Political prisoner Gorinov will probably be angry with me for this post. But he himself, being a strong person, would never write this, and I feel partly responsible for the situation. A lot of my posts joking about the SHIZO (punishment cell), where I seem to live permanently, have in a way normalized it, made sending a political prisoner there seem routine. That is probably why, when Gorinov was sent for the second time to the SHIZO in IK-2 in Pokrov, the first penal colony I was held in, hardly anyone paid attention. But this cannot be ignored. Gorinov is 62 years old. Part of one of his lungs is missing. He is disabled. He is usually housed in what is known as the “disabled barracks.” He should not be in the SHIZO at all for health reasons. And I do not understand how the prison medic approved sending a disabled man to a punishment cell. At IK-2, I was not in a SHIZO cell, but I was many times in the barracks where those cells are located. It is a decrepit, battered building, damp and cold as a grave. The colony is literally built in the middle of a huge swamp. And on top of the dampness there are mosquitoes—I once wrote a separate post about them. There are swarms of them, and indoors they are there almost year-round. The cold is the worst part. Every one of you has been freezing. Sometimes for a long time. Five hours, eight hours, all night, three days on a hike. But I assure you, you have not experienced the kind of cold there is in the SHIZO. In ordinary life, you may have been freezing, but in the end you could climb into a hot bath. Put on wool socks. Get into a warm place. The subway, for example, if it is cold both at home and at work. And most importantly, you can have something hot to drink and eat properly. You eat something fatty—from vegetable oil in a salad to meat or butter on a sandwich—and that high-calorie fat helps you endure the cold. In the SHIZO, none of that exists. They even issue a special prison uniform there, a cold one, so that, God forbid, you do not somehow manage to keep yourself warm. The prison gruel in Pokrov is horrific. Other food is forbidden. You cannot just have tea whenever you want. Only half a mug with the gruel. By the rules, there is supposed to be hot water in SHIZO cells too, but that rule is violated everywhere. I do not have it now, and they do not have it in Gorinov’s colony either. (Continues in the carousel) ----------- At 14-17 degrees Celsius (kind of seems like it's not very cold, right?) you just freeze to death in four days. To the bones. And you daydream about being with a hot radiator and cuddle up to it. Now imagine what it's like for a 62-year-old disabled man with a part of his lung missing. They're not even torturing him anymore, they're just trying to kill him. What else do you call it? What could be the purpose of keeping the quiet, intelligent Gorinov in the SHIZO? Gorinov's case is one of the most lawless. I have tested it many times. Any Putinist and even an enthusiastic supporter of the war is horrified when you tell him: "A 62-year-old deputy at a meeting said, 'How about we don't celebrate a district holiday, because there's a war going on?'" - and for that, he was imprisoned for seven years. We should not get used to the sadism of the system. When such things happen, we should show normal human solidarity by telling, sharing, and reposting such information. Making it available to millions and constantly reminding these millions of the sadism of the prison bastards. The Russian person remembers that “don't count out a prison cell, a begging bowl may come as well”, and tries it on himself. But someone has to tell you about all of it. P.S. I have just found out that Vladimir Kara-Murza, with his ruined health after 2 poisonings, was put in a SHIZO right after his arrival to the Omsk colony.