[Rowe] Zhytomyr Prison, Ukraine.
Feared throughout Eastern Europe.
Home to rapists, murderers,
and one of the most brutal and prolific serial killers of all time.
Is it true you killed more than 34 women and children?
The prison is now so broke and understaffed,
many of its inmates are left to roam.
My name is Raphael Rowe.
I was convicted in the UK of a murder I didn't commit
and sentenced to life with no parole.
It took me 12 long years to clear my name.
Now, I'm traveling the globe to discover what life is really like
inside some of the world's toughest prisons.
Ukraine, Eastern Europe.
[siren wailing]
I'm on my way to one of the most dreaded prisons on the continent,
Zhytomyr.
A vast, foreboding complex, it's operating in a nation at a war.
In 2014, Ukraine's eastern provinces came under siege from Russian-backed forces.
[gunfire]
And the shock waves have rippled through the country,
devastating the economy, with crime rates soaring.
Normally, that would end in packed prisons.
But Ukraine is bankrupt.
In a bid to save money, the authorities have cut sentences for petty crimes,
with Zhytomyr releasing all but 600 of its deadliest convicts.
I'm going to spend a week here to find out how the prison can run when it's broke.
Whoever you are and wherever you come from,
the moment you step inside something like this,
the moment you're put inside something like this, you become a prisoner.
It's really uncomfortable, and it's very intimidating.
It was once a Soviet Gulag,
with prisoners forced into hard labor under a terrifying regime.
As little as five years ago,
Zhytomyr faced allegations of prison guard corruption,
brutality and even torture of inmates.
I'm about to find out firsthand
the stark reality of life inside this desolate, impoverished prison.
[officer in Ukrainian] Convict, you arrived to serve a sentence
in Zhytomyr Correctional Facility Colony 4.
Now you will be taken to a room where you will be searched.
[Rowe in English] Stepping into the compound,
I'm immediately confronted by something I wasn't prepared for.
There's no sense of anybody being here. It's quite eerie, actually.
I would expect, the moment I walk into a prison complex like this,
to hear the sounds of prisoners. I'm hearing nothing.
Just seeing two prisoners... Actually, I'm seeing a few prisoners.
They're just looking at me.
It's the silence that is really intimidating me at the moment.
As a new inmate, the guards strip search me
to make sure I'm not carrying any contraband.
When you do these searches, what is it you're looking for?
[in Ukrainian] Money, SIM cards, drugs.
Take off your underpants.
[Rowe] Whenever you've got to take your clothes off for an inspection...
[in Ukrainian] Turn around.
[Rowe] ...you're doing it unwillingly.
It's never comfortable getting your cock out
in front of a guard or anybody when you don't want to.
The lack of money in this place is already obvious.
Their whole processing seems very basic.
There's no paper work, no fingerprinting, no picture taken.
They just take my clothes off, search 'em,
and then throw me into the belly of the prison.
Before I'm shown to the cells, I'm ordered to do one last thing.
[exclaiming]
Sorry, I just can't talk. The water's so cold.
I'm being taken to a zone of the prison called Colony 4.
While it's deemed the lower-security section,
many of its inmates are doing time for murder, rape and robbery.
I'm wary of what awaits me.
Um, I didn't expect this. This is a dormitory.
There must be at least 30, 40 beds in here.
There's even a window over there. I'm seeing big windows with no bars,
which is really strange.
A fellow inmate has been tasked with showing me the ropes,
and, like the prison, he's not what I expected.
-Hello. How you doing? -Hi. I'm Johnny.
-Nice to meet you. I'm Raphael. -Nice to meet you, too.
[Rowe] Johnny, originally from Cameroon, is the only black man in the prison
and helps get me settled.
-This is heavy, eh? -[laughs]
God, this is a bit heavier than I thought it was going to be.
[Johnny] Hey, you've got to be strong, man.
[Rowe] While Johnny's welcoming, the other prisoners are keeping their distance.
The Soviet culture of suspicion and silence seems to live on.
