The Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court is a state judicial body of the Nizhny Novgorod Region that hears criminal, civil, and administrative cases as a court of first instance and as an appellate court.

Notable Cases

On August 5, 2013, the Regional Court concluded a years-long pre-investigation review on the complaint of Danishkin, who had suffered at the hands of militia officers: the court upheld as lawful the sixth successive ruling by investigator Novikov refusing to open a criminal case. Prior to this, the investigator had unlawfully issued five identical rulings, and the review had in total lasted more than a year and a half. The European Court of Human Rights subsequently found unanimously that Article 3 of the Convention had been violated — both in its substantive aspect (the applicant had been subjected to torture) and in respect of the absence of an effective investigation.

On August 11, 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court sentenced former deputy chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Legislative Assembly Mikhail Dikin to 280 hours of community service for making death threats. The sentence had not entered into legal force at the time it was handed down. Also in 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, sitting as an appellate court, upheld the order to demolish 18 houses in the Zeleny Dol cottage settlement near the Gorky Reservoir: the structures had been built on forest fund land without legal grounds; the demolition claim had been brought by the environmental prosecutor, experts from the Volga Regional Centre of Forensic Examination confirmed the permanent nature of the structures, the construction of which on forest fund land is prohibited, and the Zeleny Dol Association was denied its counterclaim — litigation over the legality of the settlement had been ongoing since 2019.[1][2] The original demolition order had been issued in March 2026 by the Gorodetsky City Court; the appellate panel heard the case on August 11, after which the order to demolish the structures at the owners' expense entered into legal force.

On February 27, 2026, the chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, Vyacheslav Popravko, submitted his resignation; upon his departure, the position of court chairman became vacant. The post remained vacant from the end of March 2026, when Vyacheslav Popravko left office; a competitive recruitment procedure was announced in the spring of the same year.[4] The Supreme Qualification Collegium of Judges issued a positive assessment of the candidacy of Elena Yendovitskaya for the position of chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court; at the time her candidacy was under consideration, she held the post of deputy chairman of the Bryansk Regional Court and oversaw administrative cases. Elena Yendovitskaya's professional career spans several levels of the judicial system: in 2008 she began as a magistrate in the Taymyr Dolgano-Nenets District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, then worked in Oryol Region — in 2015 she became deputy chairman of the Zavodsky District Court of Oryol, in 2020 she headed the Novosilsky District Court, after which she moved to the First Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Saratov, and in the spring of 2024 she took up the post of deputy chairman of the Bryansk Regional Court.[4] On September 22, 2026, the Supreme Qualification Collegium of Judges recommended Elena Yendovitskaya for the position of chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, taking into account the position of Supreme Court Chairman Igor Krasnov.

At the collegium's session on September 22, 2026, Igor Krasnov personally participated in the review of applications from candidates for the positions of heads of courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and expressed the view that each of the candidates presented, including Yendovitskaya, could be recommended.[5] The remaining step was the signing of a presidential decree.[4][3][2]

Chronicle of events

Details of each event are in the article about it; here are the dates and gist.

Sources

  1. Vremya N — On September 22, 2026, the Chairman took part in the review of applications from candidates for the positions of heads of courts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including Endovitskaya's candidacy
  1. Otkrytyy Nizhniy — On September 22, 2026, the Higher Qualification Collegium of Judges recommended Elena Endovitskaya for the position of Chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, taking into account
  1. Newsroom24 — On February 27, 2026, the Chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court Vyacheslav Popravko submitted his resignation; following his departure, the position of court chairman passed
  1. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Appeals court upheld the demolition of 18 houses near the Gorky Reservoir (archive)
  2. GIPERNN — Court confirmed the decision to demolish cottages in the Nizhny Novgorod settlement "Zeleny Dol" (archive)
Materials from articles used (2)

Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Conviction of Mikhail Dikin for Threatening to Commit Murder (2026)