Dancing With the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko fired back after his ex-wife Elena Samodanova claimed that he was hiding their daughter from her.
Samodanova, 41, filed an emergency court order on Tuesday, August 11, requesting sole legal and physical custody of the exes’ daughters, Olivia, 15, and Zlata, 8. The choreographer also asked for Olivia “to be returned” to her care, alleging that she has no idea where Savchenko and her daughter are presently located.
“The claims are outright untruths,” Savchenko’s lawyer Mark Karney tells Us in a statement.
Savchenko, 42, had filed for sole custody of Olivia in July, requesting permission to enroll her in high school in Los Angeles. Samodanova later argued that her firstborn had been thriving since their 2024 move to Hong Kong. (Samodanova is based overseas with her partner, Vlad Kvartin, and their daughter, Victoria, who was born in December 2025.)
Responding to Samodanova’s motion, an attorney for Savchenko asked for her petition to be denied and claimed that Olivia “wants nothing more than to live in California with her father and attend school here.”
“Elena knows where Olivia and Gleb are, and any claims otherwise, are false,” the filing reads. “Moreover, Olivia has spoken to her mother, who, oftentimes, insults and threatens her. Thus, Olivia has made a reasoned decision to limit such communications, especially after her mother interfered in her academic prospects in California. Thus, any claim that Olivia is being hidden, is untruthful.”
Savchenko’s attorney further claimed that Samodanova’s petition lacked proper ex parte notice to his client.
“Elena knows where I live and where Olivia is located. Olivia and Elena have spoken several times since Olivia decided she wants to remain in California and live with me,” Savchenko wrote in a declaration, alleging, “The issue is that Elena is very cruel to Olivia, which has caused Olivia to communicate with her mother, much less than perhaps Elena would like.”
While Savchenko asserted that he has not hidden Olivia from her mother, the pro dancer noted that the teenager is “old enough to decide what kind of contact she would like to have with her mother.”
“Elena does not seem to respect the fact that our daughter is just about 16 years old and expresses her own desires, wants and needs,” he claimed. “Most phone calls do not go well with Olivia and her mother. Thus, Olivia has opted to change her phone number of her cell phone and not provide the number to her mother. This is Olivia’s choice. Moreover, Olivia has no desire to communicate with her mother ‘no less than 3 times per day’ as her mother requests.”
He concluded, “I am not looking to take Olivia away from [Samodanova], but her conduct is causing discord and fracture between [her] and our daughter. I wish that Elena would realize that Olivia does not want to live in Hong Kong, far away from me and California.”
Samodanova has not publicly addressed the accusations. Us reached out for comment.
