It seems that some people in Russia have been taking the Neal Boortz show way too seriously...

 

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Here is the short summary (I translate for those who don't read Russian):

 

A young  St. Petersburg mother had her four children taken away by the guardianship [child protection] services.  Their reason is that the 34-yo does not have enough money to support them.  Maria Tchaikovsky[reporter] tried to find out what the mother herself thinks about it.

 

"They've taken my children because of impoverishment", "They've fraudulently stolen documents", "They are using my children to help fill Russian orphanages". Vera Kamkin, the mother of four kids, did not mice words and charges when she wrote and open letter to the President. The President did not respond yet, but almost all mass-media of St. Petersburg did. However, no one had opened a door for a journalistic salvation army. Workers at the local department of guardianship who "kidnapped" the children, are not hiding. They've been keeping an eye on the Kamkin family for the last 5 years. Even though the mother really does not drink and is not on drugs she, in their opinion, does not feed the children either.

 

The family shared 18 sq. meters of a communal flat. The guardianship office claims that Vera Kamkina never worked anywhere, but relied on [welfare] benefits. Neighbours tell a different story: she worked occasionally at the [local] market and at the school where her children go. There she made an ambiguous impression.

 

The school teachers, on the other hand, were unable to reach the mother for many years. In the last few months Kamkin's two oldest children, Ruslan and Dasha, were constantly ill. Mother only made a helpless gesture.    

 

Anastas Bushmanova, Darya Kamkin's class teacher:

 

«She wore a light jacket in cold weather, did not eat enough, was cold, and consequently was getting sick».  

 

At the school, by the way, they think that the mother has intentionally stirred-up a sensation to receive a separate apartment that she is currently waiting in line for.

 

However, the guardianship service has its own plans:  they are preparing the documents to deprive Vera Kamkin of the parental rights.

 

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Now here is the part that makes the whole thing really interesting...

 

Even though officially the children were taken away because of "poor treatment" they [officials] promised to return them if the mother catches up on back rent of 140K rubles ($4666).