On September 22, 2026, the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod handed down a verdict against three employees of JSC "Teploenergo" — section foreman Evgeny Kurnikov and heating network maintenance plumbers Aleksandr Kuvaldin and Evgeny Koshcheyev — in the case concerning a heating main accident that injured three residents of Sovetsky District.[1][2]

The Accident

The accident occurred on the evening of February 24, 2025, near building No. 11A on Pushkina Street. Through-wall damage caused by prolonged corrosion formed in the underground pipeline. Hot water washed out the soil beneath an unlit pedestrian path, causing the ground to collapse.[3][4] Three local residents fell one after another into the pit of boiling water. One suffered serious bodily harm; two suffered moderate bodily harm.[1] The most severely injured was a 57-year-old woman: burns covering approximately 30% of her body surface and burn shock; she was hospitalized in intensive care.[2][3] All three victims were taken to the burn center at PIMU.[2]

The heating main on this section had been laid in 1990; prior to the accident it had been slated for inclusion in the 2025 repair program. Following the incident, specialists replaced six meters of the damaged network.[4]

Investigation and Prosecution

The investigation established that the convicted individuals had failed to ensure the proper and safe condition of the heat supply networks: they had not identified the emergency state of the pipeline, had not remedied the violations of its structural integrity, and had not carried out timely inspections of the equipment's technical condition.[1][4] The court concluded that the cause of the tragedy was prolonged corrosion, which had compromised the pipe's integrity as a result of the failure to take appropriate maintenance measures.[3] The criminal case was initiated under paragraph "v" of Part 2 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — the provision of services that do not meet the safety requirements for the life or health of consumers, resulting in the negligent infliction of serious harm to health.[3][4] The defendants pleaded guilty.[2]

Verdict

Sovetsky District Court sentenced section foreman Evgeniy Kurnikov to two years of imprisonment, suspended, with a two-year probationary period. Plumbers Aleksandr Kuvaldin and Evgeniy Koshcheyev each received one year and six months of imprisonment, suspended, with the same two-year probationary period.[2][3] The verdict was reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod Region, as well as by the press service of the Nizhny Novgorod courts of general jurisdiction.[1][3]

Sources

  1. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Three employees of Teploenergo convicted after Nizhny Novgorod residents fell into boiling water — Nizhny Novgorod News
  2. Newsroom24 — Three utility workers convicted for burst boiling-water pipe in Nizhny Novgorod — Society
  3. GIPERNN — Burns and suspended sentences. How the case of the pipe burst on Pushkina Street ended
  4. Otkryty Nizhny — Three Teploenergo employees convicted after people fell into a pit of boiling water — Incidents
  5. Vremya N — Verdict handed down against those responsible for the ground collapse on Pushkinskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod