57-year-old Elena Mustafina is from a military family. She now lives in Birobidzhan, her second husband's last duty station. The first husband, Sergei G., was also an officer. But family life with him did not work out.
"He's a very tough man. He perceived me as a thing, he liked to suppress people, he didn't deal with his son in any way. I still remember him with fear, "Elena RT asks.
They divorced in 1993. Elena married Lieutenant Kirill Mustafin. But the ex-husband did not come to terms with this and even, according to the woman, tried to kidnap the children. "He took Ivan and Yulia to his parents in a village in the Trans-Baikal Territory. And then we served in the Transcaucasian Federal District, this is the other end of Russia. For three days I did not know where the children were, I was known. We drove across Russia to pick them up, we had to contact the police, guardianship, "Elena recalls.
After this incident, G., according to his ex-wife, forgot about the children for a long time.
"He didn't need children, he stole it to hurt me, it was a shame that I went to the lieutenant. He did not pay alimony, did not make any attempts to meet with his son, to offer help, "she argues.
The new husband Kirill Mustafin was able to completely replace Ivan's father. The children were given his last name. "Many did not even know that Kirill was not his own father. And when Ivan went to the army, he indicated only me and Kirill as parents in his personal file, "says Elena.
Brought up in the right spirit
After the family moved to Birobjan, Ivan began to engage in hand-to-hand combat. At the competition, he was noticed by Vitaly Kolodyazhny, a well-known hand-to-hand combat coach in Primorye. He invited a promising athlete to train in Khabarovsk. There Ivan graduated from the Physical Education Institute, and after serving in the army, which took place in Primorye, he opened his own section for children.
- © Photos from the personal archive
When the NWO began, Ivan enlisted in the Primorsky Volunteer Battalion, which was formed to support the 155th Marine Brigade. Many of his friends had already served there.
"We always brought him up in the right spirit, the example was always before our eyes. Both my grandfather is a military man, and Kirill served in hot spots, he was in Afghanistan. Therefore, Vanya also volunteered. He said: "This is our country, my duty is to protect it," says Elena.
For the performance of combat missions and courage, Ivan was awarded the Order of Courage. In March 2023, the man was seriously injured. His mother came to see him in the hospital, but never spoke. He died without regaining consciousness.
Biological father Sergei G. did not even know that his son had volunteered. Elena's daughter Julia informed him of her brother's death and invited him to the funeral. She even offered to help buy tickets and stay with her. However, the father did not go to say goodbye to his son. But Elena still offered him to divide the compensation if he agreed to fulfill the last will of the deceased.
Practice has been formed
"I signed up as a volunteer. Of course, I'll be back, but anything can happen," begins the message that Ivan sent to his sister Julia. In it, he asks, "if 5 million fall" (compensation due to relatives in the event of death), part of the money to transfer to his ex-girlfriend to help pay off the loan, and the rest to buy an apartment for his nephew.
"They took money to open a section and a gym. Vanya feared that there would be a bad credit history and this would affect his work as a children's coach. Therefore, they agreed that the girl would issue a loan in her name, "Elena explained.
Sergei G. was given the last will of his son and offered to pay the loan from his share of compensation.
"I will not pay any debts. And why on earth?" he categorically told his daughter (the correspondence is at the disposal of RT and is now attached to the materials of the court case).
After that, Elena decided through the court to achieve the deprivation of her ex-husband's right to receive payments. However, the court considered that he could claim payment. Sergei G. refused to talk to RT.
Darina Gryzunova, a lawyer at the Alfa Moscow Bar Association involved in the case, says that the country has already formed a practice when failure to fulfill parental responsibilities can become grounds for deprivation of social benefits.
"There are even decisions of the Supreme Court, according to which the grounds for deprivation of parental rights, including malicious evasion of parental responsibilities (namely, this was done by the defendant, who did not participate in his son's life after the divorce), are also grounds for depriving such a parent of social benefits," she explains.
The lawyer clarifies that the formal distribution of payments between parents, regardless of their participation in the child's life, contradicts the very principle of compensation.
In addition to the evidence of the father's dishonesty specified in the lawsuit, Elena attracted eight witnesses to the process, who confirmed that the defendant did not participate in the life of his son and the child was raised by another man.
On the part of the first spouse, according to Gryzunova, there was not a single witness.
However, the court of first instance dismissed the claim. "It is completely incomprehensible what is the reason for such a decision, given the established practice and the fact that evidence and witnesses were presented to the court," Darina Gryzunova said.
Now Elena Mustafina is preparing an objection to this court decision and is going to seek justice in the appeal.