In spring 2026, an anomalous surge in landslide activity was recorded in Nizhny Novgorod Region, caused by record levels of soil waterlogging. According to specialists of the Expert and Design Works Department of NNGASU, the number of ground slippage incidents exceeded normal figures by more than a factor of three.[1]

Causes

The main cause of the landslides was soil waterlogging resulting from a coincidence of two anomalies: an unusually snowy winter and a heavy, rainy spring. Precipitation from December 2025 to April 2026 exceeded the climatic norm by a factor of 2.3. The snow cover reached 65–70 centimeters — 40% above the long-term annual average. In March, a sharp warm spell led to intensive snowmelt at a rate of up to three centimeters per day.[2] In April, 95 mm of precipitation fell in the first 21 days against a monthly norm of 41 mm (231% of the norm); weather forecasters predicted a further 48 mm or so before the beginning of May.[1]

Ilya Reushkin, the official representative of NNGASU, explained the mechanism of the process: melting snow saturates the surface layers of soil and leads to the formation of soil flows. If snowmelt coincides with rain, the waterlogging penetrates deep into the soil mass, causing a more dangerous insequent (deep-seated) landslide — in such a situation, the volume of meltwater can be equivalent to three to four monthly precipitation norms.[1] A spring surge in landslide activity is typical for the region even in ordinary years, but in 2026 it reached an exceptional scale.[2]

Scale and affected areas

In ordinary seasons, specialists record up to five to seven minor soil flows; in spring 2026, 18 cases of ground slippage have already been registered, including large landslides up to 2–3 meters deep.[1] Hit especially hard were natural slopes in the zone of the ravine-and-gully network, which occupies up to 15% of the territory of Nizhny Novgorod, as well as the southern and southwestern slopes, where the snow melted fastest.[2]

Among the specific sites affected is the Zelensky Descent in Nizhny Novgorod, where a heightened-alert regime was introduced because of a landslide.[3] A serious ground collapse occurred in the selo (a larger village) of Endovishchi in the Krasnooktyabrsky Okrug.[1] In the village of Karaulovo near Kstovo, where landslides recur every year, local residents were offered the requisition of their houses.[3] The Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) also pointed to the heightened danger of geological processes in the Kstovsky and Pavlovsky Okrugs.[4]

The risk of flooding and landslides in the region arises in other years as well during heavy downpours: in April 2020, the Nizhny Novgorod Region Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations warned of possible landslides and washed-out roads amid abundant rainfall.[5]

Sources

  1. V gorode N — Experts named the cause of landslides in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. news.mail.ru — A snowy winter and a rainy spring caused landslides in Nizhny Novgorod Region
  3. nino-live.ru — Landslides in Nizhny Novgorod Region caused by anomalous precipitation
  4. nnovgorod-gid.ru — Where landslides may occur in Nizhny Novgorod Region
  5. Otkrytyy Nizhniy — Heavy rain will provoke flooding and landslides in Nizhny Novgorod Region — Society