Yaroslavl Ex-Spouses Wage Eight-Year Custody Battle

Alexey and Anastasia from Yaroslavl divorced in 2018, when their son was two years old. They failed to part amicably — for eight years they have been litigating over the child, who has remained living with his mother.

Alexey demands meetings with his son and claims his ex-wife obstructs their communication. Anastasia says the opposite: the boy«s father never sought contact with him. She is now trying to strip her ex-husband of parental rights.

Over the years of fighting over the child, battles worthy of a TV drama have unfolded around the boy — involving bailiffs, neighbors, and his grandmother and grandfather. Tensions once ran so high that the boy ran away. This text presents the views of all three sides.

The former spouses« surname is not given in this material, and the child»s name has been changed in the interests of the minor.

Alexey contacted the 76.RU newsroom. He said he is tired of his ex-wife«s behavior and simply wants to see his son. According to the father, their last normal walk together took place when the boy was just under five. The child is now 10.

Alexey said problems in the family began in August 2018. That was when the couple separated; they officially divorced in December.

According to the father, for a time after the breakup he saw Misha at kindergarten.

«I didn«t take him home so that my ex wouldn»t cause scandals and frighten the child,» Alexey said.

The man explained that after the divorce a settlement agreement was concluded in court, setting out the schedule for Alexey«s meetings with his son.

«It was supposed to include overnight stays, meetings at weekends and during holidays. But she simply refused to comply. Then that schedule was changed twice more at Nastya«s initiative,» Alexey said.

Years later, in February 2026, Anastasia filed a claim to strip Alexey of parental rights.

«At the hearing my representative asked: «Why are you doing this?» She replied that the father can see Misha now, but if he is stripped of rights, he won«t be able to. But the law has a specific list of conditions under which parents can be deprived of rights. The Family Code, among other things, sets out two points. The first is depriving a parent of rights in the event of evasion of parental duties, including payment of child support,» Alexey said.

According to him, in her claim Anastasia stated that Alexey takes no interest in his son, does not visit the child and does not support him, including failing to pay child support.

«How things actually stand: of course I take an interest in my son. But since she doesn«t let us communicate with the child, this argument doesn»t count. As for child support: it was awarded, there is an enforcement order that was held by the bailiffs. My employer transferred part of my income, all fine,» Alexey said.

In 2022 Anastasia decided to take the enforcement order back from the bailiffs. Alexey believes Misha«s mother took this step so that she could later say in court hearings that he had not paid child support.

«But I still started making transfers. This went on for about 8–9 months. Each time I wrote: «Child support.» But after nine months Nastya disabled the ability to transfer money via the Faster Payments System (SBP) so that no money would reach her. But I knew her bank account details and started transferring money by account number,» Alexey said.

According to the father, when Misha was little he was always happy to see his dad and loved spending time with him. But as the boy grew, the situation changed. Alexey blames his ex-wife.

«Time passes, he goes to kindergarten, school, and becomes receptive to certain things — to what his mother and grandmother tell him about his dad. The grandmother, shall we say, is also ill-disposed toward me and also tells Misha all sorts of nonsense. This was all established by a forensic examination in 2022 and taken into account by the court. It was established that the child has a good attitude toward his father, but the influence of third parties was recorded,» Alexey said.

During meetings Misha tells his father that he doesn«t love him and doesn»t want to see him.

«But at the same time he sits next to his dad and plays. Say, he has done what he promised to tell his mother, and then he sits calmly and does his own things together with his dad, all fine. Nastya now says the child himself doesn«t want to communicate with his father. But a small child is easy to crack: a question or two and he tells you the truth. I have a video recording where Misha says he doesn»t want to walk with me because his mother forbids him,» Alexey said.

According to the boy«s father, the child is simply afraid to tell his mother that he wants to spend time with his father. Alexey said his ex-wife has never voluntarily handed over his son.

«Usually it looks like this: the door is closed, she doesn«t open it, doesn»t answer the intercom or the phone. When the situation is almost unavoidable, she provides certificates saying Misha is ill. But I am sure they are forged,» Alexey said.

