‘Criminal Negligence Killed Six’: Volgograd Hears Case Against Water Utility's Chief Engineer

A hearing was held in the Krasnoarmeysky District Court in the case of Dmitry Lebedev, the chief engineer of «Koncessii Vodokanala» (Water Concessions). He is accused of allowing an explosion at sewer pumping station No. 4 that killed six people. The prosecutor demands Lebedev be found guilty of violating occupational safety rules and criminal negligence. The defense claims Lebedev followed all job instructions and that the explosion occurred due to a tragic confluence of circumstances. Read more about the hearing in our report.

‘Oil Had Nothing to Do With It; Workers Complained About Conditions for Four Years’

Dmitry Lebedev arrived at the hearing accompanied by three lawyers. The man remained calm, but tension was evident on his face, as if the defendant had already lost hope for an acquittal and had resigned himself to it.

Both the prosecution and defense presented their cases in court. Relatives of the victims attended the hearing but declined the opportunity to speak offered by the court. They also refused to comment to journalists.

«I don«t want to remember all this, especially since I was there myself,» said the daughter of one of the deceased, who also worked at KNS-4.

The victims sat in a corner of the hall right behind the accused, staring at him. During the defense«s presentation, some of the victims quietly made caustic remarks, expressing their skepticism.

««Koncessii» said they would build a memorial at the site, but in the end, nothing, not even a granite plaque was put up. They just repaired the building, and it«s as if nothing happened!» said relatives of the deceased.

The prosecutor read the indictment, which included witness statements and the results of an examination conducted after the explosion. The case materials state that station employees, from June 2020 to July 2024, complained about working conditions and unpleasant odors indicating the accumulation of hazardous substances in the air. According to the investigation, the explosion occurred due to high levels of flammable gases.

«The gas phase of the liquid revealed methane, carbonyl sulfide, and hydrogen sulfide as the main components, along with trace amounts of hexane. Thus, according to the examination conducted for the case and statements from specialists, contrary to the defendant«s version, no causal link has been established between the presence of petroleum products in the sewer network and the resulting death of employees,» said Darya Lebedeva, deputy prosecutor of the Krasnoarmeysky District.

According to the prosecutor, instruments at KNS-4 had for a long time recorded a significant exceedance of permissible levels of hydrogen sulfide and methane, creating a constant threat to employees. According to the findings of a commission medical examination, the cause of foreman Mikhail Kurakin«s death the day before the explosion was poisoning by a mixture of toxic gases—the recorded concentration of hydrogen sulfide alone, according to the prosecutor, would have been enough to poison several people.

«In accordance with the findings of the technological examination, the predominant composition of the mixture that exploded on July 6, 2024, is methane. These gases are formed as a result of natural biological processes. Lebedev«s duty to ensure the safe condition of the KNS building is directly stipulated by his job description,» stated the prosecution.

According to the prosecutor, the chief engineer did not give instructions for the installation and operation of an additional air exchange system and did not carry out measures to reconstruct the KNS ventilation system, which subsequently became the cause of the deadly gas accumulation.

«As a result of his criminal negligence, Lebedev from 2020 permitted operation under conditions that created a real danger to the life and health of «Koncessii Vodokanala» employees. In this regard, I ask that Lebedev be found guilty of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 143 and Part 3 of Article 216 of the Russian Criminal Code for all episodes of the crimes; I believe it is necessary to consider the nature and degree of public danger of the crime committed,» said Darya Lebedeva.

The prosecution demanded the defendant be sentenced to 8 years and 6 months of imprisonment in a penal colony settlement, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to organizing control of occupational safety work and work associated with increased danger in places with harmful and hazardous production factors for three years.

‘He Was Not Responsible for Funding and Could Not Monitor Every Employee’

The defendant«s interests were represented by three lawyers at once. The defense tried to prove that Mr. Lebedev followed all job instructions and that other officials were to blame for the absence of an additional ventilation structure at the KNS.

According to Yevgeny Udovenko, Lebedev«s lawyer, his client could only be implicated in the crime if he had failed to take measures to eliminate a known violation of occupational safety rules, or had given instructions contrary to safety rules, or had supervised certain types of work without ensuring compliance with the same safety requirements.

«Lebedev did not and could not give Kurakin instructions to descend into the receiving chamber. This has been established by examining his job instructions and Kurakin«s job duties. Moreover, descent into the receiving chamber is prohibited when pollutant concentrations exceed permissible limits,» said Yevgeny Udovenko.

According to the lawyer, witness statements prove that Mikhail Kurakin descended into the receiving chamber after an argument with the section foreman, who practically forced the foreman to perform a task instead of another KNS employee, which was unacceptable due to the extremely high readings on the gas analyzer. Also, according to witness statements cited by the defense, a respirator was near the foreman, but even a worn respirator would not have protected a person from substances prohibited from discharge—petroleum products, of which 194 tons were pumped out from wastewater alone.

«The judicial investigation has examined local regulatory acts regarding occupational safety. Lebedev, as chief engineer, annually organizes commission inspections with the issuance of official orders. He does not issue work permits, he does not give instructions to descend into the receiving chamber or to prohibit such actions. These are other levels of control: foreman, shift supervisor, section foreman, shop supervisor, and even their deputies. There is no guilt on the part of the subject of the crime, nor is there guilt in the form of negligence,» declared Yevgeny Udovenko.

According to the lawyers, one of the circumstances that led to the explosion was the absence of gas analyzers, which had been dismantled shortly before the tragedy due to malfunction, and officials did not inform Lebedev and his deputy about the dismantling.

The defense also claims that Lebedev repeatedly submitted requests to purchase ventilation equipment, but the purchase was long delayed:

«Repair work on the ventilation at KNS-4 was not carried out. The investment program regarding ventilation repair was not implemented due to delays in procurement procedures.»

The explosion at the station, according to the lawyer, was triggered by construction work prohibited when pollutant concentrations were high, but the shop supervisor and station supervisor did not control the execution of the work or the issuance of a permit to the work crew. The defense is convinced the tragedy could have been avoided by not allowing work on installing fans when the concentration of hazardous substances was off the charts.

‘I Didn«t Even Know He Went Down There’

Dmitry Lebedev expressed condolences to the families of the deceased but did not declare his non-involvement in the tragedy:

«On my part, as an official, all possible measures within my competence were taken, both in terms of compliance with occupational safety requirements and in terms of providing the necessary equipment. In fact, regarding the incident, I did not give Kurakin instructions to descend into the chamber. I didn«t even know about it; I was at the other end of the city, and no one informed me about what was happening at that moment. I did not make decisions or supervise the work to install the first ventilator on the night of the 5th to the 6th,» said Dmitry Lebedev.

The defendant stated that the decision to install the second ventilator was proposed by him based on and in full compliance with the occupational safety rules in force in Russia, and that practical actions to organize the work, including ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety requirements, were carried out without Lebedev«s participation and are not part of his job duties.

In his final statement, Dmitry Lebedev again offered condolences to the families of the victims. The verdict will be delivered at the next court hearing on February 2.