The court in Sochi has once again refused to consider the complaint about violence in the kindergarten.

The Adler District Court of Sochi has once again denied the request of a mother of many children, Elena Baranetskaya, to satisfy her complaint against the police's refusal to initiate a criminal case regarding possible child abuse at kindergarten No. 121. This is the second denial by the district court regarding her complaint – the first was overturned by the appellate court.

As reported by “Caucasian Knot”, on August 4, the Krasnodar Regional Court overturned the first denial of the Adler District Court and sent the complaint for reconsideration.

During the repeated consideration on September 24, Judge Sergey Evseev rejected all the motions filed by Baranetskaya, the applicant claims. According to her, the court refused to interrogate four parents whom she brought as witnesses and did not allow her to review the materials presented by the prosecutor; the judge interrupted her and suggested she withdraw her claims. Baranetskaya believes that there was actually no substantive consideration of the complaint.

According to the case card No. 3/10-194/2026, the complaint was received by the Adler District Court on August 14, 2026, and was accepted for processing on August 17. The hearings scheduled for August 20 and September 14 were postponed by the judge; the final consideration took place on September 24. According to Baranetskaya, since the submission of the complaint, she has not received court summonses for the hearings indicated on the court's website – she attended the hearing on September 24 based on a separate summons handed to her.

A copy of the court decision was not issued to her, with the suggestion to wait ten days, the applicant claims. She intends to appeal the ruling and file a preliminary complaint to avoid missing the appeal deadline.

Cancellation of the first denial ruling

The appellate complaint of Baranetskaya was satisfied by the Krasnodar Regional Court on August 4, overturning the ruling of the Adler District Court, which had previously refused to recognize the police's decision not to initiate a criminal case as illegal.

A representative of the regional prosecutor's office supported the applicant's position, pointing out the incompleteness of the procedural check and the premature refusal to initiate the case, Baranetskaya told a correspondent of “Caucasian Knot” after the appellate hearing.

After that, the Adler District Court was supposed to resume proceedings and summon the parties for a repeated consideration of the complaint, a representative of the Krasnodar Regional Court's criminal office explained earlier to a correspondent of “Caucasian Knot”. However, according to Baranetskaya, on September 24, the district court again denied her claims, and there was actually no substantive consideration.

History of the conflict

The conflict between the parents and the administration of kindergarten No. 121 in Sochi has been ongoing since the spring of 2025. The parents of the children are seeking the initiation of a criminal case regarding possible child abuse by the teacher Lyubov Kalinichenko, who subsequently resigned voluntarily.

In March 2025, the mother of one of the children accidentally recorded a video in which, according to the parents, the teacher was treating the children roughly: the video shows a woman grabbing one of the girls and dipping her face into a plate, after which she handed food to another child. The video first appeared in the parents' chat, and then it was published by several Telegram channels. More than 100 parents sent a collective statement to the prosecutor's office, the education department, and the administration of the President of Russia, demanding the initiation of a criminal case, conducting an internal investigation, and prohibiting the teacher from working with children.

The prosecutor's office of Kuban stated that those responsible for the inappropriate treatment of children were punished, and the psychological climate in the kindergarten remains normal. The parents believe that the teacher's resignation and disciplinary action against the director of the institution are insufficient measures.

Baranetskaya turned to law enforcement after she claimed that the teacher had committed violence against her minor son and other children. The statement was registered on June 12, 2025. On February 18, 2026, the police issued another ruling refusing to initiate a criminal case – this is the decision the mother challenged in court under Article 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Russia, stating that law enforcement did not properly interrogate the parents and other possible witnesses, did not conduct an independent psychological-pedagogical assessment of the video recordings, and relied mainly on the explanations of the teacher and the kindergarten administration.

Lawyer's assessment

There are serious legal and procedural deficiencies in the actions of the investigative authorities and the district court, stated independent lawyer Sergey Vetrov, who reviewed the case materials. According to him, the first instance court in its ruling of April 28, 2026, limited itself to stating the fact of sending or issuing Baranetskaya a copy of the ruling refusing to initiate a criminal case from February 18, without checking the legality and validity of the procedural decision itself.

During the investigation, the investigative authorities did not conduct an independent judicial psychological-pedagogical examination of the video recordings, which, according to the parents, captured episodes of interaction between the teacher and the children, noted Vetrov. According to him, the materials reflect unfulfilled orders for interrogating the legal representatives of other children, as well as the absence of a special examination of the minor students.

The absence of visible bodily injuries does not in itself exclude the possibility of child abuse, the lawyer believes: such actions can manifest as psychological violence, unacceptable physical measures, and humiliation of the child's dignity.

Commenting on the new denial, Vetrov suggested that the system has entered a “deaf defense, protecting its own.” “They are just buying time in the hope that the parents will get tired of complaining and knocking on iron doors,” he said.

In January, the administration of Sochi informed the parents that psychologists did not identify a negative emotional-psychological climate in the kindergarten group. The parents believe that officials did not give due assessment to the video recording. In April, a court in Krasnodar recognized the actions of the officials of the Ministry of Education of Kuban as illegal, who ignored the violation of the rights of parents to freedom of speech and opinions in kindergarten No. 121 in Sochi, and obliged the regional officials to eliminate the violations, however, the officials do not consider themselves guilty.

Baranetskaya intends to demand access to all case materials, including the appellate ruling of the regional court that has not been issued since August.