminal networks outside. Rather than a static hierarchy, our data reveal a flexible governance system shaped by local dynamics.
The paper concludes that understanding contemporary Russian prisons therefore requires taking seriously not only the role of the state but also the enduring capacity of extra-legal institutions to generate order, coordinate collective action, and shape the everyday lives of prisoners.
Original Publication
Racheva, E., & Varese, F. (2026). Criminal governance in Russian prisons. Punishment & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745261481121
