Postponement of the appeal hearing against the acquittal of coach Nikolai Kukushkin — a procedural event of 24 September 2026 in the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, connected with the long-running criminal case against Nizhny Novgorod hand-to-hand combat coach Nikolai Kukushkin, who is charged with premeditated murder and has twice been acquitted by juries.[1][2]
Background of the case
The events that formed the basis of the criminal case took place in the early morning of 16 May 2021. Nikolai Kukushkin came to a café on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya with his wife; they were accompanied by his friend Grigory Artemenko and his wife. A conflict broke out in the café with a group of men that included off-duty Rosgvardiya officers in civilian clothing. A verbal altercation escalated into a street fight.[2]
During the fight, Kukushkin used a folding knife and wounded three men. Rosgvardiya officer Mikhail Rashoyan sustained a fatal wound and died; two other participants in the altercation were also injured. The coach was charged with premeditated murder and the attempted murder of two people.[2] The two sides describe the circumstances of the conflict differently: the defense contends that several men attacked the coach and his friend, and that Artemenko was beaten, while the prosecution maintains that Kukushkin acted with intent and had no grounds to claim self-defense. The coach himself did not deny using the knife, but insisted that he had been defending himself, his wife, and his beaten friend.[2][3]
Course of the proceedings
After his detention, Kukushkin spent approximately eighteen months in a pretrial detention facility.[2] Over the course of the trial, which has been ongoing since 2021, four juries have been formed. In autumn 2022, the first jury returned a unanimous acquittal, finding the coach's guilt of premeditated murder unproven. In spring 2023, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court overturned that verdict following a prosecution appeal — one of the grounds cited was the absence of an audio recording of part of the court session.[2] The second and third juries were dismissed due to procedural violations before reaching a verdict.[1][2] In March 2026, the fourth jury again acquitted the coach.[3] The prosecution filed a new appeal against that verdict. Following the second acquittal, the court imposed a travel ban on Kukushkin as a preventive measure; his attorney Irina Kulisheva described the situation as absurd.[1]
The hearing of 24 September 2026 and its adjournment
The examination of the prosecution's appeal was scheduled for 24 September 2026. That morning, around fifty people gathered outside the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court building to show their support for the coach.[1][2] The hearing did not take place: Kukushkin's attorney Irina Kulisheva fell ill, and the coach filed a motion to adjourn the proceedings. The judge granted the motion; the prosecutor's representative raised no objections. The new hearing was scheduled for 5 October 2026.[1][2][3]
Speaking to journalists, Kukushkin said he could not rule out another reversal of the acquittal: "In that case we'll go another round. That would make it the fifth. It's hard to predict how any of this will end. I'm not making any predictions."[1]
Sources
- Govorit Nizhny — About 50 people came to court to support children's coach Nikolay Kukushkin
- Otkryty Nizhny — Nizhny Novgorod coach Kukushkin was acquitted twice by juries. Why is he being tried — Incidents
- Zhivyom v Nizhnem — Several dozen people supported coach Kukushkin outside the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court — Zhivyom v Nizhnem