But I've gotta get to know my dormitory mates and...
at the moment they don't look like they're engaging with me very much.
And a lot will depend on my relationship with these guys and how we communicate.
The wrong look, the wrong posture, could send out the wrong signal.
I desperately need a survival guide to life in the prison
and want to get the lowdown from Johnny,
who's six years into a ten-year sentence for murder.
I really need someone to tell me what the rules, regulations are.
The prisoners' rules and regulations.
The thing is, here, in order to live in peace with people,
don't try to know a lot,
because not everybody
feels comfortable when you try to know too much about their crimes.
And what's the regime here, in this dormitory?
What time do I have to get up? What time do I go to bed?
Uh, we have lights-out at ten o'clock.
But then, if you have some moments when you can't get sleep,
yeah, we have rooms there for eating and the TV room.
Oh, right. So you're not confined to this space, then.
Is the door that I came through, is that not locked?
No, it's not locked.
So how do they keep you in?
The gate downstairs, is that locked? The main gate?
There is a main gate, yeah. That is being locked.
-That's the one that I came through? -Yeah.
So you could come out and go outside all day, all night?
-That's right. -Really? That is freedom.
What about the guards? How do I cope with the guards?
-We have a regime here. -Okay.
So you do your best to live life according to the orders.
-Yeah. -Otherwise?
Otherwise, you will live in the Pit.
That's where those who break the laws in here spend their time.
[Rowe] I was expecting total lockdown, but provided prisoners stick to the rules:
no fighting, no contraband and no stealing...
it seems they can roam around the desolate grounds at will.
So, here we go.
-There's never a lock on this door? -Yeah, it's always open.
So you have the freedom to go out here,
and this is the main hub of the prison is, if you like, is it?
Yeah.
Here, we brush our teeth, we take a bath.
Does that shower work?
-It works. -Hot water?
No, no hot water.
So, this is the toilet.
-Okay. -Yeah.
[groans]
Yeah, that's--
-Oh, my God. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I can't stand it here. I'm sorry. I can't. It's just horrible.
[toilet flushing]
The smell is just disgusting.
Like most prisons in Ukraine,
Zhytomyr has had little money spent on its infrastructure
since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The prison has clearly seen better days,
and I'm struggling to get my head around this place.
I'm blown away by the freedom
that the first set of prisoners that I've met have.
Johnny made one mention of the Pit.
The Pit being the place where they take prisoners and punish them,
which suggests to me that there is a darker side.
[music playing over PA]
6:00 a.m. in Colony 4, and I'm in for a rude awakening.
[in Russian] Get up. Get dressed.
Go to the toilet and then exercise.
[Rowe] It's the early hours of the morning,
and the national anthem's playing.
And the guys are getting up out of their bed.
I'm told that now is the time they do some early morning physical activity.
[man speaking Ukrainian over PA]
[Rowe] My prison guide, Johnny, leads the way in the morning exercise routine.
Right, okay.
Although, not everyone seems to share his enthusiasm.
Why is the guy at the back not doing it with us?
Has he had enough already?
You take it quite seriously, Johnny, don't you?
You're the only one.
Under the old Soviet regime,
every minute of prisoner's lives was ruthlessly controlled by the authorities.
But since 2014, a pro-European government
has tried to introduce more liberal prisoner rights.
It's now left to inmates to choose
if they want to take part in morning physical drills.
-That's the end of it? Finished? -[speaking indistinctly]
Now I've warmed up, I'm ready for some hard labor.
Covering almost 200,000 square meters, Zhytomyr is like a mini city.
Incredibly, it has a huge industrial zone
containing a metalwork factory and a sawmill.
It's a legacy of its time as a Soviet Gulag,
when prisoners were forced to work or face brutal punishment.
But with Ukraine's government adopting European reforms,
convicts can no longer be forced to take jobs.
Eugene Znaeshav is one prisoner who has chosen to work,
wielding an axe in the logging yard.
How you doing?
