Russian official wins court case over husband's contract

A Russian court has ruled in favor of a local official accused of nepotism. Inna Sanyova, head of the Timonovo territorial administration in the Valuyki district, hired her husband as a lifeguard in 2024 and 2025, paying him 211,000 rubles from the municipal budget. The district prosecutor's office had filed a lawsuit demanding her dismissal for a 'loss of trust,' but the court accepted the administration's argument that she was forced to hire him to meet staffing requirements for beach safety. The prosecutor's office had previously deemed a reprimand recommended by an ethics commission as too lenient.