The case of the massacre on the Chernozubovka farmstead in the Oryol region, which was sensational five years ago, has not been completed either. On July 22, the next hearing in the Batsiev-Dakishvili case is scheduled to take place in the Rostov Regional Court. More than fifty hearings have already passed, but it seems that there is still a long way to go before the final verdict and punishment of the perpetrators. The investigation lasted more than two years, then the case was tried in court from January 2022 to May 2023, as a result of which six defendants were acquitted by a jury. 
Based on a complaint from the prosecutor’s office, the appellate court in August 2023 overturned the acquittal and sent the case for a new trial. Her ruling pointed to numerous violations related to both the work of the jury and judge Yuri Rusenko. “Under such circumstances, neither the verdict itself nor the sentence imposed on its basis can be recognized as meeting the requirements of legality, validity and fairness,” the court’s decision states.
The new trial began in the Rostov Regional Court in October 2023, but is constantly interrupted due to the failure of the defendants, their defense attorneys, or other participants in the trial to appear at the hearings. It is obvious that the defendants in the case who remain at large and those who are actively helping them are delaying the process. While they are charged with the murder of two or more persons, committed by a group of persons (from 8 to 20 years in prison, or life imprisonment).
The authorities of the Rostov region must draw a conclusion from what happened in the Oryol region and find solutions that would avoid the repetition of such tragedies, Governor Vasily Golubev said after the tragedy. However, over the past years, as noted by local media, officials have done virtually nothing to prevent such incidents. As a result, farmers in the region, not finding protection from the authorities and justice in the courts, are fighting each other.
Another incident happened quite recently, in June 2024, when a clash occurred between two farms in the village. Podgorny Remontnensky district. Last year, law enforcement agencies also had to intervene in a farmer conflict – then everything worked out, but farmers brought weapons with them to the place of showdown.
The further level of crime both in relations between farmers and in the region as a whole largely depends on the decision of the Rostov Regional Court. However, numerous judicial delays, procedural violations, postponements of court hearings and other legal tricks only add fuel to the fire. As a result, Rostov farmers, despairing of finding justice in a legal way and not finding protection in official bodies, are essentially fighting each other, like in the Wild West, with weapons in hand, while attracting for help not official structures, but individuals working in them high-ranking representatives. It is no coincidence that so many rumors are discussed on the sidelines of court hearings about “who contributed how much and to whom.”
According to observers, in the current situation, federal structures need to take control of what is happening in the Rostov region in order to finally put an end to this whole drama, which in its resonance has long gone beyond the boundaries of its region.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
