Life Behind Bars – Part 1 By Grigory Pasko, journalist Now, when the prison and camp population of Russia is once again approaching a million (see note below), we need to realize that this number points only to the quantity of persons already convicted by a court. But those who are behind bars, but awaiting trial make up another several hundred thousand. Interest in “behind bars” topics is reviving. Time and again, you encounter on various websites flat little jokes about “the oligarch who sews mittens”, bankers who have supposedly robbed the country blind, terrorists who are supposedly preparing their acts daily practically right under the walls of the Kremlin, and others. Russian prisoners eating balanda – a thin tasteless gruel that forms the staple of the prison diet, day in and day out (Photo courtesy of www.ng.ru).