What is the Russian Prison System Like? 

shouldn't this video be called 'a look into Russia's judicial system'? only about a third of the video is about prisons. Whereas the whole could be said to be about the judicial system. excellent video btw.

Peace, land, and bread. But you forgot alcohol.

5:55 "Judges should hold the government accountable to the same laws as the citizenry." Yeah, They should. So why don't they?

Off to gulag now

you need more gulag

A couple of Chechnyans are en route to your home now for some “tea”.

The world get's a little bit better when Will uploads a new video.

I would like to add that a reason why Russians Tzars hesitated to implement reforms (from Peter ton Nicholas the II) was because of the lack of a strong middle class in Russia. In Europe, monarchs had (in the 16th to 18th centuries) the support of cities, merchants, trade companies and a rising middle class, as they considered the monarch would protect them from the Church and Noblemen. This funded all the palaces, mercenaries, universities, academies and bureaucracies. Russia, however, up unitl the 20th century never had a strong middle class. Peter the Great built the Russian Navy and Petrograd with money from the Boyars (Russian Nobility), to which he offered more power over the serfs. Catherine outlawed the movement of serfs on St Basil Day, the only day in which serfs could move from one landlord to another. Serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861.

How about a video about what it's like "inside" the Russian prison system....

I service cctv cameras and they very rarely almost never go off during “maintenance” and I work on big sites such shopping centres and also train stations so that’s bull

Is 1 word, 5 letter)) G U L A G

Makes you think when you realize that Russia used the same melody for their anthem for 3 different forms of government.

I just found your channel a few days ago and was extremely sad to see how long it had been since you last upload. I am so excited to see you producing more content! Going to your patreon now. :D

As a history buff, I'm very impressed with how you base your channel off of legitimate sources. Also, the graphics are A1 and I can tell you are a passionate student of the subject matter. Remember, history is context and context is everything. Keep up the amazing work!

Video starts at 10:40

Seeing the notification for this video really got my day started on high note

YAY ANOTHER VIDEO! I love your videos! They're so informative!

Excellent video. Will be keeping up with your content

Absolutely fascinating! Great work!

Wow. This was a WHOLE hell of a lot more interesting than I was expecting. Imagine a standing ovation from me. First video of yours I've seen and I'm subscribed already.

I love the little undertones of how amazing it is in the west. "traditional prisons that we recognize in the west" and the talk about liberty being blind and individuals being subjected to same rights as the government. To that I can only say, HA, HA, HA. First focus on corporations having same rights as individuals. Then you can focus on your government. As for "traditional prisons".. i suggest you go look at your solitary confinement prisons. Or Guantanamo bay. I am not saying Russia or US are perfect, but hearing these little undertones of how no other country compares to the "amazingness and correctness that is the US", is laughable. For the rest, very good documentaries. Very much enjoyed them. Keep up the good work!

I don't know if there is a lot to cover, but you could make a video about how death penalties work(ed) around the world

Didn’t expect you to know Spanish, very nice! 👍🏻 Knowing more than a single language helps the world stay together as a people rather than as nations.

Amazing video! I love how you dived deep, and gave a very objective view of the situation.

Forgot you changed your name haha. Glad to see you back with another video.

You're the best! Hope to have the means to support you on patreon soon.

Another great video Will.. It was 17 minutes well spent. Keep up the great work!

I just found your channel and I'm loving it! Keep doing what you're doing!!

The Stanford experiment should show that leaving inmates in charge is a TERRIBLE idea

Shouldn't the title be: What is the Russian justice system like?

I lost your channel a while back and always to find your old videos for some reason couldn't find it. Thank sweet GOD I found it.

Your channel is fantastic! You deliver coherent, structured and entertaining ways of teaching history. Great job man.

Do a video about the corruption in the US.

Can we also get a video on the regressing judicial systems of the West? That's one theme we seem to have in common with Russia :)

just found your channel and I'm amazed by your insight and content. Wow. Thank you

2:40 Gotta love, how they opted to cover the assassination with a snow plough. When there was no snow. 😅

Do a video on the Holodmor.

