A child taken abroad or not returned: what to do in the first 48 hours

Write down when and from where the child was taken, by whom, where the child may have gone (country, city, address), the flight number or border crossing, and when you last spoke with the child.

Keep the correspondence: messages about the trip, about consent or objection to it, about the return date. Delete or edit nothing — take dated screenshots and export the chats in full.

If the child's life or health is at risk, contact the police immediately.

The child's birth certificate, copies of the child's passports (Russian and foreign, if any) and citizenship documents.

Evidence of where the child habitually lived before the removal: registration, lease or title documents, kindergarten or school certificates, medical records, clubs and activities.

Court decisions and agreements about the child (residence, contact, maintenance), notarised travel consents — with the dates and the country.

Evidence of your involvement in the child's life: correspondence, photos, payments. For use abroad, documents usually need a translation and an apostille or legalization.

If you fear removal, you can file a statement objecting to the child's departure from the Russian Federation. It is filed in person with the migration unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with a border control authority, or — if you live abroad — with a Russian consulate. The question of the child's departure is then decided by a court (Article 21 of the Federal Law on Exit from and Entry into the Russian Federation).

If a Hague Convention return case is already before a Russian court, the judge may prohibit changing the child's place of presence and temporarily restrict the child's departure from Russia (Article 244.13 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

Establish which country the child is in and check whether it is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention and whether the Convention operates between it and Russia. This decides whether the Convention return mechanism is available or other tools are needed.

If the Convention applies, the return application can be sent through a Central Authority (in Russia, the Ministry of Education) or filed directly with a court of the country where the child is.

Timing matters: if less than one year has passed since the wrongful removal or retention, the court must order the child's return forthwith, save for the exceptions in the Convention. Later, the other side may argue that the child is now settled in the new environment (Article 12 of the Convention).

If, on the contrary, the child was brought to Russia from another country, the application is heard by one of eight designated courts — see the overview "8 Russian courts for child return cases".

Do not try to take the child back yourself: in another country this may be treated as a new wrongful removal and damage your position in court.

Do not post accusations or the child's personal details on social media — the other side may use them.

Do not sign agreements about the child or give travel consents without a legal review.

Do not wait: evidence is lost and the Convention time limits keep running.

As soon as you learn of the removal or that the child will not be returned. A lawyer can help choose the mechanism and the country of filing, prepare the application and evidence, and coordinate with foreign counsel where needed.

Every case is individual and no outcome is guaranteed: everything depends strictly on the situation and the materials provided.