A six-month police investigation into a November 2024 accident involving a 15-year-old schoolgirl in the village of Novomikhailovka has concluded with no charges filed against the driver, a former traffic police officer. The decision, based on a forensic medical examination that found the girl suffered no harm to her health, has angered the girl’s parents, who believe the driver has effectively gone unpunished.

The accident occurred on November 28, 2024, when Valya* was walking with a friend and was struck by a car driven by Alexander Putenkov, who was then a serving traffic police officer. Putenkov initially fled the scene and attempted to blame his father for the incident. An internal investigation led to Putenkov’s dismissal from the police force and the revocation of his driver’s license for 15 months for leaving the scene of the accident.

Following the accident, Valya was diagnosed with a head contusion, concussion, chest contusion, knee contusion, and ligament sprain. Her mother, Tatyana Dobrikova, reports that Valya now suffers from frequent headaches and limps due to swelling in her knee. The family also had to pay for tutors to help Valya catch up on her schoolwork after she missed a month and a half of classes.

According to the lawyer representing Valya and her parents, Anton Ostanin, the forensic medical examination only assessed subcutaneous hematomas and failed to adequately consider other injuries, such as the concussion and ligament sprain. Ostanin argues that any injuries requiring treatment for more than three weeks should have been classified as “moderate harm to health,” which would have allowed for administrative punishment of the driver.

Despite the police investigation and Putenkov’s dismissal from the police force, Valya’s parents believe he has not faced adequate consequences. They claim to have seen Putenkov driving a car on multiple occasions, despite his license revocation.

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Novosibirsk Region stated that the administrative proceedings were terminated due to the absence of an administrative offense, based on the forensic medical examination’s finding of no harm to the victim’s health. The police did not respond to questions about the possibility of re-examining the case materials.