I know this is nitpicky in the grand scheme of things, but I was put off by the article's disparaging little remarks about the mother and her culture that had nothing to do with the story. There were all sort of pointed little character judgments expressed in the article: Barnes' complaint that she "wasn't assimilating" because she had Russian expat friends and spoke to their son in Russian, the complaint that she asked people to remove shoes indoors (a norm in MANY households in the US, not just Russia), a complaint she was always asking the kids to wash their hands after playing outside (so crazy!), etc. lots of these remarks seemed rather xenophobic and had little bearing on the actual case. I doubt that Barnes bothered to learn much at all about his ex-wife's culture. Certainly if he did, maybe he would have rethought his reckless decision to travel to Russia during that timeframe. Both his detective and his Russian lawyer strongly advised him not to, in fact.
No, it's not nitpicky. 50 years old American pursues Russian wome 20 years his junior, never bothers to learn her language and background and act suprised she is not his submissive slavic waifu. If he did learn a thing he would notice that she grew up in mafia run country where the rich send their children away because nobody was safe regadless of the situation.
PLUS thinks that his superior passport will shield him anywhere.
I also noticed early on that the article specifies she “recanted” her allegations of physical violence by clarifying “One time he broke the door down because our baby was crying, but he never hit me.”
ETA: The man also moved out of the family home 3 weeks after his wife gave birth and the author really framed everything like “what was this poor man to do about his crazy wife??”
The way the author frames this man’s abandonment of his family and neglect of his wife as totally reasonable and understandable (because she’s crazy, of course) comes off really misogynistic.
I'm just dumbfounded that, not only did he go to Russia against all advice, he moved into the same apartment building as his ex-wife. And he stalked her as she walked around her city! What did he think was going to happen?
And now he's "disappointed" in his congressmen for not making him "a priority". Did he think they would just have some Navy Seals parachute in and pull him out of there when things got rough? Not saying this guy deserves what's happening to him...but he shouldn't be all that surprised.
Abuse allegations aside, the guy is an utter moron for thinking…what that he’d smuggle his kids out of Russia of all places?
Two things stood out to me otherwise:
As fucked up as the American justice system can be - reading the procedural norms and conviction stats in Russia makes me appreciate what we’ve got.
The observation that there’s a good chance Luke could be conscripted to the army and become Putin fodder is 100% why he/his mother are pursuing going back to the US.
bely_medved13 | 4 hours ago
I know this is nitpicky in the grand scheme of things, but I was put off by the article's disparaging little remarks about the mother and her culture that had nothing to do with the story. There were all sort of pointed little character judgments expressed in the article: Barnes' complaint that she "wasn't assimilating" because she had Russian expat friends and spoke to their son in Russian, the complaint that she asked people to remove shoes indoors (a norm in MANY households in the US, not just Russia), a complaint she was always asking the kids to wash their hands after playing outside (so crazy!), etc. lots of these remarks seemed rather xenophobic and had little bearing on the actual case. I doubt that Barnes bothered to learn much at all about his ex-wife's culture. Certainly if he did, maybe he would have rethought his reckless decision to travel to Russia during that timeframe. Both his detective and his Russian lawyer strongly advised him not to, in fact.
Eireika | 4 hours ago
No, it's not nitpicky. 50 years old American pursues Russian wome 20 years his junior, never bothers to learn her language and background and act suprised she is not his submissive slavic waifu. If he did learn a thing he would notice that she grew up in mafia run country where the rich send their children away because nobody was safe regadless of the situation.
PLUS thinks that his superior passport will shield him anywhere.
tomatofrogfan | 3 hours ago
I also noticed early on that the article specifies she “recanted” her allegations of physical violence by clarifying “One time he broke the door down because our baby was crying, but he never hit me.”
ETA: The man also moved out of the family home 3 weeks after his wife gave birth and the author really framed everything like “what was this poor man to do about his crazy wife??”
The way the author frames this man’s abandonment of his family and neglect of his wife as totally reasonable and understandable (because she’s crazy, of course) comes off really misogynistic.
ivaylo_eth | an hour ago
my thoughts exactly
they’d never write the same thing about a non-white person
Kalankalan | 4 hours ago
Boricovna (it’s actually BoriSonva) is a patronymic, not a surname.
Kalankalan | 4 hours ago
And Khoroshovskiy is not upscale, it’s very middle class
Dangerous_Golf_7417 | 2 hours ago
Right. Her name is Svetlana Boricovna Koptyaeva per other media. (But she has an accounting linkedin as Svetlana Barnes from her time in the states)
GingerBelvoir | an hour ago
I'm just dumbfounded that, not only did he go to Russia against all advice, he moved into the same apartment building as his ex-wife. And he stalked her as she walked around her city! What did he think was going to happen?
And now he's "disappointed" in his congressmen for not making him "a priority". Did he think they would just have some Navy Seals parachute in and pull him out of there when things got rough? Not saying this guy deserves what's happening to him...but he shouldn't be all that surprised.
tomatofrogfan | 4 hours ago
I believe the boys. Especially Luke, who developed behavioral issues fully aligning with a sexually abused child.
Kids who are “coached” don’t go and molest their classmates. Someone did that to him and he imitated it at school.
formerly_LTRLLTRL | an hour ago
Abuse allegations aside, the guy is an utter moron for thinking…what that he’d smuggle his kids out of Russia of all places?
Two things stood out to me otherwise:
As fucked up as the American justice system can be - reading the procedural norms and conviction stats in Russia makes me appreciate what we’ve got.
The observation that there’s a good chance Luke could be conscripted to the army and become Putin fodder is 100% why he/his mother are pursuing going back to the US.
Fucked up stuff.
Prior_Funny | 5 hours ago
This was depressing. I hope things turn around for him
notaquarterback | 4 hours ago
What a roller coaster that was. Wish he hadn't gone there.
SeaComparison8008 | 3 hours ago
Saving this