France did not recognize the referendum in Crimea, therefore the French authorities refused to issue a visa to Ekaterina and her son from her first marriage.
After Ekaterina and Richard got married their situation eased up a little because she received a visa allowing her to reside in France together with her husband and son.
However, their complicated situation got worse when in 2014, their daughter Vasilisa was born in Crimea.
The child automatically received Russian citizenship, because since 2014 Crimea became part of the Russian Federation.
Paradoxically, now Vasilisa is the only member of the family who does not have French documents, although her birth certificate says that her father is a Frenchman.
In the events that followed, Richard received a letter from the Consul General of France in Moscow, Marc Sédille.
The letter which was written on October 28, 2015 read, “As for your daughter, if I understand correctly, she was born in Crimea. If this is true, the Consul General of France in Moscow has no authority to register her birth certificate or extradite it because Crimea is not part of our consular district.”
The letter further read that Crimea is part of the consular district of the consular department of the Embassy of France in Ukraine and only they are authorized to issue the proper documents.
Richard told Sputnik why he cannot go to Kiev.
“In Crimea and Ukraine there is no longer any air service. If we want to go to apply for the documents in Ukraine, we will have to go by car, but I refuse to take my family because I could be arrested there. For the Ukrainian authorities, it would be an illegal entry into the territory of Ukraine. So if I'm there, I run the risk of ending up in prison,” Richard said.
Richard’s wife, Ekaterina also shared her thoughts with Sputnik regarding their complex situation.
"We cannot come to Kiev for several reasons. Firstly, I have Russian documents for my child which were issued here in Sevastopol by the Russian registry office, which the Ukrainian side does not accept, hence, they are not valid for the border guards so they will not let us in.”
She further said that to register her child as a citizen of France, she must bring her daughter to the embassy in Kiev. “I cannot bring her because her birth certificate is Russian and it is not valid for the Ukrainian customs. The registration of my child at the embassy in Kiev can only be done if my husband is present there as he needs to sign it,” Ekaterina said.
Hence, a trip to Ukraine is not an option for the family. According to Ekaterina, they have tried all possible options but there is no hope left.
“Richard tried everything. He contacted politicians, spoke to a lawyer, he was even ready to bring his family to France illegally but all to no avail.”
Currently, Vasilisa is in a hospital in Sevastopol. “She doesn’t recognize me. I am like a stranger to her. When I am in France, we see each other only on Skype or FaceTime. There is a photo of me in her room, she looks at it and says dad, dad. But when I talk to her on Skype, she gets very embarrassed. I think it is not normal for a two-year-old child to have such a relationship with her father,” Richard said.