-[in Russian] Good afternoon. -Good to meet you.
So this is your job, chopping wood?
Yes.
Well, look, I'm gonna pull up my sleeves,
and you show me what to do, and I'll have a go, all right?
Here's an easy one for you to start.
So, that's the hard one, right?
Take it.
Mmm, okay.
No, you won't be able to cut that one.
You're giving me little ones, like I can't do the big ones.
They're harder to hit in the middle, 'cause they're so... Now we're talking.
Want a big one? Take a bigger one.
Now we're talking.
Hit it harder.
No, hit it straight. Straight.
Harder.
Look.
That's how you do it.
Okay, so there is a technique to it.
There I am, thinking it's just... swinging.
How long are you serving?
Fifteen years.
[Rowe] Fifteen years?
And what... what are you serving 15 years for? What was your crime?
I'm sentenced for murder.
Did you say murder?
That's okay. That's okay. Keep chopping. Don't get distracted.
[Rowe] I'm suddenly relieved the axe is in my hands.
That's it.
[Rowe] I find it so amazing that somebody convicted of murder
is able to access tools that could be used as weapons.
If you do something bad to someone else, you can lose privileges
or even get more time to serve,
because this is punishable by law.
Any stupid ideas, they don't belong here.
Here you'll find reasonable people, same as on the other side of the fence.
That is so true.
And what happens to all this wood that you chop? Where does it end up?
It goes abroad in containers to lots of places.
To Europe. Everything goes for export.
Are you paid by the prison for doing this job?
Yes, they pay.
The more you've chopped, the more salary that you get.
I'm just here when I have free time to come and chop.
You can chop for an hour today, tomorrow three hours.
[Rowe] Allowing prisoners access to lethal weapons is not without risk.
Just a few weeks before my time here,
an inmate working on a prison pig farm in Odessa,
raped and then hacked to death a female prison guard,
with the use of an axe.
It never happened in my day.
You would never, in a million years, have been able to access something like an axe
in any of the prisons that I spent 12 years in.
And I suspect that it is something
that doesn't happen in prisons all over the world.
But it does here.
Ironically, the prison would be better off if more of its inmates were put to work.
But as many have embraced their new-found rights not to take up jobs,
it's had a knock-on effect on the income of the prison.
If seeing convicts roaming about with axes and chainsaws wasn't startling enough,
my day is about to take another strange twist.
When Zhytomyr had an industrial labor camp working at full tilt,
it also needed its own fire service.
And it still has one.
Grigory Kovalchuk, who's nine years into a fourteen-year sentence for murder,
is the head fireman.
He's agreed to let me join in one of the fire brigade's training drills.
I never imagined that a prison could fulfill one of my boyhood dreams.
[chuckles] Hey!
It's just really bizarre.
I've been in some prisons, and I've never experienced anything like this.
It kind of shot out and then it was all over.
The prison's industrial zone may or may not need a fire service.
But I wonder if the training is helping Grigory plan for his future outside.
So, do you think this is a skill that you would be able to take out
when you get released and find a job?
[in Ukrainian] No one would take me on.
I'm a convict. And it is the military who serve in the fire service.
Why waste so many years learning and training to become a fireman
if you can't use this when you get outside?
This is Ukraine. These are our laws.
[Rowe] In a prison that says it is aiming to reform
and provide opportunities for rehabilitation,
it seems to me such a waste that an inmate can be in a job
that will lead to nothing when they leave.
But being head of the prison fire service does have its privileges.
Grigory has his own room above the station.
-Oh, this is... this is you? -[Grigory speaking Ukrainian]
Oh, right, so you have your own little private room.
Yes, I'm here alone.
Can I sit? Yeah? Come.
What are you in prison for?
Well, they sentenced me for murder, but I didn't do it.
What did you do?
I had a fight with a guy. Yes, we fought.
But I left and he was alive. Everything was fine.
But in the morning, they found him dead.
Why did you have a fight?
I don't really want to talk about it.
It's heavy on my soul, but I can't do anything about it.
