Support Aliia's Fight for Her Children's Custody

Dear Friends and Kind Strangers,

My name is Aliia, and I am a devoted mother to two wonderful children, aged 6 and 7. We live in Delaware, and I have been their primary caregiver since my divorce in 2020. For the past few years, my children and I have built a loving and stable life together.

Recently, however, I have found myself in a desperate battle for custody. My ex-husband, who has struggled with alcohol issues and was mentally and emotionally abusive during our marriage, has filed for full custody of our children. This action came after a series of vindictive moves, including his refusal to pay the court-ordered child support and making false accusations against my current husband.

Everything has started when, during my medical emergency, the ex-husband initiated a confrontation with my current husband, Berdakh and then exaggerated the incident to file criminal charges and a peace order. Berdakh is now accused of being a danger to my children and on this basis my ex husband is seeking full custody. Despite these claims being ungrounded and malicious, the legal battle has become incredibly complex and expensive.

My husband and I married at the beginning of this year and are in the process of obtaining his legal documents. Unfortunately, my ex-husband discovered this and reported him to ICE. As a result, my husband was detained on May 9 and remained in detention for a month until I was able to get him released on bond.

Tragically, I have not seen my children in over a month, as my ex-husband has stole them from me by picking them up 3 hours early on the last day of school and I was not allowed to see or talk to them since . He has effectively taken them hostage, changing their schedule and disrupting their normal routine. I have sought help from the police, but they cannot intervene without a court order. Since I didn’t file custody upon divorce, in the state of Delaware we have a verbal agreement which he has been braking consistently. The children are missing all their extra curriculum activities: piano, art and chess because my ex husband is refusing to take them stating it’s a waste of money and time. For this entire month I was able to speak to them only a couple of times and during those calls he was standing next to them and telling them what to answer. Children sounded scared and confused. The youngest, my son has become uneasy and introverted which is unlike him. Both of my children are very open and outgoing. Clearly this whole ordeal is damaging their psyche. In my last desperate attempt to see my children , I drove to my ex husband’s house and knocked on his door and asked to see my children. On what he ordered me off his property and called police on me. As I was standing in front of his house, I was calling their names in hopes to catch their glimpse in the window but to no avail. I had to leave.

I currently have two immigration attorneys, a criminal attorney, a civil attorney, and a family attorney working on our case. The costs have been overwhelming, with legal fees reaching $19,000 in just the past month. We have at least five more court hearings scheduled, and the expenses continue to mount. I have already paid $8,000 in retainers for my family attorney alone, and the funds are quickly depleting.

I am reaching out to you, dear friends and kind strangers, to ask for your support in this critical time. Any contribution you can make will go directly towards legal fees and help me continue to fight for the custody and safety of my children. Your generosity will ensure that my children can return to the stable, loving environment they know and deserve.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your kindness and support during this challenging time.

Warm regards,

Aliia