MOSCOW – The guardians responsible for the child who was abandoned in a Turkish airport restroom are currently unwilling to engage in any communication with Ekaterina Burnashkina, the mother involved in the case. This detail was provided by Victoria Eliseeva, Burnashkina`s representative.
Eliseeva explained that attempts to reach the guardians directly have been met with silence. They were directed to an attorney, who, according to Eliseeva, also maintains minimal contact, limited to `hello and goodbye` exchanges.
The Pavlovo-Posadsky court in the Moscow region has scheduled a closed-door hearing for September 23 to thoroughly review the petition for the deprivation of Burnashkina’s parental rights.
Russian national Ekaterina Burnashkina. Archive photo. © IHA
A criminal investigation was previously launched against Burnashkina by the Investigative Department for Electrostal on charges of attempted murder of a newborn. The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, personally took charge of overseeing the case following an appeal from the child`s foster mother. Concurrently, the child’s foster family filed a lawsuit in the Pavlovo-Posadsky court seeking to strip Burnashkina of her parental rights.
The incident that led to these legal proceedings occurred in October 2024. Burnashkina gave birth to a baby girl in a toilet at a Turkish airport and subsequently left the infant in the commode. Ten minutes later, a cleaner discovered the child. Burnashkina was apprehended alongside her mother while attempting to board a flight to Moscow.
In February, a court for serious criminal cases in Antalya sentenced Burnashkina to 15 years in prison, finding her guilty of attempted murder of a close relative. However, on July 9, an appellate court reclassified the charge, leading to her release from custody. The child`s grandmother, Elena, had been acquitted earlier in February. Burnashkina’s defense argued that the initial verdict was an unduly harsh precedent, noting that Turkish law typically imposes a sentence of three months to two years imprisonment for child abandonment in comparable situations.
Presently, the child is living with a temporary foster family. Burnashkina`s legal representatives point out that she remains officially listed as the mother on the girl`s birth certificate and has not been stripped of her parental rights, asserting she is `not restricted in any way.` Despite this, both the guardianship authorities and the foster parents are preventing her from having any contact with the child, `not even for half an hour.` Burnashkina emphatically contests the lawsuit aiming to terminate her parental rights.