Click here for a free two month trial of Skillshare! skl.sh/exploration Join me for Susan Orlean’s writing course or try out any of the 17,000+ classes. Sidenote- this comment section should be fun! Call out whataboutism if you see it. Yes, I will be doing a video about the American prison system. @williamcfox

best youtuber on historical topics because you have the best delivery.

Really interesting stuff man, deffo sticking around to see more of this. A great channel for those wanting to understand the world rather than bash it or their countries.

What is the Russian Prison System Like? gulags

Good video. Howevery, I didn't like that you didn't translate the spanish newspaper at minute 8. I often dont look at the video itself and only listen and when that part came up I was too slow to realize that you switched to spanish and had to jump back to read what it meant.

This channel is amazing. High-quality content: well researched, impartial and candid. More than decent presentation: great graphics, relevant video images, smooth editing. Plus the presenter seems like a great guy. Saludos desde Ann Arbor!

Keep up the good work! Its channels like this that give me faith in humanity.

Great, objective. I wasn't aware the Russian courts were in such a state of decline.

An American criticising the judicial system of Russia is a bit too ironic for my taste

I always look forward to your videos, always entertaining and thought provoking, please continue what you're doing with all the passion that clearly goes into it every episode. Keep up the great work !

This was a great video! Awesome job, thank you!

Over half a million under Stalin? That’s an understatement it was more like 45 million

Cool video, I really hope state-funded Russian troll army won't find it

That was a great video, well researched and everything. Thanks.

Really well structured video. Can you do a video on the Polish and Japanese judicial/prison systems please? Also no offense, but I think you should work more on your thumbnails. You would get way more views that way and they would do justice to the actual content :D

don't assume your audience can understand spanish -.-

Putin obviously acts like a dictator (hence why he is described as one here in the west) but he is a smart dictator. He avoids the political instability that western democracies have by eliminating the opposition. A country would be much stronger if it’s population wasn’t divided in half (like here in the west). Putin has learned from Russian history that as soon as there is an ounce of opposition in the government, chaos ensues. Justin think of the times in Russian history when dictators ruled, such as Ivan the Terrible or Stalin. These are also periods of times where Russia was strong and was able to defend off foreign invaders. Putin is doing a good thing by making sure that his country stays united, especially in this day and age where there are a lot of powerful countries opposing Russia. However, the way in which he is doing it violates many international laws and is quite questionable. Is Putin a bad person? To Russians, no (mostly). To the west, yes. But that is because the west has a different viewpoint. The west has never experienced a dictator as powerful as the dictators that Russia has had. Understanding and questioning Putin’s viewpoint is close to impossible, so it’s better to leave it alone otherwise you might share the same fate as Boris Nemstov. Do I support what Putin is doing? Of course not, he is killing hundreds, if not thousands of his own people. What I wrote is just how I see Putin’s viewpoint. Do note that this is all just my *OPINION* and what I wrote is not facts. If you want to disagree with my opinion, you are free to do so. Just do it in a reasonable manner.

thank you for making this

My boy is back!

Russian -Prison- gulag System Like?

Incoming Kremlin trolls

Another fantastic piece. Keep it up!

Very Informative Video 💯

Donald Trump has wet dreams about being Vladimir Putin.

I cant really take an American criticising Russia seriously.

Amazing work as always!

Well, this was not the kind of video i wanted to see acording to the title, but it was extremely interesting nonetheless. Thank you very much :)

There is no such thing as torturing a Muslim. All torturing on Muslims are justified. That’s how we keep the world free and democratic.

You're amongst my favourite creators on youtube!

"This video contains descriptions of torture" We're in for quite the ride then!

I'm new here but you quickly earned my sub. Anyone ever told you that you look like a young David Wood, from Act's 17 Apologetics RU-vid channel?

Does anyone know where I can get a two month free trial of Skillshare?!

I'm so glad that you have continued your journalistic activities. There simply aren't enough people doing what you are.

A very well made video, keep it up!

Love these videos. It's like an entire documentary in 17 minutes without all the stuff you don't care about.

I'm new to your channel n I like your content so I will be subscribing no. Keep up the good work bro.

