Gleb Savchenko is seeking an emergency custody order for his eldest daughter, Olivia. The 42-year-old Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) pro alleged in a court filing that his ex-wife, Elena Samodanova, violated their agreement by failing to return their daughters to the U.S. after relocating them to Hong Kong following their 2023 divorce. The former couple also share 8-year-old daughter Zlata.
Gleb Savchenko alleges Elena Samodanova violated their custody agreement
On July 14, Savchenko filed for sole custody in Los Angeles. In his court filing, he claimed that he and his ex-wife, who is also a professional dancer and choreographer, agreed that she could temporarily relocate their daughters to Hong Kong for a work project, provided she brought them back after one year.
According to court documents obtained by People, Savchenko alleged, “Instead, she has remained in Hong Kong, 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 fiancé.”
He added, “Elena has essentially established her life with her fiancé and our children in Hong Kong, without my permission, and that they remain with her in Hong Kong. This has functionally forced me to travel to Hong Kong each year to visit the children, which I have consistently done despite Elena’s efforts to drastically limit my access to our daughters.”
In the filing, Savchenko claimed Olivia, who is currently visiting him in Los Angeles, wants to remain in the U.S. rather than return to Hong Kong. The father further alleged that Olivia does not want to confront her mother because of Elena’s recent abusive comments.
Savchenko also alleged that his ex “secretly” took their daughters to Russia and Vietnam without his knowledge and recently threatened to take them to Moscow, where they would “never see their father again.” He argued that the case poses a serious risk of international abduction and asked the court to prevent Elena from visiting or traveling with Olivia.
The former couple married in July 2006 before announcing their split in November 2020. Elena filed for divorce in December 2023, accusing Savchenko of infidelity, according to TMZ. The court has ordered the former couple to attend child custody mediation on Aug. 5, with a hearing scheduled for Aug. 18.
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Reported by Meenakshi Sengupta on Reality Tea.