Since then, almost every time Alexey was due to meet the child turned into a scandal. As the boy grew, he began refusing walks with his dad himself. Alexey described one of his meetings with Misha in 2023.

«We came with bailiffs. The show began — supposedly he doesn«t want to go with you. But the court decision doesn»t say whether the child wants to or not,» Alexey said.

«The court decision concerns adults, because adults bear all responsibility for the child. And since the child lives with his mother, that is the mother«s area of responsibility,» Alexey said.

A meeting between father and son in early July 2026 turned into a tense drama. Alexey came with a bailiff. The mother came out with the grandmother and, for some reason, a neighbor. Among the clamoring adults, a frightened Misha, trembling and crying, told his father he didn«t want to see him.

Alexey and Anastasia filmed each other on video.

At some point the boy simply ran away from the entrance where the adults were arguing. Alexey rushed after him. The meeting ended with Misha getting into his grandfather«s car and being driven away.

According to Alexey, for a long time he did not know his son«s phone number. Then he tried to call the boy. The boy called back and said he was ill, felt unwell and did not want to continue the conversation. Alexey is sure his mother taught him to do this.

«At the hearing on 13 July 2026 I asked them to put personal grievances aside. Because she cannot hurt me with her behavior. I am an adult, I will survive anything. But for Misha it is a blow,» Alexey said.

Alexey is also unhappy with the work of the bailiffs. According to him, they do not facilitate meetings between father and son. On this matter he sent an open letter to Russia«s chief bailiff, Dmitry Aristov.

Meanwhile, the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) directorate for Yaroslavl Region, responding to a 76.RU request, said that according to the bailiff who supervised the meetings, Misha simply does not go to his father.

Anastasia gave a different account of events. According to her, her ex-husband took no interest in their son«s life, even when they were a family. The problems began while the couple was married.

At the time Anastasia and Alexey lived in Tula. The family moved there because Alexey had found a new job. Anastasia was on maternity leave at the time.

«We were married but didn«t live together. Because he spent one night with the child and realized it wasn»t an option. He said it was easier for him to get there from his mother«s place. Since I was on maternity leave, I just wanted to keep the family together. So we moved to Tula, but life didn»t work out there either. Because he didn«t show up at home, and when he did, he didn»t like that Misha was fussy. He could go off to relax, he had football. He could take days off and go to another city,» Anastasia said.

Anastasia was financially dependent on her husband at the time. And, according to her, this was one of the causes of their quarrels.

«I had no money then on maternity leave; when I said there was nothing to feed the child, he reacted very aggressively. He called me a freeloader, said: «What, you have no money? Why do you keep demanding money from me?» And then he started hitting me,» Anastasia said.

She did not go to the police: she was afraid. It was the physical abuse, she says, that prompted her to leave her husband.

«After another beating he also took my phone. He returned it a few days later, I called my mother, and she took me and my son away,» Anastasia said.

According to Anastasia«s representative, in 2018 she filed an application for child support.

According to Anastasia and her representatives, the son«s communication with his father was first changed when the boy started school. Before that, a document with a meeting schedule based on the kindergarten timetable was in effect.

«He took no interest in the child but gave her no peace. He simply cornered her, she was afraid of everything. And as for his claim that she supposedly didn«t let him see the child — of course she was afraid. If he had wanted to build a relationship with the child, some moments... He never once in his life gave a gift. Not for a birthday, not for New Year. Nothing. When the visitation schedule changed because the boy started school, he quit his job so as not to pay her child support,» said lawyer Eduard Skaternikov.

Alexey himself said he has worked at the same place from November 2021 to the present. He provided 76.RU with a certificate confirming this.

Anastasia«s lawyers mentioned a large child support debt that accumulated over three years — about two million rubles (about $25,300 at current rates). Alexey himself said he paid off 1.8 million rubles of that sum on 22 July 2026. The newsroom has a receipt confirming this.

According to updated information, by 16 August 2026 Alexey had fully cleared the child support debt.

According to Anastasia«s representatives, Alexey himself did not visit his son in the manner established by the court. They assembled a folder of appeals to bailiffs from Anastasia stating that Misha»s father had failed to show up for a meeting. And when he did come, it sometimes ended in a scandal.

