Where is the woman from Minusinsk detained at Domodedovo?

A scandal erupted at Domodedovo airport in late December—police detained 18-year-old Varvara (name changed—Ed.) from Minusinsk. She was first accused of theft, but it later became clear her mother had reported her missing. The girl«s father took her from the airport, confiscated her phone and money. As it turned out, Varya was supposed to fly to Egypt and then on to her boyfriend in Chile. After the unexpected detention, Varvara»s boyfriend, together with human rights activists, filed a report with the Investigative Committee about abduction and unlawful confinement. Where Varya is now, who she is with, why her parents believe she was to be sold into sex slavery, and what the conflicting parties say—in a report by NGS24.RU.

The escape that failed

Varvara lived with her mother and grandmother in Minusinsk. She turned 18 in early December. Her mother and father are divorced; her father lives in Sochi with a new family. In the 9th grade, Varya started dating Artem, who studied with her. After school, he left Russia, but Varya stayed, though their relationship continued.

Artem moved to Chile, informing his parents about his departure only after he had left. According to Artem, his mother accepted it. Varya decided to move to be with her boyfriend, but it didn«t happen—she was detained at Domodedovo airport.

Our colleagues from MSK1.RU reconstructed the full chronology of Varya«s escape from Minusinsk. They spoke with Artem, Varya»s mother Irina, and human rights activists.

It is known that on 23 December, the girl left her home in Minusinsk. At that time, she had about 200,000 rubles ($2,200 at current rates) with her. She was supposed to fly to Egypt via Moscow and then planned to travel on to Chile. Varya«s mother tried to dissuade her from the trip at Abakan airport, and when that failed, she informed her father so he could meet her at Domodedovo.

The father intercepted his daughter in Moscow. At the police station, the girl wrote a statement confirming she had no immediate plans to leave the country. Artem believes this was done under pressure from her father.

After that, the father took Varya to a hotel, where he took her phone, money, and belongings. According to Artem, he transported the girl in the cargo compartment of a Gazelle van.

Human rights activists told journalists from MSK1.RU that Varvara spent the night of 25–26 December in the back of the vehicle without warm clothing. After that, she tried to escape from her father twice—this already happened in Mytishchi. Traffic police officers found the girl on the road and contacted her father. He arrived and said that fraudsters were trying to deceive his daughter, after which the girl was released to her dad.

On the evening of 26 December, lawyers filed a missing person and abduction report at the Mytishchi police department. It was registered in the Crime Report Register (a photo of the receipt is available to MSK1.RU).

Artem also told an NGS24.RU correspondent that human rights activists had filed a report with the Investigative Committee about abduction. According to Artem, as of 28 December, there had been no response from the agency.

«I»ll break your fingers. Write to my daughter again«

Artem—Varvara«s boyfriend—is also from Minusinsk. He and Varya went to school together and started dating in the ninth grade. As Artem tells an NGS24.RU correspondent, they spent every day together.

In a conversation with the correspondent, the young man cannot hide his anxiety; he is worried that he doesn«t know where Varya is and is concerned that she is in light clothing while her father is transporting her somewhere in the cargo compartment of a Gazelle. On the road, the girl tried to escape but was caught.

After school, Artem left the country. He settled in Chile, works online, and studies, he says. Varya wanted to come to him.

«I live here, rent an apartment, and study. [Varvara»s] mother says I«m extorting money from her. She would just become a burden on me here anyway. Where did I get money for a lawyer? Human rights activists helped, found the money, asked for it. For her to be there is horror and fear,» the young man explains to the journalist in conversation.

As the young man explains, Varya«s father and mother knew they were dating and continued to communicate; they even promised to help her see him.

«We»ve been dating for four years, know each other better than anyone. We planned this trip a very long time ago. [Varya«s] mother knew where and to whom she was going. Didn»t hinder it at all. Was in favor,« Artem continues.

However, after the girl, on 23 December, took all her savings and money that, according to her mother, was at home and tried to leave, the good relations between her parents and the boyfriend ended.

Artem wrote to Varya«s father on the day of her detention at the airport, asking if he had found her, but received only a threat in response. According to Artem, her father wrote to him: »I«ll break your fingers. Write to my daughter again.»

According to the young man, threats were also made against his mother.

«They said they would put my mother in jail for helping me with human trafficking. They said they would put me in jail, issue an Interpol notice for me,» Artem shares with the NGS24.RU correspondent. «They tried to convince her that I am an AI chatbot. We figured it out; I sent her photos of us together, a photo of my ID with my face. And I immediately spoke to her via video call. They knew it was me. And the lawyers know perfectly well that I am me. She asked lawyers for help, at which point her father hung up and disappeared with her to the village of Fedorovka.»

In correspondence and conversation with the journalist, Artem states that Varya is in danger and might even take her own life, noting that she had previously made attempts.

«The girl has been subjected to violence, everything has been taken from her, and she is not allowed to contact anyone. Knowing her, I declare the risk of suicide is extremely high. Dozens of times [she tried to take her own life]. I talked her out of it. The attempts were due to pressure from her mother at home, against the backdrop of studies and domestic issues,» explains Artem.

Now, according to the young man, he himself would not let her go to Latin America.

«I don»t want her to be abducted again. So let her decide for herself where to stay. To go or not to go. There«s no point in going. They»ll declare me a slave trader again. I would like Varya to be free. Then she«ll decide for herself where she is better off,» says Artem.

Now the young man worries that the girl was transported in a Gazelle«s cargo compartment, she was in light clothing and told him she had caught a cold.

As Artem says, they were supposed to get married in a local Russian Orthodox church. The only thing the young man wants now: «Let her stay in Russia, but not with her father!» That«s how he ended the conversation with the journalist.

