In 1978, Bohdan Klymchak, hailing from Lviv, Ukraine, made a daring move by leaving the Soviet Union and seeking political asylum in Iran. Klymchak’s family had previously faced deportation to Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East after his brother was arrested as a “Ukrainian nationalist” in 1949. Klymchak himself experienced arrest in 1957 for “anti-Soviet agitation” and remained under constant surveillance even after his release. After successfully crossing the border, Klymchak found himself confined in Perm-36, one of the few remaining significant political prisons in the Soviet Union, until 1990, making him one of the last Soviet political prisoners.
Since Klymchak’s release, numerous significant events have taken place. Perm-36 transformed into a thriving museum and site of remembrance, annually welcoming tens of thousands of visitors, including school groups. Unfortunately, in 2014, the museum was abruptly shut down. Russian ex-prisoners and historians have since published memoirs and histories of the Gulag, organized conferences, curated exhibitions, and produced documentaries. However, over the past few years, their organizations have been banned, and their leaders either exiled or disregarded.
Presently, an alarming reconstruction of the Gulag system targeting Ukrainians has unfolded. Journalists, war-crimes investigators, and organizations like the Reckoning Project have diligently documented arrests, murders, prisons, and torture chambers in Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation. These occurrences are not merely spontaneous responses to Ukrainian resistance but rather part of a long-term scheme to establish an expansive network of camps and punishment colonies reminiscent of the infamous Gulag. The Associated Press recently reported evidence of at least 40 prison camps in Russia and Belarus, along with 63 formal and informal prisons in occupied Ukraine. Shockingly, these facilities house approximately 10,000 Ukrainians, the majority of whom are civilians unlawfully detained or abducted in occupied territories.
Much like the original Gulag, the purpose of these camps is to exploit slave labor. Some captive Ukrainians are coerced into digging trenches, constructing fortifications for Russian soldiers, and even being forced to dig mass graves. The new camp system aims to instill terror within the larger population, similarly to its predecessor. Civilians find themselves imprisoned and tortured for minor infractions, such as attaching a ribbon with Ukrainian colors to a bicycle, or, in some cases, without any reason at all. The Reckoning Project has gathered numerous accounts of Russian soldiers growing increasingly paranoid, interrogating ordinary citizens, many of whom volunteer for civic organizations, about their alleged connections to Ukrainian security services, the CIA, or even George Soros’s Open Society Foundation. An example highlighted by the AP involved a civilian captive from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region who was forcibly taken from her cell, driven around town, and ordered to identify individuals with pro-Ukrainian sympathies. This situation bears resemblance to the era of the Great Purges in 1937-38 when Soviet secret police exhibited similar paranoia, fear, and suspicion, not only toward ordinary citizens but also toward each other. Recent internal conflicts suggest that Russian military forces may eventually reach a similar stage in occupied Ukraine.
The new Russian camp network, akin to the Soviet Gulag, is not a temporary phenomenon and will continue expanding unless Ukrainians regain control of their territory. An obtained document from Russia reveals plans to construct 25 new prison colonies and six detention centers in occupied Ukrainian territory by 2026, further substantiating the long-term nature of this system. Comparable to the Gulag, this network operates chaotically and without respect for the rule of law. Individuals have been condemned without fair trials, their documents lost, and their detainment or release remains arbitrary. Family members receive no information and struggle to locate or communicate with their loved ones. Eventually, captives may also be compelled to serve on the front lines. Russian prisoners within Russia face a similar fate, being coerced, beaten, and tortured if they refuse to sign mobilization papers. It appears that Russian prison directors have been assigned quotas, demanding a certain number of prisoners to meet some central agenda.
The unmistakable historical parallels exhibit a deliberate strategy by the Russian security services. Like the KGB, they educate new recruits about the institution’s history to execute repressive policies that had been successful during the Soviet era, keeping individuals like Bohdan Klymchak and his brother behind bars. However, this history also elucidates Ukraine’s unyielding response. Observers questioning the reasons behind the Ukrainians’ continuous struggle, their plea for enhanced weaponry, their frustration with the sluggishness of transatlantic diplomacy, or their occasional bouts of anger and perceived “unreasonableness,” should acknowledge the resurgence of the Gulag, which was meant to be relegated to the past but has now become a haunting reality in the present. To prevent the Gulag’s inclusion in their future, Ukrainians must physically eradicate these camps and the individuals responsible for their operation from their land. Until this objective is accomplished, no assistance will ever suffice.
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