[Rowe] I'm keen to know what Grigory thinks about reforms to the prison,
having served nine years here.
Do you think the previous regime,
where work was compulsory, was a better regime?
Of course. Everyone knew their place.
I think everyone in prison should work.
But now, it's chaos, a mess.
Now, it's not a prison, it's a kindergarten.
[Rowe] I was shocked to hear Grigory say he preferred the old regime,
but it's no surprise that, when given the choice,
many of the inmates have chosen not to work.
With the day nearing its end,
it's time to help out in one of the most important sections in any prison,
the kitchens.
The chronic lack of funding for Ukraine's penitentiaries
means very little is spent on meals for the inmates.
I've heard the government provide them
with food worth 60 cents a day.
60 cents. I mean, think about that.
What could you prepare for your family or friends for 60 cents a day?
I'm about to find out by joining the team.
Headed by former chef Bogdan Noverko,
they are all convicts doing time for murder.
Hi, how you doing?
I'm told that this is where you are preparing the food.
Do I get to put on a nice apron?
[in Russian] Yes, of course.
[Rowe] There you go.
So, what do you want me to do?
[prisoner 1 in Russian] Normally, a portion is half a bowl.
Three quarters of a bowl. About that height, right?
Yes, yes, yes.
[Rowe] Place is primitive. It really is primitive.
I mean, I'm looking at his dishes.
What comes to mind? Oliver Twist. "Please, sir, can I have some more?"
Guy says the food tastes nice.
It doesn't look very nice.
I mean, I have no idea what this is.
Right. Can I taste this? See what it tastes like?
Ugh.
And you said this is nice?
You were tricking me, right?
That is horrible.
Okay, I'm gonna continue to sacrifice my tongue and taste buds.
So this is chicken, right?
I just can't eat that, because I can't find any meat there.
That's just bone. It's like the stock you put in chicken. Where is the meat?
[prisoner 2 in Russian] Here's meat.
You think this is meat?
Watch. Listen to this.
That's bone. That's not meat.
For me, this is survival food.
This is not about taste, is it? It's about survival?
Most probably survival food.
If you don't eat, you'll die of hunger.
What simple thing do you think they could do to improve your diet?
[in Russian] Well, how would you put it?
This is not about the ministry and not about our system.
It's about the country.
We have a state that has got debts all around and no budget.
They just can't allocate more to convicts than they allocate now.
[Rowe] Although Bogdan and the kitchen inmates are doing their best,
they face an uphill task.
I tried to be nice, but the food was disgusting.
But that's no surprise, is it?
Because if 60 cents a day is all these guys get spent on their food,
it's gonna and should taste disgusting because it's got no ingredients.
It's no wonder I've yet to see any overweight inmates
and why prisoners here seem so lethargic.
Every aspect of this place is showing the strain of being broke.
Until now, I've been locked up in the relative freedom of medium security,
alongside serious criminals doing time for murder.
Across the prison compound is maximum security,
where almost 200 inmates are on total lockdown.
Despite severe underfunding,
this unit has to contain some of the country's most terrifying criminals,
and I'm about to meet one of the very worst.
I'm now being escorted through Zhytomyr's maximum security prison.
They call this one Colony 8.
Colony 8 holds many inmates whose crimes are so severe,
they will end their days here.
This is definitely a throwback from the Soviet era.
It just has that atmosphere, that feeling, that darkness about it.
The unit is home to one of the world's most prolific serial killers,
Serhiy Tkach.
In 2008, Tkach, a former Russian police officer,
was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole
for the brutal rape and murder of 37 females,
some as young as 8 years old.
With a disturbing taste for necrophilia,
it's suspected there are many more victims unaccounted for
from his 25-year reign of terror.
Even after all my years spent inside
with some of the UK's most violent criminals,
nothing has ever prepared me for meeting such a monster.
[Rowe] You can sit down?
I myself have some experience of life in a maximum security prison.
When you were committing the crimes that you were committing,
did you ever expect to be caught?
