As family and connections to Daniel and Dorian, all we want is the safety and well-being of Daniel and Dorian.
We don’t wish for a child to be torn away from any loving parent that wishes to be in their life.
We know the U.S. and international legal system let Daniel and Dorian, one of its citizens, down in a profound way and it is inexcusable. Daniel is a caring father, and a good person, who was acting from a place of love and desperation to be with his son. We know that the sentencing of Daniel was unjust and in multiple appeals contradicts the Russian Federation Code of Law.
We love Daniel, and wish for him to be transferred to the U.S. where he can continue to lead a full and happy life. We love Dorian, are desparate to see him again and have him part of our lives.
Timeline
2019-2020
Welcome, Dorian
Daniel and Lana met in 2016 while working at a hotel in Columbia Maryland. They began a romantic relationship and in 2018 Lana learned she was pregnant. Dorian was born on March 13, 2019.
When Dorian was born, they moved into Daniel’s parent's house (Mary and Jack Schneider) so they could save money while Daniel attended a coding boot camp so he could get a better job to provide for his son. Mary and Jack, formed a deep bond with their Grandson as he grew up on the farm. He loved riding the tractors with Gpa, picking fruit and feeding the horses with his Giga. Daniel was a committed father and wanted the best for his son.
2021-2022
Fight For Paternity
During this time Daniel tried to convince Lana to agree to him as the legal father but she refused, expressing concerns over how it may affect her potential citizenship status coming into the relationship from an estranged marriage.
Daniel continued to progress in his career as software engineer to create a stable and happy life for his family. They eventually moved to Pikesville in 2021 and continued to live together and raise Dorian as a family. Daniel continued to push to be Dorian’s legal father, and in July 2021, officially filed for legal paternity. While Lana admitted in these proceedings that Daniel is the biological father, she fought against him having legal custody of Dorian.
The fight for paternity continued into 2022, with Lana retaining counsel and fighting against Daniel becoming the legal father. Daniel and Lana were not in a happy relationship at this time, though they were both committed to being Dorian’s parents and completely invested in his happiness and well-being.
2022-2023
A Failing Justice System
In May of 2022, Daniel asked Lana to leave the house that they were staying in together, as they were having difficulties in their relationship. He filed for emergency custody of Dorian on 2022-05-18 and the court granted a hearing for 2022-06-08.
On 2022-05-25, without any consent, and active paternity and custody cases, Lana bought plane tickets to Kaliningrad, Russia for herself and Dorian and they left the country without informing Daniel or any US courts. This was absolutely heartbreaking for Daniel, and for his family, who all have deep bonds with Dorian and have been in his life since his birth. Daniel was committed to spending his life as Dorian’s father and he felt as though he was let down by the legal system in every possible way, as his child, a US citizen, who he loved and raised since birth, was stolen away from him, to a country in an active war, that was extremely inaccessible to him as an American citizen.
Daniel continued to fight to be in Dorian’s life. He continued fighting for shared custody in the U.S. and also hired Russian lawyers and established custody cases in Russia. He visited Kaliningrad, Russia 2 times to try and reestablish himself in Dorian's life. He did this at great personal cost, selling his house in order to pay for lawyers. His family continued to support him as much as they could as they also worried for Dorain’s safety and missed him, dearly.
Lana continued to fight against Daniel’s attempts for custody. The US courts ruled a custody order for Daniel, and she was held in contempt of this order as she refused the basic tenants of the ruling including weekly phone calls and visits to the U.S.
2023-2024
A Desparate Father
On 2023-07-29 Daniel was on a visit to Kaliningrad, Russia to visit his son. During that time he attempted, without the consent of Lana, to cross the border with Dorian into Poland. Daniel was acting from extreme desperation to be with his son, and a complete lack of faith in the legal system to both prevent Dorian leaving the country and being unwilling to enforce the custody he was granted. While in the border zone, Daniel decided to give up the crossing, and contacted Russian authorities notifying them of his location, saying he only wanted Dorian to be safe.
Since this time, his family has contracted lawyers in Russia to defend Daniel. He was found guilty and sentenced to six years in a Russian prison after spending 14 months in a pre-trial detention center in Kaliningrad. We are confident, according to the Russian Federation Code of Law, that Daniel should not be considered guilty due to the fact that he did not proceed with taking Daniel across the border into Poland and that he is the legal Father and custodian of Dorian in Russia which gives him the right to travel with his son. We have appealed to multiple Ruassian courts and continue to advocate on his behalf, believing he is being unfairly prosecuted as a US citizen.