Two men approached the girl and her nanny Monday morning while they were walking on Flotskaya Ulitsa, near Rechnoi Vokzal metro station in northern Moscow, and took the girl away, a police spokeswoman said.
"The nanny called the police and the girl's mother, but she was at Sheremetyevo Airport," she said. "One of the men told the nanny not to worry, that he was the girl's father."
The police spokeswoman said she could not give further details, citing the ongoing probe into the incident. But a city police source told RIA-Novosti on Tuesday evening that authorities are holding off on opening a criminal case until the girl is found and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance are explained.
The French father and his Russian wife are currently in a custody battle over the girl, and in the meantime the father has a right to be with his child, the source said. "Transportation police are looking for the man and the child and bringing them in to clarify the circumstances," the source told RIA-Novosti.
In an interview on Rossia television Monday evening, a spokeswoman for the Moscow branch of the Investigative Committee identified the father as Jean-Michel Andre.
"Under Russian law, he cannot be a kidnapper [if he is the father], and questions surrounding interaction with the child and where the child lives will be decided by a court," spokeswoman Viktoria Tsyplenkova said.
Komsomolskaya Pravda on Tuesday identified the mother as Irena Belenkaya. Andre divorced Belenkaya after she gave birth to their daughter in France, and the mother fled to Russia with the child after he demanded that his daughter remain with him in France, KP reported.
The French Embassy in Moscow said Tuesday that it was aware of the case but that it could not provide immediate comment.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.