[in Russian] Difficult question.
A very difficult one.
The French say, "Cherchez la femme."
Women are guilty of everything. Or, "Look for a woman."
Is it true you killed more than 34 women and children
and potentially another 100?
I did not appeal the verdict. If 30, so be it.
Well, how many people did you kill?
If you believe the media, then please do.
When you were first caught, I read that you wanted to be put to death.
Do you still want to be put to death,
or is there something now that makes you want to live your life?
For the love of my daughter and my wife.
I'm really surprised to hear that you are married and you have a child.
Is this a marriage and a child that you had before you came to prison?
No. [clears throat]
How long have you been married and how old is your child?
If my daughter is one year old in December,
it means more than two years.
[Rowe] Ukraine's liberal reforms have seen this mass murderer
marry and father a daughter, all from behind bars.
It was probably the creepiest moment of my life.
When he first came into the room,
my heart was pounding.
I have been in the company of men who have done horrible things
and committed horrific crimes,
including rape and murder.
But I've never spent time in the company of someone like that.
I was gobsmacked when he told me that he was now married to a woman,
that he'd had a child with this woman just over a year ago.
In two days' time, Tkach's wife is coming to the prison for a conjugal visit...
and I've been told he's invited me to meet her.
[song playing over PA]
A new morning in Zhytomyr.
And in the exercise yard, two inmates seek me out.
[in Russian] After a while in prison,
you can tell from another person's face that he has done time.
You're very astute that you recognize that I've been to prison before.
Perhaps for murder or stabbing.
All right. It's true, though, isn't it?
Prisoners have a certain demeanor?
I recognize that.
You unwillingly become a psychologist. You study people.
Sure, sure. How long have you been in prison?
-[in English] Three years. -Three?
-Yes. -And the main man?
Ten, eleven years?
And what about the relationship between you prisoners and the staff?
I heard it used to be quite brutal here.
Prisoners used to be treated quite rough.
They used to suffer brutality, even torture, I'm hearing, in the past.
[prisoner 1 in Russian] Yes, yes, yes.
[Johnny in English] He said, "That's right."
[in Russian] They did used to beat us.
If there was low output, they beat us.
If you were working and did not produce your normal output at the end of the day,
in the evening they would drag you under the tower and beat you up.
Or they would lock you in the Pit and beat you.
Did he witness it? Did he ever see somebody suffer that?
-I was working in the wood shop. -I agree.
I brought the guy his breakfast.
I opened the feeding hole, and the prisoner was by the window.
-Prisoner had hung himself? -Yeah, yeah.
-Was he dead? -He was dead already.
[prisoner 2] I ran up, lifted him, cut it...
-[Johnny] And he was already dead? -Yes, yes, yes.
There was a duty officer sitting there.
I told him, "Go open the door.
A guy has hanged himself."
He said, "I don't believe you. You will tell me stories."
How long ago was this?
About one and a half years ago.
[Rowe] In the past five years,
Ukraine has had more complaints of prisoner abuse reported
to the European Court of Human Rights than any other nation.
The two inmates' claims of brutality makes me question
how much has really changed under the new regime.
Today, I hope to hear what it's like to be a guard,
as I switch sides and experience life as a prison officer.
I'm joining patrol guard Maxim Romanov, who's worked here for 8 years,
as he conducts a search of a factory in the industrial zone.
[Rowe] What are you looking for?
[in Ukrainian] They can make some objects, like knives,
which can later be used to assault the guards and other convicts.
[Rowe] I find it bizarre that they're looking for items
that could be adapted into weapons
when so many dangerous tools are easily available here.
Broken glass just lying around on the side. Lots of it.
I know these guys are doing their job
and it's a requirement that they search the premises that the prisoners work in,
looking for contraband or weapons and stuff.
It just feels a bit farcical.
[Rowe] In this high risk environment
where murderers have easy access to lethal weapons,
the understaffed officers have their work cut out.
What are your shift patterns here in the prison?
