Like millions of other Ukrainians, Marharyta Kosenkova fled the war-torn country in 2022, hoping to give her young daughter a safer, more stable life. Unlike many, she took the girl across borders — ending up in Canada — without the father’s permission.
Kosenkova violated an international abduction treaty when she did so, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled recently in an intriguing child-custody case. But Justice Ross Macfarlane said the girl can nevertheless stay in Windsor, Ont., in part because of the danger she’d face if returned to her father in Ukraine.
Daughter Mariia, now six, is attending kindergarten in Windsor and would be harmed “both socially and academically” if moved from her current home and school, said her teacher in an affidavit.
“There is a grave risk that returning Mariia to her habitual residence in Ukraine would expose her to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place her in an intolerable situation,” said Macfarlane. “There is an additional intolerable risk of psychological harm associated with uprooting Mariia from the care of her mother, who has been her primary caregiver for her entire life and has expressed no intention to return to Ukraine.”
FULL STORY: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/mother-violated-international-abduction-treaty-canada-ukraine
