Bon Jovi, Moby, and AC/DC: The Songs that Play in One of Russia’s Harshest Prisons

An inmate revealed that one of Russia’s toughest jails plays a selection of songs to prisoners every morning over speakers. The selection includes several Bon Jovi tracks, hits by the DJ Moby, and even AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” according to one political prisoner there. Other tracks include the Russian national anthem and songs about Moscow.

The Kapotnya pre-trial detention center-7 is situated in the Kapotnya district, about 11 miles from Moscow’s city center. It has housed political prisoners, artists, organized crime figures, business leaders, terrorists, and government officials accused of various crimes. One of its recent notable detainees was opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who was kept there in COVID quarantine before being moved to another jail to serve out his nine-year sentence for fraud. Navalny, a rival of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also still recovering from the effects of an assassination attempt using a nerve agent that is widely believed to have been carried out by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Former inmate Ilya Yashin described the severe conditions in Kapotnya in an August 2022 blog post as a “red regime” that was so strict that another detainee was punished for making a cup of tea after lights out. One political prisoner currently being held at Kapotnya is the head of Russia’s election watchdog, Grigory Melkonyants. He is the co-chairman of Golos which was labeled a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities in 2021.

Melkonyants has been keeping track of which songs feature on the selection, according to Golos. The group shared the information on its Telegram account. “How does the morning in a pre-trial detention center begin?” the group wrote on Telegram.

"This selection is repeated day after day, month after month. They are heard every morning by thousands of Russians awaiting trial, including political prisoners.

“We put these songs together so you can understand how they feel. You will be surprised by many of the songs on this selection.”

Newsweek contacted Bon Jovi and Moby’s representatives by email for comment.

Some of Moby’s songs on the selection include, “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?”, “Honey” and “Bodyrock,” per the post.

The Bon Jovi hits apparently include, “One Wild Night” and “It’s My Life,” the latter of which was used by the band itself to support the efforts of Ukraine in its defense against Russian forces. Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022 and shortly after hostilities began, a video showing a young man with a drum set banging out the rebellious tune went viral in the Ukrainian city of Odesa.

Bon Jovi then shared the video, quoting a lyric in their caption: “This is for the ones who stood their ground… Odessa, Ukraine. #SlavaUkraini.” Slava Ukraini translates to "Glory to Ukraine."Melkonyants was thrown into custody in August after authorities accused the independent election monitoring group of working with the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), even though Golos said it had not worked with ENEMO in years.

Golos said Melkonyants’ arrest happened as a means of “political pressure and an attempt to stifle our activities in Russia,” David Kankiya, governing council member of Golos, told the Associated Press.