On 11 August 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court sentenced Mikhail Dikin, former deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region, to 280 hours of compulsory labor for making a death threat.[1] At the time the verdict was issued, it had not yet entered into legal force.[4]

The incident

On 10 November 2024, outside the "Nebo" shopping center in Nizhny Novgorod, Dikin, during a verbal altercation, threatened a man with a gas pistol and struck him several times in the chest, as well as making death threats.[2] Dikin did not admit guilt.[1]

Background: road conflicts

The incident at the "Nebo" shopping center was not the first scandal involving Dikin. In October 2023, at Lyadov Square he cut off a Zhiguli car and, during the ensuing quarrel, fired a gas pistol at the driver's face. In court he claimed self-defense, but the jury found him guilty of hooliganism involving the use of a weapon.[2] In the fall of 2024, Dikin blocked the path of a bus, claiming he was "saving" the passengers from a supposedly drunk driver; the court fined him.[2] In early March 2026, another conflict occurred: Dikin overtook a car, abruptly cut in front of it, then stopped in the middle of the roadway and blocked traffic — according to him, in response to not being given the right of way.[2]

Biography: prior convictions

In 2006, Mikhail Dikin and his brother Alexander were convicted of organizing an attempted murder of Oleg Sorokin, who later became mayor of Nizhny Novgorod; Dikin received a 16-year prison sentence.[4] Both brothers were released on parole in July 2016, having served about ten years.[1] In 2022, a criminal fraud case was opened against Mikhail and Alexander Dikin.[1]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Former Nizhny Novgorod Assembly deputy Dikin sentenced to 280 hours of compulsory labor (archive)
  2. Zhivyom v Nizhnem — Former deputy from Nizhny Novgorod gets 280 hours of labor for threatening with a pistol — Zhivyom v Nizhnem
  3. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Nizhny Novgorod ex-deputy sentenced to 280 hours of compulsory labor (archive)
  4. Otkrytiy Nizhny — Court orders Mikhail Dikin to serve 280 hours of compulsory labor for threatening with a pistol (archive)