Mother pulls son from rehab after girls attack staff with knife

On November 25, it became known about the torture of 24 teenagers in Anna Khobotova«s rehab center. The kids were beaten, starved, and intimidated. While Khobotova herself is wanted, the editors of MSK1.RU contacted the family of one of the pupils who witnessed the atrocities happening there.

For the »re-education« of her son, Marina (name changed — Ed.) paid 500,000 rubles (approximately $5,000 at current rates). In addition to the exorbitant amount for accommodation, the woman regularly sent him parcels with food and items. Now she is not sure that everything reached her child.

Drug addicts lived together with gambling addicts

A resident of Samara in 2024 was looking for a center for re-educating teenagers for her 13-year-old son Sasha (name changed — Ed.). The woman wanted the boy to overcome deviant behavior and get rid of bad habits.

»I was looking for something like a sanatorium, where psychologists would work, figure things out. He«s also allergic. I thought everything would be correct there, so that his habits would normalize,» Marina told MSK1.RU. «As if by the description on the website of the Moscow region center, everything matched.»

First, she came with her son to look at the rehab in Dmitrov (Moscow region), but the atmosphere there seemed depressing to Marina. So as not to lose clients, the administrators of Khobotova«s rehab quickly offered her another option — in Istra (Moscow region).

»I saw this house, a tattooed man with no teeth came out to us. There were two other caregivers there, former drug addicts, I gathered,« the boy»s mother said. «In the house, dark atmosphere, very small building for such a number of children. I went in to the children, and there were scared little girl mice sitting, watching TV.»

The woman left Sasha in the care of psychologist Marina Zhidkova and the caregivers. Monthly stay cost 100,000 rubles (approximately $1,000 at current rates).

«They had no separation. That is, someone was being treated for gambling addiction, and someone for drug addiction,» Marina recalls. «There were different children, whom, as my son said, they could bring in front of him, they were detoxing (on drips — Ed.). Many were screaming, being aggressive.»

Sasha called his mother once a month. He was so frightened that he did not tell what was happening to him. His mother attended online parent meetings every two weeks, where they were told about the condition of the pupils and discussed problems of fathers and children. Apparently, the psychologists at such meetings were «treating» the parents as well.

«On the calls, we told our stories. Who had what, why we enrolled, and there they told us how we should behave afterwards, how to maintain discipline, establish communication,» the woman said. «They (the caregivers) all sent photos for reporting.»

The first «warning sign» came from the caregivers when the mother was sent the «holiday» menu for the children on March 8 for 500 rubles (approximately $5 at current rates).

The second «call» came from Sasha himself. He inadvertently let slip a story that happened in the center. More details about it we told in a separate publication with Sasha«s story. But, briefly, two girls attacked the caregivers with a knife and boiling water. They wanted to escape from the house and find drugs.

»He tells me this, I understand what kind of mess is going on there. These teachers are not competent enough to work with children,« said Marina.

For this, the girls were severely beaten. One had a knife held to her throat, and the other was stunned by a blow to the head. Learning this, Marina took the child out of the rehab.

»I said that we are moving abroad and I need to pick up the child. I understood that now persuasion, psychological pressure would begin,« Marina stated. »I understood that since he managed to tell about this rebellion, I urgently need to take him away. My child is not safe.«

At first after returning, Sasha was nervous. He didn»t want to help around the house, study. He had nightmares. Then gradually his mood normalized.

What really happened, Sasha decided to tell only when he saw the news. He shared with his mother his impressions from four months in the rehab.

«He told how one girl — a former drug addict — tried to escape with a consultant for a dose. They broke one female employee»s head. The children, to protect themselves, locked themselves in and waved a fire extinguisher. In the end, it went off in their room. They started suffocating, so someone broke the window,« Marina recalled. »One girl was hit on the head by the center«s staff, she fell.»

Also, Sasha told his mother how as punishment he was forced to rewrite the phrase of sociologist Herbert Spencer until 5 a.m.: «Self-will is contempt or resistance to any ideas that do not agree with our own.»

Another torture that shocked Marina — the «Solitary Confinement» training. An 11-year-old boy from Kyrgyzstan underwent this. For constantly playing on his phone, he was sent to sit in a room for a month. The child was not let out of the four walls and was fed only porridge. Day after day he had to write.

Sasha stayed in Khobotova«s center for 4 months. He saw how his friends were tied up, starved, and beaten.