In a video just lately posted on social media, a Russian soldier in heavy physique armor holds an American passport in his arms and says it belonged to an American mercenary killed in Ukraine.
The soldier says within the video posted earlier this month on the messaging app Telegram that the mercenary is buried in a settlement outdoors the town of Mariupol, which Russia claimed earlier this week to have captured in its ongoing battle with its neighbor.
However Orange County resident Cesar Quintana stated the passport belongs to him. The Russian journalist who posted the video additionally posted a closeup shot of the passport that reveals Quintana’s face.
Quintana, 35, stated the doc was confiscated by Ukrainian authorities when he was in Mariupol final 12 months trying to regain custody of his 2-year-old son, Alexander, who was born within the U.S.
Quintana and his estranged spouse, Antonina Aslanova, are engaged in a global youngster custody dispute, which has been made extra sophisticated by the battle.
“I do know that passport,” Quintana stated in a current interview with The Occasions. “It was taken from me by the Mariupol police once I was in Ukraine making an attempt to get my son in a foreign country.”
Quintana stated he and his spouse had been separated when she visited him and their son at his Aliso Viejo condo in December 2020. He stated he was recovering from gall bladder surgical procedure and when he fell asleep, his spouse took their son and fled to her house nation of Ukraine.
In a Sept. 8, 2021, letter to Ukrainian authorities, the Orange County district lawyer’s workplace says that a decide had granted Quintana sole custody of Alexander due to his spouse’s “alcohol abuses.” The district lawyer subsequently filed a legal criticism in opposition to Aslanova for youngster abduction.
Final fall, Quintana traveled to Mariupol the place Aslanova and Alexander had been staying together with her dad and mom. He stated the couple tried to present Alexander some semblance of normality with household outings in Ukraine.
Quintana’s mom, Florencia Gómez, wished to see her grandson and likewise made the journey to Ukraine.
“I couldn’t wait to see my grandbaby once more,” Gómez stated. Her nickname for Alexander is “torito,” as a result of he’s a Taurus. She left a short while later, pondering her son and Alexander would quickly comply with.
In the meantime, tensions within the area escalated as Russian troops amassed on the border with Ukraine.
Throughout his go to, Quintana stated he tried to flee Ukraine with Alexander. He stated he had a court docket order from a California decide exhibiting he had authorized custody.
However Mariupol police had been notified by Aslanova’s household that Quintana had kidnapped his son and didn't have permission to depart the nation, Quintana stated.
“That’s once they took our passports,” he stated. Quintana must wait to be issued a brand new passport, however within the meantime police threatened to detain him so he returned Alexander to his mother-in-law, he stated.
Quintana went again to California however he stated he promised himself he would return for his son.
A couple of months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, civilian casualties have mounted because the Russian military has pounded Mariupol and different jap cities within the Donbas area. Quintana stated he deliberate to return to Ukraine by way of Poland with an help group in March to seek out Aslanova and Alexander.
However earlier than he launched into his journey, Quintana stated the State Division knowledgeable him that his spouse and youngster had fled to Russia.
Quintana stated he hasn’t had an opportunity to talk with Aslanova just lately, however that the 2 messaged one another as soon as after she arrived in Russia. He stated he's relieved that Alexander is not in Ukraine because the battle rages on however worries about his future in Russia.
“To go from pondering if he’s in Ukraine, questioning if he’s alive, after which for him to be in Russia,” Quintana stated. “It’s bittersweet information.”
Aslanova advised the Washington Submit she and Alexander spent the early days of the Russian invasion in a Mariupol basement earlier than they determined to flee to Russia. Aslanova advised the paper that Quintana had given her permission to take Alexander, a declare he denies.
Aslanova didn't reply to an electronic mail request from The Occasions.
Gómez worries every time she hears about Ukraine or Russia within the information. However all she will be able to do now could be forgive her daughter-in-law for taking Alexander.
“I wish to keep in a state of affection, hopeful that he’ll be right here,” Gómez stated.
Quintana stated the worldwide custody dispute has been made much more tough by the battle. Ukraine acknowledges the worldwide treaty generally known as the Hague Conference on the Little one Facet of Worldwide Abduction, which establishes procedures to return a toddler to the state of their ordinary residence.
However the Ministry of Overseas Affairs within the Netherlands introduced final month that it might not assure Ukrainian obligations below the treaty due to the battle.
Quintana had a greater likelihood of getting Alexander out of Ukraine however now that he's in Russia it might be close to inconceivable, stated California lawyer David Lederman, who handles Hague Conference youngster custody instances.
“In Russia, you’ve obtained a rustic that isn’t a treaty member,” Lederman stated. “You roll the cube. I don’t know Russian legal guidelines, however you’d be wanting on the home Russian legislation as as to if or not there must be a return” of the kid.
It doesn't matter if Quintana has a court docket order from a California decide; such orders wouldn't have any jurisdiction in international international locations, Lederman stated.
Gómez worries about her son trying to go to Russia to attempt to regain custody of Alexander. He confirmed her the video of the Russian soldier holding his passport.
“Typically, when one thing like that occurs, you have already got unfavourable ideas, and I used to be pondering, ‘Thank God that he’s right here,’” she stated of her son. “Think about if he would have been in Ukraine [during the invasion]. Thank God he was right here in California.”
However Quintana refuses to surrender hope and continues to search for methods to deliver his son again to the U.S.
“That is all I take into consideration doing,” he stated. “All I take into consideration is bringing my son house.”
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