Outspoken Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin, serving 8 1/2 years in prison for openly condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has been transferred to a punitive cell unit (PKT) in a prison in the western Smolensk region, his Telegram channel said on June 18. Placement in the PKT is considered the harshest type of incarceration in Russian prisons. Unlike regular parts of prisons where inmates can move around, work, and visit a library or prayer rooms, the PKT limits those incarcerated to serve time in their cell, and they are isolated from the rest of the facility. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