«I really want to be with him, understand me»

Varya«s mother, Irina, cries periodically during her conversation with the journalist. And she thanks Varya»s father for getting involved, even though they haven«t lived together for some time; the couple is divorced.

«My child is still being attempted to be taken out of the country. He [Artem] hired lawyers, after all. He»s writing in every way to get her out of the country. Well, I haven«t eaten or slept properly for almost a week now, well, it»s clearly not love. A girl who at 18 looks 13, fair-haired, a girl-girl, you understand. Here it«s either prostitution or organs. And the fact that he»s an 18-year-old without a job, where does he get money for lawyers if she was transferring her whole salary to him? I asked her, «Why?» She says: «You know how hard it is for him to live there?»« recounts Irina, Varya»s mother.

Varya is now with her father. Her mother confirms this.

«She»s with her dad, yes. She doesn«t have a phone. She constantly calls me. That is, she has free access to her father»s phone, she knows his phone code, she can take it at any moment and call me. Plus, her father and I are constantly on the phone, so he keeps me informed of everything that is happening, what and how,« Irina confirms her daughter»s safety.

According to her mother, the father is taking Varya to Sochi, to his home. He wants to find a psychologist for his daughter:

«She needs help. The extent to which her mind has been brainwashed,» the mother is horrified by what is happening.

On 23 December, the daughter took money from the house and fled. Besides her own savings, Varya also took her grandmother«s money.

«She worked part-time as a groomer»s assistant, she was called maybe once or twice every couple of weeks. She couldn«t have earned that kind of money [needed for the flight to Chile]. And for her birthday, we gave her about 50,000–60,000 rubles ($550–$660).

Everything she earned, some pennies of her own, she apparently sent to him because there are many transfers, specifically to him. Some part of the money, cash, everything we had, she took. Said she would get a job, earn it all back, and ran away,« recalls the woman from Minusinsk.

But the parents became alarmed not at all because of the money. They were frightened that their daughter, who was afraid to leave the house late in the evening, decided to fly halfway around the world all alone. Talks about Varya wanting to fly to Chile had occurred before the escape.

«I say: »How were you planning to travel across the whole world?« Plus she»s a very homebound child with us. She needed to pick up a parcel at the supermarket. She calls me and says: «When will you be back?» And I«m delayed at work. I say: »What«s up?» She answers: «Well, I need to get a parcel.» I thought, somewhere far away, there are many of those supermarkets. I say: «Which one?» She answers: «Well, in our building.» I say: «So go down.» She tells me: «Mommy, it»s 10 p.m., it«s very dark outside, I»m scared.« Exactly! And here he has brainwashed her to such an extent that she wasn»t afraid to just run away like that and go.

And again, I say: «What do you think would happen to you if you only had a ticket to Egypt? But at least think a little about your safety.» We always had «mommy,» «grandma.» And when all this started, she changed sharply. You ask her: «Will you eat?» She could answer: «Eat it yourselves, get off my back.» That is, such aggression came from her,« Irina describes her daughter»s state before the escape.

At the same time, as Varya«s mother says, she supported her and even thought about how to help her daughter meet Artem. There was no prohibition on the relationship between Varya and Artem in the family.

«There was a conversation somewhere, probably in October. She kept saying that Artem was in Moscow. Well, of course, it was hard for her, I told her: »Well, then for your birthday, or in spring, shall we fly to St. Petersburg? You really want to see it, we have a place to stay there. From St. Petersburg to Moscow is close, no problem, we«ll go together, you»ll see each other.«

Well, if it«s hard, no problem. Then she admitted that he had left for Chile. She said: »I really want to be with him, please, I want your support, please, understand me«,» relays Varya«s request her mother.

And even after that, Irina offered her daughter options:

«Of course, it»s hard to accept this. Artem, if he decided to live there permanently, gets a residence permit, gets a job, rents a place, comes and takes you. That takes at least two or three years. I suggested [Varya] at least enter a technical college if she doesn«t want to be tied down by university studies. She didn»t apply this year because of him, refused to submit documents. I say: «During the time he gets on his feet, you»ll get an education.« We discussed all this normally.

That is, there was never any protest like «you»ll never see him« with us. I said I was ready to pay for a Spanish tutor. We discussed all these points,» Varya«s mother explains to the correspondent.

But after the daughter ran away, understanding vanished. The parents harbored a suspicion that something was wrong. Now the mother believes her daughter was going to be sold into sex slavery or used for organs. The mother wrote two police reports: the first—on the day of her daughter«s disappearance that she was missing, the second—that she was being attempted to be taken out of the country.

«It»s terrible. The police, they themselves understand that she is under influence. She and her father were taken to the police station twice. Can you imagine, in one station, when she still had her phone in her hands, a policeman looks at the phone, and they are writing to her: «Run now, urgently.» She takes off and starts running. The policeman grabs her. Everyone absolutely sees that she is in an inadequate state, she is just zombified. She talked to me normally now, yesterday, today (27 and 28 December—Ed.) we communicated.

She only has one thing: «When will you give me back my phone or buy me one,» her head is only about needing to contact him. It«s just some kind of horror,» shares Irina.

But Irina is in no hurry to take her daughter home. She fears that Varya will attempt to escape again.

«She cried, she begged, saying: »Send me home.« But she knows that we can»t cope with grandma, you understand? My mom is 73, so she could just take off and run away too. And since his goal is to take her out, those people, apparently, who want to buy her, they«ll give her money, and she»ll leave. So we decided that she would stay with her father for a while.

For Irina now, it«s important to »save« her daughter, no matter what. And she is very grateful to her ex-husband, who took their daughter from Domodedovo airport:

«His act is so noble. I ask him: »How is your wife with all this?« And she has a daughter herself, she imagined that this could happen to her child and said: »Save her, save the child«,» says Irina.