Азбука тюрьмы: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Prison Alphabet is a 13-part series by Russian filmmaker Andrey Silvestrov that takes viewers inside the walls of Russia's vast penitentiary system, one of the world's largest. Forty ex-inmates, ranging from political prisoners to officials and thieves, detail their varied experiences behind bars. Interviewees include Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's younger brother, Oleg Navalny; Pussy Riot musician Maria Alyokhina; former Yukos oil company executive Vladimir Pereverzin; civil activist Konstantin Kotov; and Uzbek political prisoner Bakhrom Khamroyev. The 13 episodes evoke the Russian penal system's corruption and brutality, but also reveal its informal code of behavior and its nearly 500,000 inmates' defiant insistence on survival. Prison vocabulary and customs have permeated ordinary Russian life. To illustrate that connection, each episode is centered around one prison word and introduces viewers to prison slang.

Series details

• Title: Азбука тюрьмы
• Format: Documentary
• Language: Russian
• Premiere date: 2021-05-28
• Final broadcast date listed: 2021-07-23
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: Настоящее Время
• Network country: Russian Federation
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 55707

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2021-05-28; final listed air date 2021-07-23.

Source and licence

Adapted from Азбука тюрьмы on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.