Sisters Abandoned in Childhood Find Brother After Decades
Two women from the Chelyabinsk region, abandoned by their mother as children, confirmed their relationship with a brother using a television project and met him.
Apr 25, 2026 0
Brother and sisters from different regions met during filming of the television project.
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The story of residents of the Uysky District of the Chelyabinsk Region became the subject of the show «DNA» on NTV. Nadezhda Pobedinskaya and Vera Bitkulova turned to the program’s creators to confirm their relationship with a brother whose existence they had only recently learned about, and to find their mother.
Vera found it emotionally difficult to revisit her childhood memories.
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Their mother left the family when the eldest daughter, Vera, was two years old. «According to my father... He said she left... Then after some time she came back — already pregnant with my sister. Dad accepted her, forgave her,» Vera Bitkulova said. After the birth of the younger Nadezhda, the woman again ran away from the maternity hospital, and the father took the girl. Subsequently, she returned several times and disappeared again, finally vanishing when Nadezhda was seven months old.
Nadezhda recounted the cruel treatment she endured from her father.
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After his wife left, the father began to treat his younger daughter cruelly. «He started showing cruelty towards me,» Nadezhda admitted. «He put me on a chain, let’s put it that way. He would leave for three or four days, come back drunk.» When the host asked what it was like to put a child on a chain, the woman, crying, replied: «I don’t know. ... He would, well, chain the chain to the bed, put an empty iron pot. He could be gone for three or four days. I remember being hungry.»
An old photograph helped the sisters learn they had a brother.
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Neighbors knew about the situation and tried to help four-year-old Nadezhda by bringing food, but were afraid to confront her father. The older Vera was taken in by her grandmother during that time. Later, Nadezhda was placed in a shelter. The sisters stayed in touch, eventually learning that their father had died and their mother was living in another region.
Valery confessed that he had felt lonely his entire life.
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Later, Vera and Nadezhda accidentally discovered that they had a younger brother. A friend of their mother sent them an old photo of her holding a little boy. It turned out to be Valery. The women found him through social media. «He called me himself first,» Vera shared. «I answered the phone, and he said, “Hello, little sister.” I said, “Who is this?” He said, “This is your brother. Valera.” I was speechless. I probably was silent on the phone for about 15 minutes.»
The children’s mother, Tatyana, was absent from their upbringing.
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Valery is now 35 years old, Nadezhda is 38, and Vera is 41. To confirm their relationship, they agreed to a DNA test as part of the television program. «I didn’t believe it at first,» Valery Lyskin admitted. «I still... If it turns out to be true, that will be great! Because my whole life I was just alone.»
During the filming of the show, the brother and sisters met in person for the first time. Their mother, Tatyana Vydrina, was also invited. «I wanted three — Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov, but Vera, Nadya, and Valera were born,» the woman said. «My husband and I lived well at first. But then our relationship... went bad. He raised his hand, drank, morally abused me.» Tatyana was married twice, but did not stay with any of her children. The results of the genetic test, announced on the air, confirmed that Valery, Nadezhda, and Vera are siblings.
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