Katorga

Prisoners were sent to remote penal colonies in vast uninhabited areas of Siberia and the Russian Far East where voluntary settlers and workers were never available in sufficient numbers.

In the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, the practice of forcing slaves to work on galleys was common, and the suffering endured by these individuals was often depicted in Ukrainian dumas (songs).

This semantic shift underscores the extreme nature of the punishment associated with "katorga," which became synonymous with "prison" in Russian parlance, reflecting the severe conditions faced by those condemned to such labor.

[2] Katorga, a category of punishment within the judicial system of the Russian Empire, had many of the features associated with labor-camp imprisonment: confinement, simplified facilities (as opposed to prisons), and forced labor, usually involving hard, unskilled or semi-skilled work.

Katorga camps were established in the 17th century by Tsar Alexis of Russia in newly conquered, underpopulated areas of Siberia and the Russian Far East—regions that had few towns or food sources.