Court Orders 335 Million Rubles from Gas Explosion Convicts

Yevgeny Kavun and Irina Urbakh, convicted for the gas explosion in a residential building at 39 Lineynaya Street in February 2023, must pay the Novosibirsk city administration 335 million rubles ($3.35 million at current rates). The decision was made by the Omsk District Court, according to the court records.

The plaintiffs were the city administration and the regional prosecutor«s office. The authorities recovered from the convicts the money spent on compensation payments to victims of the tragedy. On 30 January 2025, the court granted the claim.

On 9 February 2023, at 07:40, a gas leak occurred in an apartment at 39 Lineynaya. The gas ignited and exploded, causing the collapse of load-bearing structures of the panel building. Fifteen people died, and 11 suffered injuries of varying severity. Property damage and destruction exceeded 360 million rubles ($3.6 million at current rates).

The court handed down the sentence on 26 November last year. NGS has compiled everything known about the gas explosion on Lineynaya Street and the trial of the defendants in a special feature.

In May last year, the court commuted the sentences of the fake gas technicians. The court removed Article 168 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation («Destruction or damage to property through negligence») from the verdict due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, clarified a lawyer. The statute of limitations for this article is two years. As a result, Yevgeny Kavun«s sentence was reduced to 9 years and 9 months (was 10 years and 3 months), and Irina Urbakh»s sentence was reduced to 9 years and 6 months (was 10 years).

Earlier, NGS spoke with relatives of those who died on Lineynaya Street – they told how they lived through the two years after the tragedy.