A large family from Tuapse was forced to agree to the administration's proposal.

The large family of Sergei Kartashov and Tatyana Pimenova agreed to sign a shared construction agreement for an apartment building in Krasnodar. Before the building's completion, the family of seven was provided with a two-bedroom apartment in Tuapse. The proposed options did not meet the family's needs, but officials made it clear that no better offers would be forthcoming, the couple said. The criminal case against the former head of Tuapse, who overturned the ruling declaring the family's building unsafe, has been dismissed.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," Tuapse couple Sergei Kartashov and Tatyana Pimenova appealed the authorities' decision to force their low-income, large family to move into an apartment that did not meet social norms. Previously, in 2023, a court in Tuapse ordered the authorities to provide the family with housing equivalent in size to their current apartment. However, in early March, a court in Krasnodar upheld the resettlement decision. In July, officials filed a lawsuit against the Kartashov and Pimenova families, demanding that they be deprived of priority housing, but the district and regional courts rejected these demands, upholding the family's housing rights. On December 10, it was reported that a criminal case had been opened against Vitaly Mazninov, the former head of the Tuapse district, who in 2021 overturned the ruling declaring Kartashov and Pimenova's house unsafe. In December 2025, Tuapse authorities offered the family a shared construction agreement for an apartment building in Krasnodar.

On January 22, 2026, the Main Interregional (Specialized) Department of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia for Krasnodar Krai No. 1 completed enforcement proceedings initiated on July 16, 2024, against the administration of the Tuapse district, which for a year and a half had evaded the enforcement of a court decision to provide housing to a large family of seven.

As reported by the head of the family Sergey Kartashov, the basis for the termination of enforcement proceedings was the conclusion of a settlement agreement between his family and the administration of the Tuapse Municipal District on December 18, 2025. On December 23, the agreement was sent to the Tuapse District Court for approval, and then to the State Municipal Unitary Enterprise of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia for termination of enforcement proceedings.

The Tuapse administration offered the large family of Sergei Kartashov and Tatyana Pimenova a shared construction agreement for an apartment building in Krasnodar. According to the agreement, construction of the building has been ongoing since 2014, but the document does not specify a precise completion date. After the building is commissioned, the family is promised ownership of the apartment.

At the same time, the Tuapse administration issued a decree providing the family with a two-room apartment under a social tenancy agreement in Tuapse while they wait for housing in Krasnodar. The total area of ​​the apartment is 49.7 square meters, and it's located on the fifth floor of a building without an elevator.

According to Tatyana Pimenova, the options offered don't meet the family's needs. "Neither the apartment in Tuapse nor the apartment in Krasnodar suits us in terms of square footage or location. In Tuapse, it's on the fifth floor without an elevator, a two-room apartment for seven people, which is half the space we're entitled to. An apartment in Krasnodar is a pie in the sky. But during the interview at the mayor's office, they made it clear to us that if we don't sign what they're offering now, we won't get anything at all. "Considering all our previous experience, we believed it," she said.

Sergey Kartashov reported that representatives of the interdistrict prosecutor's office, to which the family had repeatedly filed complaints, inspected the apartment in Tuapse and concluded that, in their opinion, "the apartment is fit for habitation." "We were forced to sign a social tenancy agreement while the apartment in Krasnodar was being built. We hope that it will eventually be built, and our children will have their own place. Of course, all this seems doubtful, but it's better than fighting for the rest of our lives and getting nothing," he noted.

According to the couple, they are preparing to move to an apartment in Tuapse, as living in the old building is becoming unsafe. "The house sways in the wind, it's very cold in the winter, it's scary to live there with children," said Tatyana Pimenova. Independent lawyer Elena Pavlova points out that voluntarily signing contracts carries both potential benefits and serious legal risks for families. "The main risk is that by signing a shared construction agreement, the family essentially agrees to an indefinite wait for housing. Without a clear deadline for completion and apartment handover in the agreement, protecting the rights of the participants is significantly complicated. "Furthermore, the termination of enforcement proceedings deprives the family of any means of coercive influence on the administration," the lawyer explained.

According to her, the social tenancy agreement in Tuapse can also be used by authorities as an argument for allegedly fulfilling their obligations to provide the family with housing, despite the apartment's clear discrepancy in size. "This may further complicate challenging the administration's actions and demanding alternative housing," Pavlova noted.

At the same time, according to the lawyer, signing the agreements provides the family with temporary protection from forced eviction from dilapidated housing and allows them to improve their living conditions compared to those in the dilapidated building. "From the perspective of children's actual safety, this can be seen as a necessary, but understandable, step," she said.

The Prosecutor's Office has dropped the criminal case against the former head of Tuapse

On January 22, the couple received a letter from the Krasnodar Krai Prosecutor's Office, dated January 20, 2026. The document stated that their appeal regarding the inaction of the investigative body and disagreement with the dismissal of the criminal case had been sent to the Tuapse Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office for consideration.

The letter was signed by D. E. Evchenko, Acting Head of the Department for Supervision of Investigative Bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia of the Krai Prosecutor's Office (a copy is available to the "Caucasian Knot"). It states that Pimenova's appeal is being forwarded to a subordinate prosecutor "to organize a thorough review of all arguments" and prepare a response to the applicants within the timeframe established by law. According to the letter, the Tuapse Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office must inform not only the applicants but also the regional prosecutor's office of the results of the review by February 9, 2026.

A few days after the criminal case was initiated, on December 9, 2025, Acting First Deputy Tuapse Interdistrict Prosecutor Oleg Kalinov overturned the investigator's decision to initiate the case, returning the materials for further review. Later, on December 16, Interdistrict Prosecutor Evgeny Elin denied the investigator's request to overturn this decision.

The final settlement in the dispute was reached by the Krasnodar Krai Prosecutor's Office. By a ruling dated December 19, 2025, Deputy Krai Prosecutor and Senior Justice Advisor Alexander Khrustalev denied the investigator's motion to reinstate the criminal case. The document states that "the investigation has not established the nature of the significant violation of the family's rights, nor has it proven any other personal interest in Mazninov's actions, nor is there a causal link between his order and the ensuing consequences."

The resolution also notes that "local government bodies are taking steps to enforce the court decision and are offering the family housing of equivalent size, but the applicants insist on larger living space." Furthermore, the prosecutor's office recalled that "a similar criminal case regarding the failure to provide housing to the family had previously been investigated and dismissed due to lack of evidence of a crime."

Disagreeing with the dismissal of the criminal case, the Kartashov and Pimenova spouses filed a complaint with the Krasnodar Krai Prosecutor's Office. However, their appeal has now been sent for review to the same supervisory authorities whose decisions they are challenging.

Lawyer Elena Pavlova noted that the mere fact of criminal prosecution of an official does not mean that the family's violated rights will be restored. According to her, such cases often end in vain, since criminal law is used not as a tool for protecting citizens, but as an element of internal processes within the government system.

"In such situations, it is important for the family to focus not on awaiting a criminal verdict, but on monitoring the execution of court decisions, the actions of bailiffs, and recording every instance of red tape or refusal on the part of officials," she believes.