A judge in the Russian Far East slept during a case in his court before locking up a man for five years in jail, it is claimed.

Bone-cracking cold, Gulag prison camps, oil flares visible from space, and bleak industrial cities - this is a common Western stereotype of Siberia.

The municipal heating system burns narcotics including heroin seized from traffickers.

Facilities, including a library and even a pasta and meat shop, ensure jail in Krasnoyarsk tops the list as the best place to be on remand.

Police detained two men in Trans-Baikal region on suspicion of selling  the counterfeit liquor.

Reports stated there was 'panic' among locals after the four convicts staged their dramatic escape from an Irkutsk region prison.

Police launch investigation as woman guard injured and brother-in-law dead but no-one knows who fired the first shots in jail stand-off.

He walked 200 kilometres on forest tracks to see his child - but now faces an extra 4 years in prison as punishment.

Otto Lagerfeld held in bleak camp in Verkhoyansk for four years of First World War, show contemporary documents.