Mother paid 2 million rubles for son's abuse in Khobotova rehab
In Dedovsk, Moscow region, near Istra, the investigation into the cruel treatment of teenagers at Anna Khobotova«s rehabilitation center continues. Behind the official investigation reports are the stories of children and parents who encountered a system where help was replaced with violence. One such story was told to MSK1.RU by the mother of a teenager named Misha (name changed). Her son spent a year and a half in this institution—from May 2024 to November 2025.
Why parents sent their children there
Misha»s mother, Tamara (name changed), found herself in a difficult situation. Her son stopped going to school, fell in with a bad crowd, and eventually ran away from home. Police from several departments searched for him for a week.
«I was just afraid that at any moment I could lose my child. I didn«t sleep at night, I was already prescribed antidepressants,» the woman admitted.
On the internet, she found the contacts of Anna Khobotova»s rehabilitation center. Over the phone, they described life at the center—talked about yoga, art therapy, proper nutrition, and work with psychologists.
Initially, Tamara was told that behavior correction would take 120 days. But when four months passed, the child was persuaded to stay longer. A psychologist from the center, citing Khobotova«s own opinion, convinced the mother that it was too early to take Misha away.
«They told me that Khobotova was against him leaving, that it was too early for him. And she strongly recommended leaving him,» the boy»s mother said.
As a result, Misha stayed at the center for a year and a half.
«We«ll die under a fence like dogs»
According to Tamara, the children were constantly kept in fear.
«My son is quite large, it»s hard to physically influence him, but morally all the children were suppressed,» Tamara said.
For punishments, they used a thought-out system of so-called trainings. One of them was called «The Hole.» During this «training,» a child couldn«t leave their bed for several days.
«You can get up to go to the toilet for no more than two minutes, they brought a spoonful of porridge and water during the day, that»s all,» Misha«s mother said, holding back tears.
For the slightest offenses, exhausting physical punishments followed.
«There was a group punishment called «33 Bogatyrs.» The children had to do 33 sets of 33 deep squats,» the teenager«s mother said.
Another boy, who forgot to take his medication at lunch, was forced to carry a 10-kilogram (22-pound) weight plate from a barbell all day.
The children were also forced to write the same phrase for several hours.
«They had to write the same phrases 400 times. I don«t remember verbatim, I»ll explain the essence in my own words. Something like: «We must love and respect our consultants, who care for and love us, and if we don»t do this, we«ll leave [the Center], get high on drugs, and die under a fence like dogs,»» the mother of a center resident said. «If a child didn«t manage to complete the task by lunch, they were left without food.»
«Children stole dry pasta to chew at night»
Parents paid for rehabilitation 95,000 to 150,000 rubles per month (approximately $950 to $1,500 at current rates). Thus, for all the time he was there, Tamara paid almost two million rubles (about $20,000 at current rates). Despite the impressive tariffs, the children were fed poorly. According to the Muscovite, meals were once or twice a day.
«For lunch, they cooked soup. For 24 children—soup from one chicken leg. For dinner, they gave some porridge. That»s all. There were no fresh vegetables or fruits,» the woman shared. Meanwhile, in the menus sent to parents, the nutrition looked balanced: grains, meat, fruits, vegetables.
The children were constantly hungry and tried to get food on their own.
Once a week, the children ordered products from their parents—sweets, crackers, sodas. But besides these, strange orders started appearing in the «care packages» over time—two chicken carcasses, a pack of rice, three sticks of sausage, some canned goods.
«I asked: «What»s happening?« He said: »I want to cook pilaf for everyone.« Or: »I want to make borscht for everyone.« And at first I thought: good, they»re such a team, they have family-like relationships,» the mother of a former resident said. «But then I thought: why, for the money all parents pay, isn«t there free beets and carrots in the house for the children to cook soup if they want it? Later it turned out that such grocery orders were common for everyone. The children fed each other.»
When police visited the Center on November 23, and the teenagers were told to take their personal belongings, many of them «first rushed to the kitchen.»
«They took everything from the kitchen, and when we were already at the police station, the children»s bags contained pasta, sausage, some canned goods again,» the mother of one resident shared.
Why did the children remain silent?
Parents didn«t suspect what was happening because the children were afraid to complain.
«He repeated, like all the other children: »It«s not allowed, it»s forbidden, they«ll punish us,»» the Muscovite added. «Misha says: «I would tell you, but you»d be kicked out, and I«d stay here, they»d punish me.«»
In parent chats, photos and videos were constantly posted showing children smiling, dancing, drawing, participating in skits. All this, as the boy»s mother found out, was deception.
«The child says that all the photos are staged. Before every photo taken «for parents,» the house was cleaned to make the photos look beautiful,» Tamara recounted her child«s words. «And those dances we saw on video, some scenes, skits, that was as punishment. So whether you want to or not, you dance.»
Child named the main tormentors
Misha confirmed that Vitaly Balabrikov, already arrested on several charges under the Russian Criminal Code, indeed abused the children. There was another tormentor.
«They abused the children, could kick a sitting child, accompany it with foul language, say »shut up.« The other could sit, smoke near a child, and blow smoke directly into their face,» the boy»s mother said.
Tamara never saw or heard from Anna Khobotova herself.
«She fundamentally doesn«t talk to parents. She doesn»t answer calls, there«s no contact with her, only through assistants—psychologists,» Tamara explained.
«When the boy who is now in intensive care was already lying on the floor, unconscious, soiling himself, she calmly came to this house,» the mother of one resident shared. «The boy was lying nearby on the floor, already soiling himself, and she calmly conducted trainings in the same room, then left back.»
Meanwhile, according to the children, Khobotova regularly visited the center and saw the condition of the residents.
Yesterday, after police had visited the center, one of the psychologists contacted Tamara.
Instead of apologies, the psychologist suggested transferring Misha to a branch of the center in Rostov—under the pretext of «continuing education» at school and preparing for exams. Tamara, of course, refused.
Child can«t adjust to home
When the center was raided by law enforcement, no one from the management told her about it. However, Tamara was called by the mother of another resident, and then the Muscovite went to the rehab. She and her child were directed to give statements to the Investigative Committee, then released.
Now Misha is home. He hardly leaves the apartment, today he went out for the first time. And he constantly asks permission for the simplest things: it»s clear he«s used to living by strict rules.
«The child, being at home, comes and says: »Mom, can I put my vitamins here? Can I rearrange this? Can I do laundry? Can I eat a tangerine? Can I eat another one?«» the mother of the teenager rescued from the rehabilitation center shared.
Despite the horror they experienced, the children support each other. Together with other center residents, Misha found a psychological support group at a church. They decided themselves to continue twelve-step program sessions, but now in normal conditions. Parents organized their own chat for mutual support and information sharing as the investigation develops.
*—refers to LGBT. The organization»s activity is prohibited in Russia.
