“DWTS” pro Gleb Savchenko, who joined the cast in 2016, is in the midst of a determined fight to get back his two daughters, 15 and 8, after he says his ex-wife Elena Samodanova “abducted” them by keeping them to China without his permission.
GettyUSA Today says Savchenko accused Samodanova of “wrongful retention” of the girls in a July 14 court filing the outlet obtained.
The report says the exes previously signed an agreement in 2023 allowing Samodanova to “temporarily” move to Hong Kong with the children for 1 year. The outlet says per the agreement, all three were supposed to return to the United States by June 30, 2024, but Savchenko says they never came back.
Gleb’s best finishes on “Dancing With the Stars” were when he came in 4th in 2016 with Jana Kramer, and again in 2019 with “American Idol” season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina.
Report Says Gleb Savchenko Wants His Daughters Back in the United States
GettyUSA Today says Savchenko, 42, complained in court documents about how his ex appears to be setting up a permanent life in Hong Kong, saying she has “”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 fianceฬ.”
The report says Savchenko insists he never gave Samodanova permission to keep the girls in China long-term. “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,” they say he wrote.
It goes on to say Savchenko is requesting that his older daughter is currently visiting him in Los Angeles and “does not want to return to Hong Kong or to her mother’s care.”ย He’s also requesting that she be appointed a lawyer.
He also expressed concern that his ex has “recently threatened to take the children to Moscow, where they will ‘never see their father again,” and says he’s already “secretly” traveled with the to Russia and Vietnam without notifying him, per the report.
“”There is a serious risk of international abduction in this matter and Elena should be prevented from visiting and/or traveling with Olivia in any capacity,” the outlet says he wrote, before adding that his oldest daughter wants to enroll in the upcoming school year in Los Angeles, making the matter more urgent.
The report says Samodanova responded to Savchenko’s requests via an email to his lawyer that said she opposes all his requests and does not consent to a modification of current orders, a change of custody, or the enrollment of their daughter in a California school.
The former couple has been ordered to attend mediation on Aug. 5, and a hearing has been set for Aug. 18.
Gleb Savchenko Announced His Divorce in an Amicable 2020 Statement
“”It is with a heavy heart that I tell you my wife and I are parting ways after 14 years of marriage,” Savchenko wrote in an Instagram post. “We still intend to co-parent our wonderful children together who we love so dearly, and we will strive to continue to be the best parents that we can to them. We ask that you respect our family’s need for privacy and healing during this time,” Gleb wrote back in November 2020 in a statement announcing he and Samodanova were splitting.
In the meantime, Samodanova wrote of the split “After 14 years of marriage with my deepest sadness our road is coming to the end,” and later shared a quote that seemed to subtly reference the breakup which read, “”I don’t hate you, I’m just disappointed you turned into everything you said you’d never be.”
