Russia · Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug · Kharp
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
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Arctic-circle special-regime colony holding life-sentenced and terror-related inmates. One of the most isolated facilities in the Russian system.
Capacity
1,000
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
1961
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology
Population held
male
Opened
1961
Region
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Security level
Special regime
Death-row facility
No
Punishment-cell regime and cold-cell exposure documented by released prisoners.
Long visits theoretically permitted per regime tier; routinely denied for political prisoners.
Russian FSIN format. Delays in delivery widely reported by recipients.
Located 1900 km north-east of Moscow; family visits require multi-day travel.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died at IK-3 on 16 February 2024; the cause has been disputed.
Alexei Navalny (transferred December 2023; died 16 February 2024).
No public contact details available.
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
What the score is responding to:
This facility scores 22. The national average across 2,130 scored Russia facilities is 19 — 3 points above national average.
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
Higher risk than 100% of peer facilities in Russia.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny pronounced dead at IK-3. Cause disputed; Memorial calls for independent international investigation.
How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). IK-3 'Polar Wolf'. Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/ik-3-polar-wolf
"IK-3 'Polar Wolf'." World Prisons. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/ik-3-polar-wolf.
@misc{worldprisons-ik-3-polar-wolf,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {IK-3 'Polar Wolf'},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/ik-3-polar-wolf},
urldate = {2026-07-21}
}