Dancing With the Stars professional Gleb Savchenko is in the middle of a high-stakes custody battle with his ex-wife Elena Samodanova, and it involves two countries, two very different narratives, and a 15-year-old girl caught in the middle. On Tuesday, July 15th, Savchenko filed for emergency custody in Los Angeles, claiming that his ex took their daughters to Hong Kong two years ago under the pretense of a one-year work project and never brought them back. According to court documents, Samodanova enrolled both daughters in private school, got engaged to another man, and started a new family in Hong Kong without returning as agreed.
What makes this case so complicated is that Savchenko’s oldest daughter, Olivia, is currently with him in California and has expressed that she’s afraid of her mother and doesn’t want to return to Hong Kong. He’s alleging that his ex has controlled and limited contact between the girls and him over several years. But Samodanova tells a completely different story, saying that Olivia is thriving in Hong Kong and that Savchenko is wrongfully keeping their daughter in the US when she was supposed to return on June 5th. This isn’t the first time these two have battled in court. Their divorce began in December 2020 after Samodanova accused Savchenko of infidelity, which he denied.
International custody disputes are notoriously complicated, especially when a teenager is involved and can express their own preferences. The question everyone’s asking: whose version of the truth will the court believe? And more importantly, what’s actually best for these two girls who are separated from each other and caught between two parents with wildly different accounts of what’s happening. Where do you think this custody battle is headed?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.