Being in prison is a difficult period in the life of a person who has broken the law. At this time, he needs both moral and material support from relatives. Relatives who are far from the prisoner can send their parcel to the pre-trial detention center via Russian Post. Such delivery will take a lot of time and require certain financial expenses, but in the end the prisoner will receive the parcel with a 100% probability.
On the possibility of sending parcels to convicts by Russian Post
The regulations for sending parcels to pre-trial detention centers are established by the Internal Regulations of Pre-trial Detention Facilities. According to this document, each prisoner is entitled to an unlimited number of parcels, but the total weight of the parcels is limited to 30 kilograms per month.
Certain categories of citizens enjoy a benefit that eliminates the monthly limit on parcels:
- pregnant women;
- minors;
- mothers in pre-trial detention centers with children under three years of age;
- persons suffering from chronic diseases (if there is a medical certificate).
The weight of one parcel accepted by Russian Post should not exceed 20 kg, so each prisoner can receive two parcels per month. It is better to send them with a time interval of 7-10 days. This increases the likelihood of a safe arrival at your destination.
Prehistory
This story took place in the summer of 2021.
My eldest son decided to give me a birthday present. I got it on August 7th. And since he lived far from us, he sent the gift by mail. Or rather, several items, mainly related to the car: keys, a multimeter, a small but expensive spotlight to illuminate from below during repairs, and a few more of the same things.
Let me make a reservation right away that he lived in the Khabarovsk Territory. I will not name the settlements. Suddenly there are other people working at the post office.
The parcel turned out to weigh 12 kg. Big. He packed it and took it to send it. He didn’t tell us about the parcel, he was preparing a surprise. I weighed it, wrote down the address and sent it off. I paid as for a regular parcel without insurance.
The cost of 1 kg from Khabarovsk to Yasnaya is 356 rubles, for 12 kg I paid 1699 rubles.
What is often transferred to pre-trial detention centers?
Before sending a parcel to the prison by mail, you should familiarize yourself with the list of items allowed for acceptance.
In addition to hygiene items, several changes of linen and disposable machines, the prisoner must be given cigarettes and tea. Even if a man does not smoke, a few packs of tobacco products will not hurt him - the prison has its own rules of communication between prisoners. Since postal items have a considerable transit time, everything that can be placed in a parcel of products must have a long shelf life. Most often this happens:
- instant coffee, tea;
- powdered milk;
- instant semi-finished products (mashed potatoes, soups, noodles);
- crackers and biscuits;
- candies;
- onion garlic;
- nuts, dried fruits.
READ Sending a parcel by cash on delivery via Russian Post: within Russia, abroad, receiving payment
It is advisable to pack light weight and small volume products in a postal box - this way you will be able to comply with the limit and transfer the maximum number of useful things.
We are writing a power of attorney
You can receive registered mail in person or through an authorized representative. But, of course, they won’t just give the parcel back at the post office, even if it’s your wife/mother/son and even if they come with your passport. A power of attorney is required.
The power of attorney must be written. Write: “I, so-and-so, living there, passport details are such-and-such, I trust so-and-so, living there, passport details are such-and-such, to receive registered mail arriving in my name.”
It is better to write “registered mail items”. If you indicate a parcel, then a small package or letter will no longer be given and the power of attorney will actually be one-time.
The power of attorney must be certified. There is no need to go to a notary! You can certify a power of attorney to receive mail at your place of work or study, or place of treatment. It is important that the document is crowned with the main seal of the institution (organization) and endorsed by the signature of the head with a transcript. A power of attorney with a “stamp for information” and the flourish of some accountant will not work.
Sending a Parcel to Prison: A Step-by-Step Guide
After the list of things permitted for transfer to the detention center has been studied, you can begin collecting the parcel. It is advisable to follow the following procedure:
- all products and industrial goods must be placed in separate transparent bags;
- cigarettes should be removed from the packs, and all products should be freed from packaging;
- the box for the parcel is purchased at the post office - in order to choose the appropriate container size, you need to visually assess the volume of items being sent;
- Things should be packed into the box as tightly as possible, placing the heaviest items in the center. Layered content layout allows you to place many more items;
- fill out an inventory of the contents in three copies - two of them are certified by the operator’s signature and postmark, the third remains in the hands of the sender. When filling out the inventory, the parcel must be presented to the postal worker in an open form;
- correctly fill out the notification form - indicating full name, postal addresses with the obligatory indication of the postal code. The name and patronymic of both the recipient and the sender are written in full, without abbreviations;
- When registering, you can indicate the value of the parcel in rubles - however, you must remember that this will increase the cost of shipping;
- hand over the parcel to the postal worker for packaging. In this case, it is advisable to ensure that the postal tape securely fastens all the connecting seams of the box;
- After paying the cost of the shipment, pick up a receipt that will indicate an identifier - a number by which you can track the passage of the parcel.
READ Available ways to order a Russian Post courier
Clothes transfers
At the request of readers, I would like to offer you today a topic about how to behave to your family and friends if suddenly someone ends up behind bars.
Usually relatives are told that a person has everything there. So, you don’t have to believe them, because there is NOTHING there. There are no basic things, no basic nutrition, no medical care, no fresh air and much more. Therefore, I will start with what the person will need to convey first.
Of course, as you understand, in prisons, even the reddest ones, if you have money and the desire, transfers can be made at least every day - the fee is about 20 dollars and you can even eat from a restaurant. But we won’t talk about exceptions - this is inaccessible to most.
Laundry soap is also convenient for hiding a note or some kind of prohibition in it (break it, take out the middle and then moisten it, fold it and cover it). They handed us this way, for example, needles and pins (you can just stick the needles in), tablets. The cops also know about this method of transmission and sometimes break the soap when checking, so I don’t recommend using this often, much less transmitting in this way little things with serious content that could harm a person if they find it. And they may not miss the entire program.
