Mother jailed for leaving 3-year-old without food for 4 days

In 2025, one of the most shocking stories in the Voronezh region was that of a young woman named Alevtina S. (names have been changed), who left her nearly three-year-old daughter alone in an apartment for four days without food or water. The little girl was forced to drink from the toilet and eat raw buckwheat until neighbors rescued her.

Details of what happened spread far beyond the region: the story was even covered on Channel One«s talk show »Male/Female« (16+). But by the end of the year, a decisive conclusion was reached — the girl was placed with a new family, and her mother was sent to a penal colony.

Read the full tragic story in this report by Voronezh1.ru.

«She»s like Mowgli«

On the evening of 14 April, Voronezh resident Nadezhda Makarova was walking home from work. Near her building, some neighbor children approached her and said they had seen a little girl without any clothes in a first-floor window.

— One said: «Auntie Nadya, there»s a naked girl in the window.« And the other: »She«s like Mowgli.» We knew people lived in that apartment, but we didn«t think there was a child there. Alevtina never took her out. We knew nothing about this girl. Our first thought was that Alevtina had gotten drunk or high and was dancing on the windowsill herself.

Nadezhda went to the window, looked into the apartment, and saw a little girl who, upon noticing a strange woman, immediately hid.

— And she speaks poorly. She seems to understand, but says things like «soup,» «yum-yum,» «bye-bye.» And she doesn«t even put these words into sentences.

The neighbors pulled the girl out through the window, which the toddler had managed to open from the inside by herself, sat her on a bench by the entrance, dressed her, and gave her a bun with kefir. The girl«s name was Vika. Judging by how she pounced on the food—which you couldn»t even get ordinary children to eat—the poor thing hadn«t eaten properly in a very long time.

The residents called the landlord of the apartment rented by Alevtina. At first, he refused to open the door to the dwelling, but he did so at the police«s request. That»s how people got inside the apartment and understood how the girl had survived.

— The girl found raw buckwheat with sugar in a cupboard. She«s little, she probably got the bags out, couldn»t hold them, they fell, everything spilled on the floor, the cereal mixed with the sugar. It looks like she collected this sweet cereal from the floor and ate it. She«d suck off the sugar and spit out the buckwheat. And she didn»t even have water in the toilet, — says Nadezhda Makarova, suggesting that«s where the girl had been drinking from all those days.

Soon, Alevtina herself came home, though the disastrous mother only showed up after the police threatened her over the phone, saying they would put out a warrant for her arrest. That«s when it became clear the woman hadn»t been home for four days.

— She walked with her head held high. As if she was going to a celebration or a party. She came with a support group, with a young man, another guy was waiting outside, — recounts another resident of the building, Vera Belyaeva.

— They were all intoxicated. Not in their right minds, — recalls Nadezhda Makarova. — I asked her: «What were you hoping for?». And in response, I heard: «I thought I would come home and she»d be dead.« I told her: »I«ll smack you right now. Are you insane or what?» That«s where our conversation ended.

Alevtina went to the police station in a police car. The officers walked around the building, asking neighbors what they knew about the girl. But the neighbors couldn«t really say much.

— She was seen a few times, maybe drunk, maybe not. She«d come out of different cars, different men would drop her off or pick her up in the morning or early hours.

Pregnant at 16

Soon after, an episode of the Channel One show «Male/Female» (16+) dedicated to this story aired. Among others, Alevtina«s mother, Olga F., came to the studio.

— I don«t believe my daughter did this. I will never believe it. I suspect that a young, beautiful girl in a strange city… I think she was dragged into… Under someone»s influence, she was dragged into something dirty, — said Olga, who refused to believe her daughter had nearly starved her own child to death. — I don«t believe she did it on purpose. Someone was pressuring her. Someone scared her with something.

It turned out Alevtina gave birth to Vika in her hometown of Kozelsk at age 16, to a man who was much older than her. Criminal proceedings were initiated against the man for seducing a minor. But he married the girl and avoided prison.

— She gave birth to her lawful husband«s child. <…> But I was against this marriage altogether, — recalls Olga.

— This marriage wouldn«t have happened without your permission, — interrupted host Yulia Baranovskaya.

— I was convinced to allow it by the guardianship authorities.

However, having avoided criminal prosecution, the husband disappeared. The child was raised by Alevtina and her mother. And at some point, they argued. Being a responsible parent is hard even as an adult, so what could one expect from a schoolgirl.

— The child got sick. I started calling her and saying: «Come home.» <…> The first time I couldn«t reach her, the second time — I did. She ran over immediately. I started arguing with her and explaining: »What is this, what kind of behavior is this?« <…> I scared her by saying I»d restrict her parental rights if she behaved like that again. I told her the child would stay with me.

The next day, when Olga and her live-in partner went to work, Alevtina packed her things, took Vika, and left. For a month and a half, Olga didn«t know where her granddaughter and daughter were, if they were okay — Alevtina simply wouldn»t answer the phone.

When Alevtina finally answered her mother«s call, she explained she had moved to Voronezh and rented an apartment there. The girl got a job as an administrator at a sauna.

After that, communication improved: mother and daughter constantly texted and called, including via video chat. But Olga never once came to Voronezh to see the conditions Alevtina and Vika were living in. Although, according to her, she was puzzled by the expensive gifts Alevtina boasted about; the girl explained that a certain Igor — her best friend — was giving her all these things.

However, another guest in the studio — Karina — revealed that the girl wasn«t actually working as a sauna administrator but was engaged in prostitution there.

— One hour — six thousand rubles (approx. $67), — the acquaintance of our protagonist stated the going rate for services.

«The Addams Family»

Voronezh1.ru«s interviewees Vera Belyaeva and Nadezhda Makarova also took part in the show»s filming. They told us what was cut from the broadcast.

— You can tell by her, by the mother, that she«s an alcoholic: visually, in appearance, in behavior, in character. She came to that show with a one-and-a-half-liter bottle of beer.

Nadezhda Makarova insists that Vika«s father — Alevtina»s daughter — is her mother«s former live-in partner. But during the program, Olga F. ignored this point, only explaining that this man was her own age.

Moreover, Olga«s current live-in partner is now behind bars. And also due to sex with a minor, said Nadezhda Makarova.

— We learned all about this on the show. I thought: «Oh my God, what a family… The Addams Family.»

This information was confirmed to a Voronezh1.ru correspondent by the Investigative Committee for the Kaluga region. They said the man was indeed convicted for relations with a minor.

«A smart and independent child»

For some time, Vika was in the Ramon social rehabilitation center for children. The little girl was not put up for adoption until her parents were stripped of their parental rights. They say the girl didn«t ask about her mother.

— Vika is a very smart, independent child, — said Ksenia Penkova, head of the volunteer movement «Common Children.» — Since our nannies accompanied Vika, sat with her, we contacted the Ramon center, asking if she needed anything, but they told us: «If anything is needed, we»ll call and tell you.« But they didn»t call, as they have more or less normal material provisions there.

— When we learned this whole story, learned that this wasn«t the first or second time Vika was left alone at home without food and water, you start thinking, where is it better for her to live: with family, with her mom, or in an orphanage. Or perhaps people who pray for children, ask God for them for decades, will take her, raise her properly, and give her more love than her birth mother, — reflects Nadezhda Makarova.

Vika is now safe and among people who love her — the Commissioner for Children«s Rights in the Voronezh region, Angelina Severygina, reported that a new family had been found for the girl.

At the end of the year, Vika«s mother — Alevtina — faced trial. The young woman was found guilty of attempting to murder a minor. She was sentenced to 8.5 years of deprivation of liberty in a general-regime correctional colony.