Dancing With the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko and ex-wife Elena Samodanova are locked in an international custody dispute over their two daughters — a fight that has moved between Los Angeles courtrooms, Hong Kong authorities and, according to Savchenko, a trip to Russia he claims he never approved.
The former couple, who split in 2020 after 14 years of marriage and finalized their divorce in October 2021, share daughters Olivia and Zlata.
Scroll down for more on Savchenko and Samodanova’s custody dispute:
What to Know About Gleb Savchenko and Elena Samodanova’s Divorce
Savchenko and Samodanova’s divorce judgment was finalized in October 2021, according to court documents obtained by Us. Neither party requested spousal support, and they agreed to share joint legal and physical custody of their daughters.
Samodanova was also awarded ownership of Pro Dance L.A., the studio she previously ran with Savchenko. He agreed to pay her $291,430 — $2,800 monthly for eight years — upon the sale of their former Los Angeles family home.
“My No. 1 priority right now [is] and always will be my daughters and making this divorce have as minimal an effect on them as possible,” Savchenko told Us in a statement at the time. “Elena and I agreed to work together to end the marriage with grace and be amicable to one another.”
Gleb Savchenko’s Daughters Move to Hong Kong
By 2024, the former couple’s coparenting arrangement shifted dramatically when Samodanova relocated to Hong Kong with the girls. (Savchenko remained in Los Angeles, where he films DWTS.)
“It’s really, really hard to stay connected because of the time difference, but I try my best,” Savchenko exclusively told Us in July 2024, adding that he had visited during Christmas and taken the girls to Thailand for three weeks.
At the time, he praised his ex-wife’s parenting, telling Us, “I think my ex-wife … [is] a great mom and she loves her girls. She does so much for them.”
Gleb Savchenko’s Emergency Custody Filing
Savchenko filed an emergency order in Los Angeles in July 2026, seeking temporary sole legal and physical custody of Olivia — and permission to enroll her in a Los Angeles-area high school.
In court documents obtained by Us, Savchenko alleged the exes agreed on June 29, 2023, that Samodanova would temporarily move to Hong Kong with the girls for one year and return by June 30, 2024. He claims she never came back.
“Elena has wrongfully kept our children in Hong Kong for several years,” Savchenko alleged in his declaration. “[She] failed and refused to return the children to the United States as she had agreed in writing to do. Instead, she has remained in Hong Kong, obtained permanent Hong Kong residency, enrolled the children in an expensive private school, got the children a cat, became engaged and had another child with her fiancé.”
Savchenko also accused Samodanova of taking their younger daughter, Zlata, to Russia without his consent earlier in 2026. He said her phone pinged in Moscow after she received notice of the ex parte filing, and he learned she had traveled there for a funeral.
“I would not have agreed for our daughter, Zlata, to accompany her in the war torn country because of the obvious dangers,” Savchenko stated in his filing, alleging that he filed a Hague petition — an international child abduction petition — seeking Zlata’s return.
Elena Samodanova Fires Back
Samodanova rejected Savchenko’s characterization entirely.
“The statement from Mr. Savchenko’s attorney completely misrepresents our family’s reality. As Olivia’s primary caregiver, I have raised her every single day while Gleb worked full-time on DWTS,” she told Us in a July 2026 statement. “Today, Olivia is thriving in Hong Kong — she attends a top school and is an elite ballroom dancer.”
She argued that California lacks jurisdiction, stating that Hong Kong is Olivia’s “permanent home and legal residency.” Samodanova also noted that Savchenko holds a Hong Kong Permanent Resident card, further claiming that Olivia was scheduled to return on June 5, 2026, but Savchenko canceled her ticket without warning.
Gleb Savchenko and Elena Samodanova’s Legal Standoff
Samodanova filed a declaration with a California Superior Court in August 2026, seeking to have Olivia return to Hong Kong, according to documents obtained by Us. She said Olivia arrived in Los Angeles on May 29, 2026, and was supposed to fly home July 9, 2026, and that she now has “no direct telephone contact” with her mother.
Samodanova also filed a separate “request for return of child” petition with Hong Kong’s Department of Justice, which has been referred to the California District Attorney’s office.
Savchenko subsequently asked the court to dismiss Samodanova’s objection as untimely and inconsistent. A hearing on his emergency custody request is scheduled for August 18, 2026.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