[in Ukrainian] Our shift lasts 24 hours, and then we are at home for three days.
We have time for rest...
but no more than four hours a day.
Do you earn enough money to do the work that you do?
It's a difficult question.
I say straight away, there is a saying, "There is always too little money."
Now our wages are too small.
We get less than $200 a month.
Is it difficult for the service to keep officers like yourself
and even recruit new prison officers?
It is a big problem.
Because of the low salaries,
many people don't want to work here.
[Rowe] Despite low morale,
the officers still take their jobs very seriously.
And their highest priority is ensuring that no one escapes.
The first fence is the main barrier.
If there is a breakout and a convict climbs over it,
this territory is under control of the guards standing on the towers.
It means they can shoot to kill.
[Rowe] The guards must be doing something right.
In Zhytomyr's 110-year history, no convict has ever escaped.
While the authorities want to move away from the previous regime's brutality,
there's one unit from the Gulag era that still holds a fearsome reputation.
This is the entrance to the Pit.
This isolation unit holds prisoners caught with alcohol or drugs
and those found stealing or fighting.
They can spend up to two weeks in the Pit, locked in a cramped cell,
with nothing but bare walls and the inside of their heads for distraction.
I know from my own time spent in solitary just how punishing it can be.
The Pit is where the inmate from the exercise yard
told me he'd found a fellow prisoner who'd hung himself.
The guards have allowed me access to one of the convicts locked up in here.
Hello? Can you come to the gate to talk to me?
Why are you down here?
[in Ukrainian] For the systematic violation of colony rules.
Have you been down here before?
No, this is my first time.
How often are you let out of your cell to go and exercise?
Once a day, one hour walk.
You spend 23 hours a day in your cell?
Yes.
How does that make you feel?
If you constantly think about it, you can go nuts.
It's better not to think about it.
It's very bad for your mental health.
[Rowe] I'm keen to see what Pit captain, Viktor Los, thinks of the new regime.
Ten or fifteen years ago, the discipline was different.
How different was it?
[in Russian] Now convicts get lots of human rights,
lots of privileges.
I believe if a convict is taken to prison for some violations,
he should endure the punishment.
Here, sometimes, people live better than on the outside.
[Rowe] Viktor's opinion may seem harsh,
but when many ordinary Ukrainians are struggling in a war-torn economy,
convincing the guards of prison reforms is clearly going to take work,
especially as their pay and morale is so low.
I'm meeting the man in charge of implementing these reforms,
Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Justice Denys Chernyshov.
Do you have the resources to do what it is that you want to do?
[in Ukrainian] At the moment, we are not moving as quickly as we would like.
But we are constantly working with government officials
to make them understand how important this system is because of the society.
How difficult is it to motivate your staff when they are paid so low?
Well, it's clear that the level of pay is hugely important,
because this determines the kind of staff we can hire
and how much they will be motivated.
Today, pay for the police is three times higher than ours.
And this is just illogical.
As ministers go, I thought he was quite open, quite frank
about the challenges he faces in changing the prison system here in Ukraine.
He has the desire to change things, but he just doesn't have the resources.
My time with the guards is at an end,
and the first prisoner who welcomed me here, Johnny,
has invited me to a surprising event.
-[music playing] -[Johnny singing in Ukrainian]
[Rowe] Every day, he runs a singing club,
where his fellow inmates can briefly forget their worries.
[continues singing]
[Rowe] In a country that has had a troubled history with racism,
I've worried about Johnny being the only black man in this prison.
But he seems to have a cult following.
[cheering]
[Rowe] Do you think Johnny's good, entertaining?
[in Russian] Johnny is my friend.
I love Johnny as a man loves a man, understand?
I understand that he is foreign here, but, at the same time, he is our own.
The convicts have accepted him because he is a man with a soul.
He is kind. He is so positive.
And Johnny runs this club, right? This happens every day.
A bit of music and recreation away from normality, prison life.
You can come in here, listen to some music,
and forget where you are, if for only 5 minutes.
