The daughter of one of Ukraine’s richest men, Anna Tigipko, 34, has refused to bring her children back to London after splitting with her husband in 2015.
And despite her ‘arrogant disregard’ for English court orders to return the two girls, she was able to fight being identified in the British press.
The Daily Mail, along with The Times and the BBC, backed the father’s challenge to the secrecy surrounding the case.
A ‘highly ruthless and manipulative’ businesswoman and daughter of former Ukrainian vice-prime minister Sergiy Tigipko, she marshalled a massive ‘army’ of top lawyers to try to thwart her ex-husband’s efforts to publicise his predicament. Her ‘heavyweight’ legal team included Lord Pannick QC and Alexander Cameron QC, brother of the former Prime Minister.
Oligarch Mr Tigipko 59, also fought the transparency bid. But a High Court judge has now allowed them to be identified, concluding that publicity could speed up their return. He said he was satisfied of Mr Tigipko’s ‘deep complicity’ in the affair.
The ruling could set a precedent, after Mr Justice Mostyn said ‘there is a strong public interest in far more press reporting of international child abduction’.
Gervase de Wilde, for the three media organisations, said at a prior hearing that ‘child abduction and associated litigation are a topic of high public interest.
The London-based father has both British and Russian citizenship. He cannot be named to protect his daughter’s identities. He hopes publicity will encourage his former wife into returning his children but fears for his safety in Ukraine.
Lord Pannick QC, for Miss Tigipko, unsuccessfully argued publicity would ‘intensify tensions and make it less likely to reach a resolution’.
But unusually, lawyers for the children’s guardian also backed publication of some details.
Their removal is ‘under consideration’ as a possible crime by the police, the court heard.