Nice vid you have just earned yourself a sub

your youtube channel is amazing

Great video, excellent research🏛

Wieder mal ein großartiges Video! :)

U just earned a sub for teaching me about prisons

Fun fact: The upper House of Parliament is in fact still called the Soviet. The Soviet Federatsi to be exact, a name that can be translated as the Federal Governing Council.

Fantastic storytelling Will. You connected the distant past, recent past and present seamlessly. As someone that spent a bit of time playing with a product photography studio...and geek out on such things... Your lighting is a nice color temperature for realistic color rendering. If I were in your position, I'd want a bit more warmth for 'storytelling.' In my mind the perfect lighting environment for story telling is a bright morning coffee shop lighting environment. If your lighting color temp is 5.5k you might edit it to around 4.2k-4.6k in software. This would soften your skin tones and create a warmer visual. The story may be cold, but your direct to camera footage should bring the audience to the warmth of home IMO. ...coming from a guy that just records with a phone camera and junk these days..but I'm a disabled gimp now... What your building is exciting and worth the time investment to tweak the details. Just my $0.002Adcents ;) -Jake

4:35 Funnily enough the UK has Magistrates Courts. Appeals from these courts are heard in Crown Courts by a Judge and two Magistrates. Cases of first instance tried in the Crown Court are tried by a Judge and Jury, appeals from this court are heard by Court of Appeal.

Good to see a video again! Decided to become a patron to show some real support. Thanks for clearing the political fog a bit :)

Hey man your editing and animation are incredible. Don’t ever be intimidated by that. Unless you have had professional training in that area why would you even worry about it? I couldn’t even begin to approach the way that you edit or animate right now. There are lots of people on RU-vid very successful they probably don’t have near the skills you have right now. I was sitting here thinking if you were telling the story how do you know all this you must be a big reader? I love to learn but I cannot sit down and read a book. I can do audiobooks while I hike or work out but I just can’t sit and read. Thanks for a great video

Well done videos done here! I'm guessing with any government the preservation of "maintaining order" & accumulation of power&wealth by politicians are probably the.three main concerns on their minds

Great video

Considering the title, the offer at the beginning sounded very scary until it said "classes".

11:00 The UK used to have penal colonies. Funnily enough we have Category D prisons which are open.

Wait, this was about the prison system? You brought prisons up for all of maybe 10 seconds. Video needs a retitle. That said, the video itself was very good, and enjoyable to listen to. Keep up the awesome work.

Will, 11:34 . I may have mistaken some info, but 200km is distance equal about the diameter of the circle around Moscow on 11:49 . This 200km has nothing to be compared to Syberia exiles. So it is very confusing to put it in context of syberian purges. I never did a research, but guess that 200-500 km is a regular remoteness for 'colonies' (and honestly I find it ok) while being moved to Syberia is kind of a rare practice for those who live to the West of Russia. One more thing, I guess, noone knows what Chechen stands for, and it is even difficult to make clear in order to google this noun properly. A text comment might make it better.

Good comment. I suggest interviewing people and adding excerpts might add another dimension to these comments.

