Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Gleb Savchenko has insisted his daughter is not being “hidden” or stopped from communicating with her mother after his ex-wife asked authorities to track them down.
The Dancing with the Stars professional – who has Olivia, 15, and Zlata, eight, with former spouse Elena Samodanova – filed a request for an emergency child custody order for his eldest child last month as he accused his former spouse of keeping his children in Hong Kong since 2023, but earlier this week, Elena claimed she had filed a request with Hong Kong’s Department of Justice to have the teenager returned to China, with the case sent to a California District Attorney’s office and US officials were taking steps to locate the pair before deciding what would happen next.
In response, Gleb told TMZ: “There is a lot of context missing from what has been alleged. Olivia is safe, she is not being hidden, and I am not avoiding authorities. This is an ongoing family court matter involving longstanding custody and residency issues, and I am addressing everything through the proper legal channels with my attorneys.
“My priority throughout all of this has been and continues to be the well-being of my children. Because there are active legal proceedings and minors involved, I don’t want to litigate the details publicly, but I do want to make clear that any suggestion that I have abducted my daughter or am hiding her is not an accurate characterization of the situation.”
Elena claimed her daughter’s Hong Kong phone was no longer active and she hadn’t been given her new number, so could only reach her through Instagram as she didn’t know her current address.
Of the claim, Gleb responded: “Regarding Olivia’s phone, she is nearly 16 and is in communication with her mother. I have not prevented her from communicating with her mother.”
Elena’s legal documents included an email which she said showed Gleb had agreed to return Olivia – who arrived in the US on 29 May – to Hong Kong on 9 July, but the teenager never came back.
In his own documents, Gleb claimed Elena – who he was married to from 2006 to 2021 – broke a Post-Judgement Agreement they had reached in June 2023, which had stated their daughters could “temporarily” live with her in Hong Kong for “one year”.
But instead of bringing the girls back to the US by June 2024, the dancer alleged his ex-wife has stayed out there, “obtained permanent Hong Kong residency, enrolled the children in an expensive private school, got the children a cat, became engaged, and had another child with her fiancé.”
He claimed Elena – who gave birth to a baby girl, her first child with Vladislav Kvartin, in December – has “essentially established her life with her fiancé and our children, in Hong Kong, without my permission that they remain with her.”
He added: “This has functionally forced me to travel to Hong Kong each year to visit my children, which I have consistently done despite Elena’s efforts taken to drastically limit my access to our daughters.”
Olivia is currently staying with her father in Los Angeles, and he has argued she will “suffer irreparable harm” if she can’t stay with him because she has “expressed her strong desire” to remain in California and wants to attend Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks when the new school year begins in August.
The 42-year-old dancer also accused his ex-wife of taking their daughters to Russia and Vietnam “without [his] permission”, stressing particular concern about them travelling to Moscow amid his birth country’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
Gleb is concerned sending Olivia back to Hong Kong could “result in an international wrongful retention/abduction of Olivia.”
He has asked the court for “temporary emergency sole legal and physical custody” of Olivia with no visitation from her mother pending a court hearing, along with an order that Elena “be restrained from removing” the teenager from the US.
Elena has hit back at Gleb’s claim and insisted Olivia “thrives” in Hong Kong.
She told TMZ: “The statement from Mr. Savchenko’s attorney misrepresents our family’s reality.
“As Olivia’s primary caregiver, I have raised her every day while Gleb worked full-time on DWTS. Today, Olivia thrives in Hong Kong. She attends a top school and is an elite ballroom dancer.
“Gleb’s actions directly jeopardise her future, education, and athletic progress. California lacks jurisdiction over our daughter.
“Hong Kong is Olivia’s permanent home and legal residency. Ironically, Gleb himself holds a Permanent Resident card there.”
A hearing is scheduled for 18 August.
