Ural Veteran Accuses Wife of Forcing Him into Rehab and Stealing Payments

A former special military operation participant from Sverdlovsk Oblast has appealed to the Investigative Committee to bring criminal charges against his wife. Vitaly claims that his wife forcibly sent him to a rehabilitation center, and while he was there, she transferred all the military payments from his card—four and a half million rubles (about $50,000 at current rates). But his wife says she did not spend the money, but only transferred it to her husband«s other card and paid for his rehabilitation. Here is what is known about this tangled story.

«Left with Nothing»

Vitaly and his wife were together for six years. They married soon after meeting. At that time, the wife already had two children from her first marriage. Vitaly says he accepted them as his own.

«I brought her into my home, with her children. I gave them a roof over their heads, financial support, and now I’m left with nothing», — says the former serviceman.

The man had two sons from previous relationships as well, the younger one had cancer and could not overcome the illness—the boy died. For the father, this was a terrible blow. He could not recover from the grief and started drinking. Soon after the child’s funeral, the man recalls, he received a summons for the special military operation. And he participated in the special operation for two years, until he was discharged due to health reasons.

The bank card where his salary was deposited was linked to his wife’s phone.

«Over the entire period, I earned four million six hundred thousand rubles (about $51,000 at current rates), we lived on it periodically. But we still couldn’t have spent such an amount. And if you come to my house now, it’s as if I earned nothing at all—I live in bare walls. While I was in the rehab center, she took everything: furniture, household appliances, she even took the mixer», — says the former military man.

Vitaly is sure that his wife deliberately sent him to the rehabilitation center so that he could not prevent her from transferring all his money from the account. The former special military operation participant wrote about this in a statement that he sent to the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin. He also insists that he was held against his will for 15 months in the closed institution.

«She sent me to the rehabilitation center by deceit. She said it was a medical facility, to get treatment, to get IV drips. I arrived, saw this house, and couldn’t leave it. It’s like a sect, all windows are boarded up, 40 people in one room. After two months, I escaped from there. But two people came for me at home, pushed me into a car and took me back to rehabilitation and held me», — says Vitaly.

Vitaly admits: after returning from the special military operation, he drank. But he says he did not force his wife to tolerate it and offered her a divorce. However, the woman filed for divorce when he was already in rehabilitation.

«I returned to a completely empty house, discovered that there was no money in the account. I called her, asked where everything was. I said: I give you three days, let’s resolve this peacefully, but she did not make contact», — says Vitaly.

«He Spent His Own Money»

Vitaly’s ex-wife insists that she did not take his payments. She says that when filing a report about the missing money from the account, her ex-husband did not account for his own spending.

«He spent his own money on drinking sprees. I did not touch his payments. His card was indeed linked to my phone, but I transferred amounts to his other card that he had. I sent him the last money I had», — Vitaly’s ex-wife told E1.RU.

According to the woman, their family life with Vitaly was not happy. He drank and raised his hand against her. But she could not bring herself to divorce him for several years.

«When I wanted to leave him, he sent his son to me. I couldn’t leave him. This is his son from his first marriage, but he doesn’t even know if he had chickenpox, I raised him from age 9, he is mine, he calls me mom. I constantly went to school, and his father was never even seen there», — the woman insists.

Now Vitaly’s son is studying at a college, he was given a room in a dormitory. And the ex-wife moved with her children to her mother’s. The woman says she hoped that a rehabilitation course would help save the family. After all, the main reason for their scandals was his drinking.

«The rehabilitation center was a necessary measure. Last year, he shot himself in the hand with a pneumatic pistol, and fired the rest of the clip at me. I managed to hide behind an iron door. We left the house with the children, he begged us to return. And then he himself agreed to treatment. I paid for his treatment in this center», — the woman says.

Statement to Bastrykin

In his statement, the former serviceman asks to bring not only his ex-wife to criminal responsibility, but also the employees of the rehabilitation center where he was for more than a year. The man’s lawyer believes that their actions can be regarded as kidnapping for the purpose of committing another crime.

«There is a group of people who have intent to steal others’ money. They just grab people, drag them there, and at that time their money is stolen, — believes Vitaly’s lawyer Dmitry Mozheiko. — According to federal law, combat payments belong only to special military operation participants. Not to wives, not to children. Even alimony is not charged on them.»

We tried to contact the management of the rehabilitation center, but could not get a comment promptly. The organization’s website states that the network has existed for more than 16 years, centers operate in several Russian cities, and doctors and psychologists provide professional help in fighting drug and alcohol addiction.

From the Investigative Committee, Vitaly has already received a response that the facts he reported will be checked. And he will be notified of the results.

We also wrote about how a former girlfriend appropriated money from a Ural man who went missing in the special military operation. Read about how a Yekaterinburg woman achieved cancellation of divorce with her husband who died in the special military operation to receive death benefits. And we also wrote about how the sister and wife are dividing the body of a Ural man who died in the special military operation.

All news about the special military operation we collect in a special section.