Yes, it's true. I come here quite often.
I come to him and sing songs and dance here for at least 15 minutes,
and I leave a completely different person, with a different aura.
[Rowe] In a place full of surprises, there's one still to come.
Raphael...
-That's my name. -[Johnny] So, yeah...
Please would you come over, so we can do some singing together?
No.
So you're not asking me.
You've planned and plotted this, haven't you?
-Like a true criminal. -No, it's like... I do it for everybody.
Okay, I'm willing. But only if these guys want me to,
because it's gonna be painful.
[Johnny in Ukrainian] We're going to sing a Ukrainian folk song.
♪ There is a hut On the edge of the village ♪
[repeating lyrics]
[in English] That's good!
♪ The spruce looks at the window ♪
[repeating lyrics incorrectly]
-Oh, my God! That's something. -[prisoners laughing]
[Johnny] No, it's okay.
[in Ukrainian] ♪ The spruce looks at the window ♪
[Rowe carefully repeating lyrics]
Beautiful. [chuckles] Okay, so...
[music playing]
♪ There is a hut On the edge of the village ♪
♪ The spruce looks at the window ♪
♪ The girl is inside the hut ♪
♪ But she's so far away ♪
[Rowe] I admire Johnny's determination to stay positive,
and I want to find out more about him.
-[Johnny] Yeah, that's it! -Yes.
[Rowe] I've learned that he killed his long-term girlfriend
after catching her with her lover.
But I get the sense that he isn't able to confront his crime.
So, what did you think of that, then? How did I do?
It was great.
And you have some secret admirers in there.
There was one guy in particular who was talking to me.
-He thought you were brilliant. -I can't boast that I'm such a good guy,
but most of the guys around call me Mr. Positive.
But it can't be easy, you being in here.
Actually, it has to do with my view, how I perceive things, you know?
I paint a picture that I want to look at.
And I keep people, you know, not so close to myself.
Because, uh... once I get people close to me, I get hurt.
What was it you did, Johnny?
Just tell me that. I'm just so interested to know.
I took away human life.
-Whose life was it? -Oh, my God. Human life.
I don't like talking too much about it.
This happened, you know...
It could happen to anybody out there.
It's not like I took a gun, went to, you know...
and shot somebody or something like that.
No, it just happened. It was an accident.
Why were you convicted of murder if it was an accident?
Did they not accept your explanation?
I didn't call the ambulance when this happened, so...
Oh, right. Didn't want to believe that something could happen--
I was in a state of shock when this happened.
It's so unpleasant thinking about it again.
Every day, I feel... There is this guilt, you know?
When I just got into a prison, I had to punish myself for all this.
It's something very hard to bury.
What does your family think about your crime and your situation?
I do my best not to let anyone know what I'm going through.
I decided to suffer the consequences of whatever I did all by myself.
Is that wise? Because surely you're taking all that pain and tearing up inside,
when, surely, the best thing to do is to express yourself
so that you're not allowing your insides to eat away at who you really are.
Who should I be expressing it to?
I don't know.
Should I share it with a poor mum?
I think, uh, the right thing to do is...
to bury it for as long as I can.
I can see how desperate you are to be out of this place and to put this behind you.
Where's home?
I need to get to my mum.
-Where's your mum? In Cameroon? -Yeah.
I need to get to her.
It's been a while.
Does she know you're here?
She doesn't know I'm in prison.
That's gonna be a hard conversation. Or will you never tell her?
If this has to be said as history,
it's better than saying it like an ongoing incident or event.
[Rowe] Johnny is still clearly in pain and traumatized by his actions
that lead to the killing of his former partner.
Like any prisoner, he's had to find a coping strategy to survive inside,
but it's in the strangest prison I've ever known.
Tomorrow, it's going to get even stranger,
as I'm set to meet serial killer Tkach and his wife.
It's my last day in Zhytomyr prison, and I'm heading to a surreal encounter.
I'm back in the maximum security part of the prison complex, Colony 8.