«In 2023, when Misha was six, he showed up at the kindergarten and tried to take the child. Misha screamed across the whole kindergarten, he had a negative reaction. Neither I nor his grandmother was there. He started making things up, saying he was going to Moscow, that his coach was coming to pick him up: he does kudo. And when the teachers saw this reaction from the child, they tried to remove him as quickly as possible,» Anastasia said.

According to her, after that incident the boy was afraid to leave the house for a long time.

One incident in which Alexey raised a hand to Anastasia is documented. A court ruling was issued on the matter.

The incident occurred in October 2021. That day Anastasia was heading to court for another hearing. As she walked along Mendeleyev Street in the Krasnoperekopsky district, she came face to face with her ex-husband.

«He met her and inflicted beatings. I personally drove her to the trauma center to have the injuries documented,» the lawyer said.

Alexey himself argued in court that he did not hit his ex-wife. He allegedly just grabbed her by the arm so she wouldn«t step into a car. However, the court sided with the woman.

By court decision Alexey was fined 5,000 rubles (about $63 at current rates). Anastasia«s representative claims it was this incident that prompted Misha»s mother to take the child support enforcement order back from the bailiffs.

«So that he would leave her alone. So that the pressure would stop,» Eduard Skaternikov said.

On the boy«s birthday in 2026 a scandal erupted again. Alexey published a post on his VKontakte page with his son»s phone number and urged his followers to congratulate Misha.

«Send any greeting by SMS or on Max to his number, but with the words «we and your dad congratulate you...» or «your dad loves you very much.» So that he understands it«s not from the »Central Bank security service.« Many thanks to everyone who responds. Let it be a good day!» Alexey wrote.

The boy«s mother and her representatives were shocked by the act.

«He exposed the face of a minor child and his personal number. Several strangers wrote to him. And thank God they were positive characters. But what if they were the same scammers? His peers could have seen it, and that means bullying at school and in the yard. For the child it is stress, if it doesn«t lead to other consequences related to the disclosure of his personal data,» Eduard Skaternikov said.

Anastasia explained why she wants to strip her ex-husband of parental rights.

«Because the child doesn«t know him at all. He refuses to communicate with him. He did not take part in the child»s life. Now my son does sports, I need consents, including from his father, for him to go to competitions. I can«t travel abroad with the child. He didn»t pay child support. Why does he need him then, if the child has a non-biological but another father?» Anastasia explained.

To support her position, Anastasia and her representatives suggested: find out what Misha himself thinks about this. The boy«s mother approved and arranged a meeting between the child and a 76.RU journalist.

We were met by a smiling, neat, fair-haired little boy. His main concern that day was a lost baby tooth. Answering questions about his father, he smiled.

«I don«t even want to call him dad,» the child said briefly.

«Why?» we ask.

«Because he«s not my dad. He didn»t even wish me a happy birthday. He published my number, and all sorts of people wrote to me. I got scared and very surprised,» the boy said with a shrug.

«No,» the boy said, lowering his eyes again.

«And if he had called, would you have picked up?» we ask.

«I would have tried,» Misha admits hesitantly.

Misha remembers that his father came in July 2022, when the boy was younger. Then he was gone for a long time. Then he appeared again in July 2026, but the boy did not make contact.

«Because I don«t know him and don»t even remember him,» Misha said.

«No. It seems to me he doesn«t want to. Because back then I told him I didn»t want to see him. He could have said: «Fine, if you don»t want to, then don«t go.» But he dragged me. I ran away from him, and he caught up and dragged me,» Misha said.

«I didn«t like it at all,» Misha said, lowering his eyes.

Every adult in this story is waiting for the court«s outcome, which will determine whether Alexey remains Misha»s father or not. The degree of the adult«s influence on the child»s life depends on it.

But the boy himself, it seems, is no longer waiting for anything. If you ask him what ending to this story he wants, the boy will think for a long time and then ask: «What is that?»

Yet to the next question, about what he feels, he will answer quickly and without prompting that he is very tired.