Blinnovskaya's parents describe her birthday in prison
What Yelena Blinnovskaya was given for her birthday
The parents of former Yaroslavl blogger Yelena Blinnovskaya — Nina and Oleg Ostanin — have recounted how they congratulated their daughter on her birthday. On 25 August, the former «queen of marathons» (online training courses) turned 45. She is marking the milestone at Correctional Colony No. 1 (IK-1) in the Vladimir Region (Russia), where she is serving a sentence for tax evasion and money laundering.
A poetry evening at IK-1 marking World Poetry Day
Speaking to a 76.RU journalist, Oleg Ostanin said Yelena had been given 20 kilograms of food, including sweets: chocolates and fruit. Before that, her family sent her cards and letters.
The story of Yelena Blinnovskaya — in video
«Since 20 [kilograms] is allowed, you»re not going to stand for 6–8 hours for one cake and two chocolate bars. You can also send photographs — I sent [Lena] photos of her daughter,« Oleg Ostanin explained.
According to him, the queues for handing over parcels always mean standing for about six hours.
«People came early, and they came today. We»ll be able to visit her in September. Maybe we«ll manage to bring the children. But in September she»ll also have a long-term visit, and then we can even see her. We«ll decide there who will go with the children,» Oleg Ostanin told 76.RU.
The last time the parents spoke with Yelena in the colony was through glass two months ago.
«She really draws people to her»
Nina Ostanina suggested how Yelena might mark her birthday. In her view, she will treat her fellow inmates in her unit to the chocolates she received.
«I want to say that Lena is a very kind-hearted person. And she really draws people to her, starting from kindergarten, from Pioneer camp (Soviet-era summer camp), where she had a great many friends. And later in life too. We sent her 60 small chocolate bars and fizzers. They»ll dissolve them in water and they«ll fizz. And they»ll enjoy life. There are 60 people in their unit,« said Yelena Blinnovskaya»s mother.
«And I very much wish her that all of this would end as soon as possible. After all, she still brought people happiness. It»s just that the situation turned out this way. And so I want you to wish her all the best too, and a speedy return,« Nina Ostanina said.
Oleg Ostanin clarified that they are not sure everything will work out exactly that way.
«We»re just imagining how things are there. But in reality, 60 small Snickers bars were handed over. Maybe she«ll manage to treat the whole unit, maybe not. They»ll probably have some tea in the kitchen. Maybe in turns. It [the kitchen] seems to be about 3 by 3 meters. But that«s just my imagining too — all I know is that it»s small,« Oleg Ostanin said.
Yelena Blinnovskaya«s father clarified that he had once discussed conditions in the colony with a former inmate whom they met in the queue for handing over parcels.
«In the unit, she says, there»s nowhere to sit down, nothing. By each bed there«s a little stool. So how to celebrate a birthday there, I don»t know. I can«t imagine. So maybe they»ll come in one at a time,« Oleg Ostanin said.
«They sent in costumes»
Yelena Blinnovskaya«s lawyer, Bulat Soltakhanov, told a 76.RU journalist that she takes an active part in the events organized by the colony administration. The former blogger»s father said this is indeed the case.
«Two months ago we sent her a pile of costumes for the stage. Another month and a half ago we sent cat costumes — with huge heads. Naturally, with the administration»s permission. Apparently she«s involved in public activities. There are open days, but very few people are allowed in. However much we hoped, so far we haven»t managed it,« Oleg Ostanin said.
According to Yelena Blinnovskaya«s father, the only way to help her is through parcels.
«She asked for money to be put on her phone. There»s no way of finding out how much is on that card. As much as is allowed to be sent, that«s what we sent. She»s allowed to call the children,« Oleg Ostanin said.
Yelena exchanges letters with her friends.
«At some point her friends came, we went for two visits, and on one of them her friends went. Friends who go for a short visit supposedly don»t have to queue, but you still have to stand, and they handed over a parcel too. What they handed over, I don«t know. But definitely only what»s allowed,« Oleg Ostanin said.
«When the water runs out, she suffers»
He clarified that Yelena often asks for water to be sent to her.
«She likes Baikal in those 900-gram bottles. Because the water there, [Yelena] says, is very bad. And the filters are bad. She says there are filters, but they»re bad. Water is badly needed. When it runs out, she suffers. But usually it doesn«t run out. It»s a rare occurrence for her to be without water. It happened once — there was some kind of delay somewhere. Maybe it got lost somewhere temporarily. But usually parcels don«t get lost,» Yelena«s father said.
He said that even if Yelena had named something specific, it would not have been possible to send everything as a gift.
«Whatever you»d like — you can«t get anything. There»s not even any point talking about it,« he explained.
Nina and Oleg Ostanin treated themselves to a small celebration in honor of Yelena«s birthday.
«My wife and I just took a ride on the little tram in the Park of Culture and went to a new cafe that was built here recently. We sat for a while. During that time I wrote two more letters,» Oleg Ostanin said.
Earlier we published a long article about how Yelena Blinnovskaya built and lost her business empire.
