In October 2022, a request from a resident of Nizhny Novgorod was received. The request sought to provide legal and other assistance to establish the location and subsequent return to the territory of the Russian Federation of the two minor children of the client (brother and sister, 10 years and 3 years). More than 6 months ago the children were wrongfully retained from the Russian Federation through deception by the ex-spouse of the client. The exact location of them is unknown by now. In addition, the ex-spouse deliberately took active measures to conceal his and the children’s location. ​

Despite the risk of loss of family ties, from April to October 2022, our client, independently, appealed to various law enforcement agencies (Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, RF IC, etc.), authorities, judicial authorities, as well as state institutions (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, etc.) about the “urgent launch of mechanisms”, allowing her to return the “abducted” children, but did not receive any special assistance. ​According to the results of these appeals, law enforcement agencies received only general information: the ex-spouse took the children to Armenia, Yerevan, then they went to the United Arab Emirates, after that they went to Qatar, Doha, then, based on the analysis of photos (in May 2022), they were in South Africa, Cape Town, then returned to Qatar, visited Botswana, after which they entered the United States with his children. The ex-spouse formally provided information to the law enforcement and judicial authorities of the Russian Federation that he and his children are in the USA, Florida, Miami, Fort Lauderdale. There was no objective data confirming the veracity of the information provided by the ex-spouse… ​ ​

Having analyzed the situation at the time of the appeal, we, together with the client, made a number of decisions, including on the objective verification of the information provided by the ex-spouse about his whereabouts in the United States, on the organization of work (procedure) for declaring the ex-spouse on the international wanted list through Interpol, on the appointment of the principal for an interview at the US consulate (in Kazakhstan) to obtain the necessary visa, and other actions based on our experience in this category of cases.

As a result, already on November 17, 2022, we received a notification (decision) on sending a circular on the search for a person (ex-spouse), with the aim of arrest and extradition to all Interpol member countries. ​

Note that at the time of receipt of this notification, a representative of our team (lawyer A. Kuznetsov) was already in the United States on a business trip, where during the verification measures he established that the information provided by the ex-spouse to the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation about the place of residence and the place of education of children are false…

Using the business contacts established on the territory of the Russian Federation and the USA, we organized and carried out the necessary search activities. A few days later, a possible real address of the ex-spouse’s residence in the United States was established. A representative of our team (A. Kuznetsov), being “on the spot”, objectively checked and confirmed the information received… ​ ​ ​

December 9, 2022, lawyer A. Kuznetsov, also using business constants, urgently, due to the fact that the ex-spouse could change his residence address at any time or leave the country altogether, appealed to the 17th Civil Family Court of Miami, USA, with the aim of obtaining a court order that giving him (lawyer A. Kuznetsov) the right to take minor children “abducted” in the territory of the Russian Federation from the ex-spouse and apply for provisional guardianship of them, until the main court hearing on the merits of the case… ​

On the same day, December 9, 2022, the court order we needed was issued in our favor (Judge Mariya Weekes). The document, among other things, contained the necessary requirement for the assistance of Miami sheriffs (police) in removal and transfer of children to us (A.Kuznetsov).

On December 14, 2022, the Miami police officers removed the children and delivered them to us (lawyer A. Kuznetsov) under his provisional guardianship…

On December 15, 2022, using the Zoom platform (the client was in Nizhny Novgorod due to US visa denial), the first court hearing of the 17th Civil Court of Miami, USA, took place. Judge Mariya Weekes denied the father (ex-spouse) and his American lawyers’ motion for transfer of children to him (ex-spouse) before the main trial. At the main trial, we (A. Kuznetsov) intended to legalize the court decision of the Russian Federation in the interests of our client. We received it earlier in the Nizhny Novgorod Court, and it states that the minor children should live exclusively with their mother (our client) on the territory of the Russian Federation. As a result of the court hearing, the children, by order of the Judge, were left under the care of lawyer A. Kuznetsov. ​ ​

On December 20, 2022, the main hearing of the 17th Civil Court of Miami, United States with Judge Mariya Weekes was held. During this hearing the lawyers of the ex-spouse explained to the Сourt that their client left the territory of the Russian Federation with children due to the fact that he had been a representative of the LGBT community, who had been being persecuted for his non-traditional orientation and could be deprived of parental rights. The entire position of the opposite party, during the court hearing, was built on assumptions of possible consequences, in connection with the adoption in the Russian Federation and the entering into force of the Law “on the prohibition of LGBT propaganda”, issued in November 2022.

According to the results of the court hearing, Judge Mariya Weekes issued an order to return the children to the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and transfer them to their mother (our client).

As a result, on December 23, 2022, at Vnukovo airport (Moscow), despite the current complicated geopolitical situation between the countries, in the absence of direct flights between the United States and the Russian Federation, the children, brother and sister (a boy of 10 years, a girl of 3 years) were returned to the mother, that is, in full compliance with the decisions of the Russian Federation and the US Courts.

P.S. When returning to the Russian Federation, we went through border control. Even the emotionless border control officers after properly studying all the accompanying documents for children, did not remain indifferent … and commented on the situation.

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