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm... about to meet Tkach and his wife
in the conjugal visit part of the prison.
Ukraine's current laws allow any married prisoners,
even serial killers,
the right to a three-day conjugal visit every two months,
and Tkach's wife, Elena, has joined him.
Thank you for letting me come into your space.
-[Serhiy in Russian] You're welcome. -You're smiling today.
The other day when I met you, you didn't have such a big smile.
It is a happy day for me.
Only once in two months do I have such a long visit.
This is very different to where we met the other day,
where we spoke and you were inside a cage and you were very controlled.
[in Russian] Yes, here I am in control.
[Rowe] Before I can find out more about Elena,
Tkach is eager to show off the conjugal cell's facilities.
I have a fridge, freezer.
-This is my breakfast today. -Okay.
Eggs, fish, cured pork fat, bread and coffee.
I have these.
Oh, my God.
They are not weapons, just household items.
[mouthing] I can't believe this.
On the face of it, this could be the flat of any ordinary married couple,
but this relationship is far from normal,
and I want to try and understand what drew 25-year-old Elena
to 65-year-old mass murderer Tkach.
What is it that first attracted you to Tkach?
I'm still asking myself that question.
Perhaps when I saw his interview and how he was talking about himself.
His manners, I guess, some sort of magnetism.
And what was it that you wrote in that very first letter you sent to him?
I wrote, truthfully, that I saw his interview
and wanted to communicate, to have a conversation
and just to get to know him better.
[Serhiy] Dozens of letters...
-[sniffs] Perfume. -I was trying to make him like me.
And what was it like
when you were first allowed to have your very first conjugal visit?
Every hour, they came and checked.
Everything is fine. Everything is okay.
She is alive and well.
Yes, and only when they were convinced...
They checked to see that she was still alive?
Today, we can sit together, hug and kiss freely.
Yes?
-[Serhiy] Darling, yes. -I've marked you with my lipstick.
[laughs]
No worries, I'll eat it.
How do you feel about the fact that he is in prison for...
murder, rape, of many young girls and women?
I do not believe in the total number of cases.
I think it was a lot less.
And, secondly, it does not matter that much to me.
Women will want to know, Elena...
Men, I suspect, would want to know...
what you feel when Tkach's hands are caressing you...
during these three days of conjugal visits,
knowing the crimes that he's committed.
This is an intimate question, and I do not want to answer it.
I will just say that I do not feel any fear or negativity at those moments.
[Serhiy scoffs]
How do you feel about the families of the people Tkach killed and raped?
I don't feel guilty, because I did not commit those crimes.
Of course, I wouldn't wish this on anyone,
and if it happened to my family, I would punish that person.
But I did not do anything.
You have a child together?
Yes.
How did you feel when you found out you were pregnant?
Happiness.
I wanted this baby, and he wanted this baby.
But you haven't brought your daughter to meet Tkach yet?
The thing is my daughter was born in Russia.
And right now my parents and the officials
do not allow me to take my child to this country with me.
[Rowe] I can't believe that just took place.
I can't believe that I just sat inside a cell,
inside a maximum security prison,
with Ukraine's most notorious serial killer and his wife, Elena.
This woman is sharing three days in a room with a man
who may have the desire to kill her at any moment.
And she knows that, and he knows that.
Is she sick in the head?
Well, she is very articulate. She's very to the point
that she recognizes he's done horrible things, but she doesn't care.
She recognizes that she could be his victim, but she doesn't care.
And I struggle with the idea
that such a man should be allowed to touch a woman ever again.
Zhytomyr is a strange, baffling prison
where the crumbling buildings echo with the history of its time as a Soviet Gulag.
Where convicted murderers can wield axes,
one of the world's worst serial killers is able to marry and father a child,
and the whole system is struggling to survive on next to no funding.
I hope that Johnny can come to terms with his crime
and eventually make it home to his mum.
And that despite all the challenges facing it,
Zhytomyr can forge a future fit for the new Ukraine.