Inside hellhole Russian prison holding US journalist where Stalin held mass executions

Inmates have described scenes of isolation and intense interrogations inside cramped cells at Russia’s notorious Lefortovo Prison where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been locked up.  

The US citizen, 31, was arrested in Yekaterinburg in the Urals over spying charges after he visited the country's fourth-largest city to write up about the feared Wagner group.

He appeared in Moscow's Lefortovo district court on Thursday where he pleaded not guilty and it was ruled that he should be held in pre-trial custody until May 29, according to Russian media. 

The prison where he is being held has a long and violent history. It is where political prisoners were mass executed under Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin in the 1930s and where KGB officers tortured opponents. 

It also currently houses former US marine veteran Paul Whelan who was handed a 16-year jail sentence in 2020 after being accused of spying.

Russia’s notorious Lefortovo Prison, built in 1881, has a long and violent history

Inmates have described scenes of isolation and intense interrogations inside cramped cells at the facility where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been locked up 

Pictured: The WSJ journalist was escorted out of Lefortovo court in Moscow, flanked by authorities. He was seen piling back into the law enforcement van, keeping his head down

Gershkovich, wearing a yellow-colored hooded jacket, was seen being taken from the back of a blacked-out Russian police vehicle before being walked into the court. 

He was later seen piling back into the law enforcement van, keeping his head down.

The journalist will likely spend the first ten days at Lefortovo Prison in an isolated cell, which is reportedly the protocol for foreigners accused of spying. 

It is used as a technique to wear inmates down and make them more susceptible to the interrogations. 

Inmates are reportedly dressed in blue robes and locked in tiny single cells and claim their belongings are taken away from them during this 'quarantine time'.  

Zoya Svetova, who observes prison conditions with the Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow, a non-government organization, said officials want to psychologically break foreign prisoners.  

'This period is some sort of humiliating time meant to "cook" them,' she previously told the Daily Beast. 

'People feel naked, left without any private belongings. 

'No other prison in Moscow has more hostile treatment during the quarantine period than Lefortovo.

'We once met a Turkish national in that part of the prison for foreign inmates. He managed to get a fur hat and wore it constantly. He was freezing'  

Gershkovich will be stuck in a cramped cell which spans eight square meters and will only be allowed to leave for one hour a day under confinement rules.

Cells are believed to contain beds made from iron bars with a paper thin mattress and a downed pillow, a sink and a toilet bowl. 

Phones calls are banned and only visits by lawyers are allowed. Gershkovich can receive letters but they are read by prison officials first. 

The prison was used for mass executions during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge between 1936 and 1938

It was also an infamous KGB prison and interrogation site for political prisoners for decades

Pictured: Evan Gershkovich. Moscow has been accused in the past of arresting foreigners - especially Americans - to use in barter exchanges for Russians detained in the US

Reporter Evan Gershkovic - an accredited foreign correspondent - in Moscow - was held over alleged 'illegal activities' and was 'suspected of espionage for the US government', the Federal Security Service said

Historically Russian prisoners have used dark or bright lights, insufficient food or blankets and limited shower access to get the inmates to break down.   

Lefortovo Prison was built in 1881 and it is the most secure prison is russia and houses those accused of terrorism, high-profile ex-officials and 'spies'. 

The cells in Lefortovo reportedly only have cold water and inmates can only shower once a week. 

And the section of the prison where foreign inmates are held is freezing and the prisoners are not equipped to deal with the cold. 

Lefortovo Prison was used for mass executions during Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin's Great purge between 1936 and 1938. 

The facility was used by the NKVD secret police for torture, violent interrogations and executions to solidify Stalin's control over civilians through fear.

At the time, there were rumours of a massive meat grinder used to mash up the bodies of people tortured to death and that their remains were dumped into the sewers.

It was also an infamous KGB prison and interrogation site for political prisoners for decades.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the writer who exposed the horrors of the gulag, was held in the prison as well as Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian spy who defected to London where he was later killed by radioactive poisoning. 

Lefortovo Prison is currently home to ex-Marine Whelan who was found guilty of spying for the United States and jailed for 16 years following a closed trial.

Lefortovo Prison was used by the NKVD secret police for torture, violent interrogations and executions to solidify Joseph Stalin's control over civilians through fear

Ex-Marine Paul Whelan is an inmate in the prison after he was found guilty of spying for the United States and jailed for 16 years following a closed trial 

The 53-year-old said he was set up in a sting and had thought a flash drive, given to him by a Russian acquaintance, contained holiday photos 

He was detained by Russia´s Federal Security Service in a Moscow hotel room on December 28, 2018. His brother claimed he was visiting for a wedding.

The 53-year-old said he was set up in a sting and had thought a flash drive, given to him by a Russian acquaintance, contained holiday photos.

American-educated Gershkovich, who is an accredited foreign correspondent in Moscow, was held over alleged 'illegal activities' and was 'suspected of espionage for the US government', the Federal Security Service (FSB) said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said Gershkovich had been 'caught red-handed'. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage.

The FSB accused Gershkovich of collecting 'information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.' 

It said he 'was acting on the US orders to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex that constitutes a state secret'.

His lawyer Daniil Berman could not confirm how he pleaded - because he was banned from entering the court himself. 

Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage. 

The Journal said in a statement: 'The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.'

The FSB is a domestic security and counterintelligence agency that is the top successor agency to the Soviet era KGB.

Putin's spokesman did not elaborate on what he believed Evan Gershkovich was allegedly caught 'red-handed' for.