On October 5, 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the second acquittal of children's hand-to-hand combat coach Nikolay Kukushkin, rejecting the prosecutor's office's appeal.[1] The ruling ended a nearly five-year criminal prosecution that became one of the most high-profile cases in the region.[2]

Circumstances of the case

The conflict took place in the early morning of May 16, 2021, on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod. Nikolay Kukushkin was there with his wife and his friend Grigory Artemenko and Artemenko's wife. According to the defense, a group of eight intoxicated Rosgvardia officers began harassing the coach's wife and Artemenko; Kukushkin used a knife. Rosgvardia officer Mikhail Rashoyan was wounded and died in the hospital, and two more of his colleagues were injured.[2] Kukushkin was charged with premeditated murder and the attempted murder of Rashoyan's two fellow officers.[1] Three members of the same group were later convicted of causing moderate harm to Grigory Artemenko and received suspended sentences.[1]

Course of the trial

The case went through four juries. The first acquittal was handed down in 2022, but the prosecutor's office succeeded in having it overturned.[3] The second jury was dissolved after reports of pressure on the lawyers and the media.[2] The third panel was removed from the case when it emerged that the jury's foreman was a relative of a prosecutor's office employee.[1] In March 2026, the fourth jury again found Kukushkin not guilty.[2] The prosecutor's office appealed this verdict as well, but on October 5, 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court rejected the appeal.[1]

Outcome

Following the regional court's decision, the acquittal took legal effect: Kukushkin ceased to be considered a defendant in the case of murder and attempted murder.[2] For him and his family, the ruling brought to a close a legal saga that had lasted about five years.[2] The case received wide coverage in regional media and in "Kommersant-Privolzhye" and was described as one of the longest-running and most widely discussed criminal cases in Nizhny Novgorod Region.[3]

Sources

  1. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court Upholds Acquittal of Coach Kukushkin, Nizhny Novgorod News (archive)
  2. Open Nizhny — Nizhny Novgorod Court Finally Acquits Coach Kukushkin in Case of Rosgvardia Servicemen — Incidents
  3. Living in Nizhny — Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court Confirms Acquittal of Coach Kukushkin — Living in Nizhny