Fellow villagers helped a single father from the Volgograd region get his children ready for school

Father of many children Ruslan Zhadaev returned to raising his children after his sentence for unauthorized abandonment of his unit was replaced with a suspended sentence. Fellow villagers, the school, and the local administration provided assistance to the family, but Zhadaev faces a lawsuit with his ex-wife over the house.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, the court sentenced father of many children Ruslan Zhadaev to five years in prison for unauthorized abandonment of his unit, he appealed the verdict and on August 29 succeeded in replacing his sentence with a suspended sentence. While the trial was ongoing, Zhadaev's children were in a social rehabilitation center under the threat of being placed in an orphanage.

After the decision on the appeal, Ruslan Zhadaev was reunited with his children. Social services, the village administration, the school and fellow villagers provide assistance to the single father of many children.

The children came to the court hearing on August 29 together with Ruslan, but they were not allowed into the courtroom, where the father and lawyer participated in the hearing via video link. They were waiting for the court decision in the corridor, Zhadaev himself told the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

"They did not issue an acquittal, but that's not scary. The main thing is that I'm home and I'm with the children. The children are very happy that I picked them up (from the social rehabilitation center). They help me, they are very happy that they are home again. I continue to take care of family matters and raise children," Ruslan said.

Zhadayev has not yet been issued a disability - he visited a traumatologist in Volgograd on referral and the doctor prescribed, in his words, "an incomprehensible treatment." "Although the condition of the knee is not good, it is getting worse. I was advised to contact doctors in Saratov. I don’t know yet whether it will be a quota or paid treatment. I haven’t looked into this issue yet, as I don’t have time for it. And there’s no opportunity, as the children are being prepared for school. The administration, guardianship authorities and social protection help me resolve difficult legal issues. The school principal and teachers treat me with understanding. Everyone helps, we haven’t been abandoned,” Ruslan said.

Zhadayev is currently unemployed and can’t find a job due to health problems. “In this state, I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of sick leave. Because the slightest load makes me feel worse and worse. I try to limit my load, I do everything little by little, with long smoke breaks,” he said.

The man plans to take care of his health after the end of the school year – to undergo the necessary surgeries and a rehabilitation period. At this time, he plans to send his children to a summer camp.

“Military doctors frankly said that my knee joints cannot be treated. Only surgery, these are the words of military traumatologists. They were preparing me for surgery, making a request for surgery. While they were waiting for an answer, I was fired at that moment. There was a court hearing, they took the children from the SRC. Everything happened at a frantic pace,” said Zhadaev.

Ruslan has no relatives, so he solves problems on his own, with the help of the public and administrative bodies. “There is me and the children. Fellow villagers and the administration - they are my relatives,” admitted Ruslan.

Zhadayev registered as self-employed and plans to “develop in the direction of poultry farming” - he applied for a social contract and is going to build a poultry house. He says that he has enough money for the family. He recently applied for child benefits..

“We are developing, no one is starving, I am renovating the house, but a quiet life has not begun. We need to resume solving problems: vision treatment for children. We need to start over, the cycle that they went through earlier could not be interrupted. Due to the events, we were forced to interrupt treatment, we need to get back into this groove. First their health, then mine. I can endure my illnesses. I will also have to sue my ex-wife for the house, because everything is registered in her name. There were threats from her that she is the owner. And this house is for the children, the trials are not over yet,” said Ruslan Zhadaev.

Ruslan’s lawyer Yevgeny Dereza has not yet received the reasoning part of the decision of the Southern District Military Court, so he cannot say what specific violations the court found in the verdict of the lower court. "The conditional nature of the punishment for my client is fraught with the fact that if he commits any administrative offense or criminal offense during this period (five years), that is, infringes on public order, then the court may assign him a real term (although it may not assign it)," Evgeny told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The lawyer listed the main arguments of the defense, voiced by him at the trial of Zhadaev. The defense pointed out that Zhadaev voluntarily left the unit due to the "urgent need" to ensure the safety of children and agreed on his departure with the unit's leadership. When a year later the command declared him wanted, he did not hide and immediately showed up at his military unit. The main mitigating circumstance is the presence of children.

"During the last trial, the opponents' objections were standard: they say that the court (of first instance) took into account all the circumstances of the case. Judging by practice, they (the opponents) will most likely not appeal the verdict of the district military court. They themselves see perfectly well that Zhadaev is not a criminal,” Evgeny Dereza suggested.

* the activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) are prohibited in Russia.