Perm court fines mother amid abuse claims

A Perm (Russia) resident, mother of two Polina Semenova, contacted the 59.RU newsroom. She said that after their divorce her ex-husband tried to rape her. According to Polina, she had nowhere to live because the apartment, purchased in part with matkapital (maternity capital subsidy), belongs to her former husband under their prenuptial agreement. He let her and the children stay there temporarily, then insisted on sex against her will. When she tried to defend herself and slapped him, the ex-husband called the police and stated that Polina had beaten him. Officers accepted his complaint and Polina was fined. At the same time, she was refused the opening of a case over the attempted rape.

«He always kept me down»

Family lawyer Polina Semenova was married to Viktor (name changed) for three years. The couple had a daughter. Polina also has a daughter from her first marriage.

The last year of their life together passed in constant conflict; according to the woman, Viktor increasingly showed aggression and began to use his fists.

«He always kept me down: obey me, you depend on me. As soon as I opened my mouth, he’d say: “What, did you start believing in yourself?” — she recounts. — I tried to get through to him, but he wouldn’t hear me».

A year ago Viktor struck his wife on the head, and Polina’s eardrum was ruptured. The woman chose not to go to the police, only to see a doctor.

«I was on maternity leave, with no income yet as I hadn’t returned to work. Of course, I was financially dependent on my husband, — Polina shared. — But the last straw was when my husband raised his hand against my older daughter. I packed our things and left».

The spouses divorced in May 2024. Polina recalls that her now ex-husband then threatened “to pour acid on her pretty face and disfigure her so no one would want her”.

«He told me: you’ll come to me and bow at my feet, your life will be worthless, and so on, — Polina remembers. — I endured and endured, and in the end we simply left for another city».

Polina and the children went to relatives in Rostov Oblast (Rostov region, Russia) for three months. She later returned to Perm and lived in a rented apartment. Viktor periodically came to her building at night and rang the intercom.

As Polina explains, they had a prenuptial agreement under which she had no share in their family apartment, even though the spouses bought it in part with matkapital. Later, at the Social Fund (Sotsial’nyy fond Rossii, Social Fund of Russia — SFR), Polina learned that the prenup does not apply to matkapital and that her ex-husband must subsequently register shares for the children.

According to Polina, over time her ex-husband changed his behavior — he stopped being aggressive. When Polina took out a mortgage and was building a house, he suggested she return to the family apartment for the duration of construction. Polina agreed.

«But very soon his unreasonable behavior resumed, — she says. — The arguments started again. Viktor declared that he would take my child because I am a worthless mother. He promised to strip me of parental rights».

«I refused and begged him not to touch me»

On 21 December last year Viktor came home after drinking. Polina was in the kitchen cooking when her former husband began persistently making advances and undressing her.

«I refused and begged him not to touch me. Our daughters were in the next room, — Polina recalls. — He ignored my words and grabbed me everywhere. I slapped him, and because of my long nails I left a scratch. In response he seized my arm, twisted it, and started kicking me in the stomach. Then he grabbed a kitchen knife from the table, ran into the stairwell, and called the police».

Polina also called the police. To the officers who arrived, Viktor stated that his ex-wife had attacked him with a knife and shouted throughout the stairwell.

«He yelled: here, take fingerprints from the knife, — Polina recalls. — His statement was accepted».

Polina herself was not summoned to the police; she went to a trauma center and documented her injuries — bruises on her arms.

«From the trauma center my report should have been forwarded to the police. I filed a statement about an attempted rape,» Polina says.

Polina received a refusal to open a criminal case because no elements of a crime were found. Only after she appealed was it overturned by the Investigative Committee (Sledstvennyy komitet Rossii, Investigative Committee of Russia — SKR), which began an additional review. It is still ongoing.

At the same time, Vitaly’s statement that his ex-wife had inflicted battery was quickly taken up, and an administrative case was opened under the article “Infliction of battery or the commission of other violent actions that caused physical pain but did not entail consequences”. In the end, the court ruled against Polina. She was fined five thousand rubles ($53 at current rates).

The ex-husband again said his former wife beat him

After the court, Viktor bought a dashcam and recorded all meetings with his former wife. At the end of May he came to the kindergarten and, seeing Polina picking up their daughter, began filming everything and shouting that she was hindering his contact with the child.

«That’s not true; he has always been able to see his daughter without difficulty, — Polina says. — We have a settlement agreement on this issue. He filmed me and shouted: “Polina Sergeyevna, you are obstructing [contact].” Then he started insulting me».

Polina also picked up her older daughter from the kindergarten, seated the children in the car, and walked over to her ex-husband. She asked him not to record her on the dashcam.

«He smirked. I wanted to rip off his dashcam and tried to kick him; he caught my leg with his hand, — the interlocutor says. — A couple of days later he filed a new complaint saying that I kicked him three times in the knee, once in the groin, and then ran over his foot with my car. He provided a yellow bruise on his knee measuring 1.5 by 1.5 centimeters. He is a healthy man, much bigger and stronger than I am, yet he again accused me of battery».

The woman’s lawyer, Gulnara Abibulayeva, adds that Viktor even underwent a forensic medical examination, but they recorded only that same yellow bruise.

Viktor’s complaint was again accepted, and a criminal case was opened under the article “Battery committed by a person previously subjected to administrative punishment or having a criminal record”. A new trial is underway. Polina now faces a more serious penalty “for a repeat offense”: in particular, either correctional labor for up to six months, or arrest for up to three months, or a suspended sentence.

«It’s a very strange situation. My statement about the attempted assault is hardly being considered, — Polina believes. — Nothing gives him the right, even if I am the ex-wife, to coerce a person into anything against their will. I will now also file a report for battery from when he was hitting me in the stomach».

We contacted Viktor and asked him to state his position on his ex-wife’s accusations. He replied that he would comment after the court’s decision.