{
  "id": 16211252,
  "title": "Russian courts are encouraging parental child abduction by refusing returns to “unfriendly” countries, lawyer says",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/russian-courts-are-encouraging-parental-child-abduction-by-refusing",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-23T16:59:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Insider",
    "slug": "the-insider",
    "url": "https://theins.press/en/news/298667"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Russian courts are allowing parents to keep their children in Russia, even if the children's other parent is from a different country, by citing Russia's designation of the other country as \"unfriendly.\" This has led to a situation where removing a child becomes an advantage for the parent who abducted the child, according to Russian lawyer Ilona Shipkov. The child's adaptation to life in Russia can also be used as an argument against returning them. This practice contradicts the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which aims to ensure the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully removed or retained outside their country of habitual residence.",
  "summary": "Russia’s Supreme Court recently ruled that Alexei Yermakov could keep his daughter in Russia rather than return the child to her mother in France. Among other factors, the Russian court cited the Russian authorities’ official designation of France as an “unfriendly state” and its membership in NATO and the European Union. Three lower courts had previously ordered Yermakov to return the girl, whom…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}