Russian court strips journalist Oxana Goncharova, charged with killing her husband who abused her for years, of her parental rights

A court in the Russian town of Anapa has stripped journalist Oxana Goncharova, charged with killing her common-law husband after he attacked her, of her parental rights, media outlet Verstka reports. Novaya-Europe has confirmed the information via the woman’s lawyer Unis Digmar.

“Next week there will be a reasoned decision, we will see what the court has put as its reasoning [for stripping rights]. There will definitely be an appeal,” Digmar says.

On 30 September 2022, a court sent Oxana to a pre-trial detention facility after she had killed her common-law husband in an act of self-defence. Temporary care of Oxana’s youngest children — Arseniy and Matvey — went to the brother of her husband Pyotr Samusyov, he is also the one who insisted on Oxana being stripped of parental rights.

The brother claimed that Oxana was fulfilling her parental obligations inappropriately, adding that she allegedly tried to dodge child support payments, as per her lawyer’s previous statements. However, Oxana was never ordered by court to pay child support.

During Goncharova’s arrest, her husband’s brother refused to let the children have contact with their mother.

“Their justification is that communication can lead to the children having mental disorders. The matter is very delicate. Matvey is not an easy child, he’s got character, and to play on his stubbornness to make him oppose his own mother, in my opinion, is not a good thing,” Digmar told Verstka.

The lawyer previously noted that the brother would be able to receive payments from the state for each kid if Oxana got her parental rights stripped. According to the lawyer, that could have been one of the reasons for the court trial.

At the same time, Goncharova’s eldest son — 23-year-old Pyotr — would like to get custody of his younger brothers. He is currently working with his lawyers on collecting the necessary documents.

Russian journalist Oxana Goncharova was abused by Alexey Samusyov, her common-law husband and father of her two youngest sons for over 10 years. According to her friends, Oxana often called the police and tried to file lawsuits against Alexey, however, she did not receive any help.

At the end of September 2022, Samusyov broke into Oxana’s flat and attacked her with scissors. Goncharova caught them and struck back. Alexey died the same day; Oxana was charged with his murder and sent to a pre-trial detention facility.