+The Exploration I really hope you see this comment, as I'd hate to see you discredit yourself with more videos like this one. Note: I'm a senior law student in the Moscow State University. I haven't stepped foot in Russia before starting my education, have no Russian blood and no ties to Russia, apart from my education and the friends i've made. I will point out errors in the video in a chronological order: 1. the Nemtsov case has pretty much nothing to do with the Russian judicial system. It's highly inappropriate to judge a whole system based on a single (highly controversial) case; 2. there is no rule according to which cases are always tried with a jury in district courts. It's possible (if the defendant wants it), but not mandatory; 3. the Russian Supreme Court also has the right to judicial review, but it's done in a different way and is not based on checking weather laws are in accordance to the constitution; 4. there's basically not a single correct statement in the whole segment about the Supreme arbitration court (which was just a part of the arbitration court system). After the fall of the Soviet Union, the court system was in dire need of heavy reform. That was especially true in regards to the "simple" courts that use to try ordinary criminal and civil cases. At the same time the seeds of capitalism were being sown in Russia and the newly created businesses needed legal protection "here and now". This is why the parliament made a compromise: it allowed the old soviet arbitration tribunals to continue functioning (under the new laws) and to serve the new economy, while the main part of the court system was being reformed. The system was never intended to live forever. After the judicial reforms were completed the second part of the plan was set in motion and the court systems were merged. Why was this necessary? Very simple - imagine the US having two separate supreme courts. Who will be the boss of whom? No matter how much they cooperate, sooner or later they will pass different decisions on the same matter. Who will you listen to? Both are supreme, right? Well, that's what was going on in Russia, but on a much bigger scale. The courts didn't agree on a slew of issues (not because one is the governments puppet and the other isn't) and this was becoming a huge problem. This is why the final step was made and the Supreme arbitration court was dissolved and it's judges were moved to the "ordinary" Supreme Court, where they were given positions on the same level as the rest of the Supreme Court judges. Seriously, where did you even get the whole "weakened subset from"? This is complete BS... sorry for the language, bold statements really get to me; 5. all courts (not just the commercial / arbitration courts) post all of their decisions online and give full access not only to the decisions, but to the proceedings as well. This is required by law; 6. there are indeed problems with judicial independence. But it surely isn't as bad as you make it out to be; 7. there is consistency when applying the law (one of the main Supreme Court functions is to assure consistency); 8. the regime is indeed more and more authoritarian and this is worrying; 9. the statement about the decreasing instances where a case can be tried by a jury is not just false, it's completely opposite to the truth. The amount of cases that can be tried by a jury has actually increased over the years; 10. You didn't give us Shiraev's opinion, you gave us his review of the international criticism in regards to the Russian judicial system. 11. there is a serious problem with high-profile political cases; 12. there is a problem with torture in county jails. For a long time it was ignored, the government started taking serious steps only several months ago; 13. the modern Russian prison system has NOTHING in common with gulags; 14. there are dozens of countries that "promote" reliable inmates in order to help with the administration of the prison; 15. promoted inmates create inhumane conditions while guards turn a blind eye and just watch the walls??? Where did you get that from? What's with the slew of bold statements!?; 16. the fact that there are no colonies in the center of Moscow is somehow news? By law prisoners are sent to the nearest colony possible, comparing this to the Siberian exiles of old is absurd; 17. what you show on screen are thousands of Km, not hundreds; 18. very few colonies are inaccessible during the winter and that's only by road! You make it sound like they are completely inaccessible. Usually helicopters are used during the winter. Same as with hundreds of villages and some cities in Russia (welcome to the north); 19. as i've said, torture is indeed a problem, but the conviction rate has absolutely nothing to do with it. Russia has such a high conviction rate because of the way success is measured. A state prosecutor's success is valued exclusively by looking at statistics. This is why when there is any doubt that a case will be won, the prosecutor returns the case to the investigator (for further investigation or closure) and doesn't even attempt to try it. It's a problem and at this time no one is really working on a solution; 20. there is no forced labour in Russia, but i'm not upset over this mistake. It's a common misconception, because of the way the criminal code is written and the specifics of the Russian language. There is no way to translate the labour part of the criminal code without either twisting the literal translation, or making it sound like there are labour camps. In truth there is no such thing as forced labour in penal colonies and people living in them are glad to participate in the workshops (on their free will) since it gives them something to do and pass the time. Same as working in the prison kitchen in the USA - almost everyone wants to do it. Overall almost all of your statements regarding the judicial and penal systems were incorrect which is obviously unacceptable. I almost get the feeling that you intentionally sought out only negative criticism and further twisted the information you found. I hope that in the future you will abstain from this approach Sorry for posting all of your mistakes publicly, but I felt that this is the only way to stop the misinformation.

good videos !

When I get older and have kids, I hope I know more than one language so I can teach them each a different language. I don’t want them plotting against me together.

I clicked on this thinking it was another stupid top 10 list.. great video, I think I learned something.

This should be interesting.. "This video has description of torture." That escalated quickly.

8:00 Funnily enough in the UK a lot more cases used to be indictable (that is triable by Jury) but the government have since clamped down on this.

Respect for you man

Im curious about the purge numbers. I've always heard its well in the millions.

This man teach me in the school, it was in 2014 and he came from the united states to Spain, Mejorada del campo, Madrid

Is that music from Dwarf Fortress' SoundSense pack? :D