Shaving machines are best disposable. In some prisons they are even allowed to be kept in cells, but, usually, they are immediately removed from the transfer and handed over to the bathhouse attendant, who issues them once a week during this very bathhouse. Preferably without any double or triple blades - a person shaves once a week, and with this regime they will immediately become clogged with stubble. Although double ones are interesting in the sense that, while shaving, you can unnoticedly remove one of the blades (“sink”) and take it with you to the house. A sink is worth its weight in gold - it is a very necessary thing. Although, if they find you, you can go to the punishment cell - especially if the administration already had a grudge against you.
Aluminum or wooden spoon (“paddle”). Steel will not work - you can sharpen it on cement and get a natural knife - sharpening. True, you can make a good sharpening out of aluminum, but it will be inconvenient to open your own or someone else’s veins with it. This is usually done with spoons - its handle is sharpened and used for cutting lard, sausage, bread, and vegetables. If one is found during a search, they either hit it against metal, or break it, or take it away, or simply throw it on the floor or onto a bucket. Often, one or two sharpening points are made in the house, which are carefully hidden. A shoe instep (a metal plate inside the sole) can also be used as sharpening if it has not been cut out at the time of admission. This is already a serious weapon and you can get into trouble for it. There are other options.
A bowl (“helmet”, “nifel”), it is very good if it has a plastic lid (there are such). You can make a plastic one, but it’s better to use a regular metal one. Spoons and bowls are usually issued upon admission to prison, but their aesthetic appearance is unlikely to contribute to the digestion of their owner. While a nice bowl and spoon will somehow decorate a person’s life. In general, among the total dirt, roughness and dullness, any more or less beautiful and bright object (bowl, pen, notebook) becomes on the same level as a work of art and greatly helps a person remain human.
A mug (“trombone”) - an ordinary metal one. It probably got its name from the fact that it is used as a sound concentrator during negotiations through the wall. When you need to say something, put your bottom tightly against the wall, your mouth also tightly inward, and scream. On the other hand, in order to hear, they apply it the other way around - with the bottom to the ear. So you can quite tolerably “shout” at an almost meter-high wall, and no one will hear it either in the corridor or in the yard.
A liter or one and a half liter mug - “chifirbak”. Usually they cook their food in it, and of course, based on the name, chifir is for mass tea drinking. They also heat water for washing and washing. For these purposes, of course, it is necessary to provide a boiler - usually it is 0.3 W, but if the administration does not mind, more is better. Since they regularly burn under heavy load, they should be transferred quite regularly.
Linen is mandatory, no matter what the administration says. A couple of sheets, a duvet cover, pillowcases. Towels. Often in prisons there is a laundry room where you can take your linen during the bath. This is not entirely safe - no one will boil it, much less wash it separately, and lice and scabies mites tolerate warm bathing very calmly and travel to unoccupied areas during washing. Therefore, despite all the inconvenience, prisoners prefer to do their own laundry. So don’t forget to include washing powder (although not everyone will let it through - it’s not clear what kind of threat it could pose). Often in large cells there are “official” washers - people who wash, as a rule, for a few cigarettes (3-5) and a pot of tea (the amount required for one brew of chifiru - usually a matchbox - "boat", "kamazik") .
Socks, panties, T-shirts - everything is exclusively natural, no synthetics - the conditions there are already extremely unsanitary, there is a bathhouse once a week. Color - dark (black, dark blue, green). The reasons are the same; there is often no opportunity to wash them. You don’t need anything blue (you can guess why), motley, red (the color of the cops - before even a dot of red was not allowed, now it’s a little simpler, but still). Briefs - very preferably not swimming trunks - are the object of ridicule of the “correct” boys. Yes, and more convenient. Tracksuit, slippers, sneakers. If it’s cold - a sweater, a vest, thick woolen socks, maybe just some simple sweatpants (whoever happens to be - in crowded huts, even in winter without windows it can be hot, and maybe in some dungeons you won’t be warm in the summer). Sports wool cap
This is interesting: Release on parole from a maximum security colony
Notebooks, notepads, pens (colored pens are especially appreciated), pencils. Everything is desirable bright and beautiful.
Toilet paper, paper towels.
It is advisable to put everything in separate bags and sachets - the more, the better. So, individual packages will not be allowed through, but the thing is necessary. They do the same with newspapers. They are bought fresh and every little thing and food is wrapped in them - rest assured, not a single piece of paper will go to waste, everything will be read many times and then used for a variety of purposes.
I’ll tell you about the product part in a couple of days - at the same time, if there are specific questions or comments on the topic, I’ll answer.
On this site there is a book by Eldar Zeynalov “Advice to relatives of a prisoner”
Shipping cost
The cost of postage is determined depending on several factors:
- length of the delivery route;
- shipping weight – if the box weight is within 10-20 kg, a 40% surcharge will be charged;
- delivery method - regular or expedited;
- declared value will increase the price by 3.4% of the stated amount.
The most common tariff for delivering a shipment over a distance of 600-2000 km is 235 rubles for the first 500 g and 24 rubles for every half kilogram of weight until the weight of the parcel being sent is reached. To know how much delivery will cost, it is advisable to use the built-in calculator on the official website of the Russian Post.
I will complain!
Lifehacker has already written about what to do if the package arrived with defects and if the post office lost the package. The articles are detailed - read, don’t be lazy. Today we will tell you how to complain about a postal employee if, for example, he was rude to you (oh horror!) or provided services in an improper way.
Method No. 1
Each post office has a book of applications and proposals. You can safely roll the slander right there. According to the rules, this book must be checked daily. When a new entry appears, a copy is made and sent to the Russian Post control and reference service. The responsible person writes an explanatory note on the application.
