Russian federal officials plan nationwide ‘commissions’ to investigate abuse claims, after torture video leaks from Yaroslavl prison

Russian prison officials are scrambling to respond to a scandal in Yaroslavl, where recently leaked video footage shows more than a dozen guards torturing an inmate last summer. The Federal Penitentiary Service announced on Tuesday that commissions will be created at prisons nationwide to review mistreatment allegations from prisoners.

The commissions will also review complaints filed in the past year from prisoners who say they were targeted with violence. The federal agency promises to carry out “strict disciplinary measures, including the dismissal [of guards],” wherever there's evidence to support prisoners' complaints.

• On June 20, the newspaper Novaya Gazeta published a 10-minute video showing guards at a prison in Yaroslavl brutally torturing an inmate named Evgeny Makarov. The prison in Yaroslavl has fired 17 guards captured on video torturing the inmate, and police have detained six of these men.