Avigail and Oleg had converted to Orthodox Judaism in Sydney. Before they got to St. Petersburg, Avigail, Oleg, “A” and her younger sister via Avigail and Oleg) spent some time in Israel. It was here that Avigail and Oleg increasingly had fights (throwing dishes etc). Oleg would come home late at night (after drinking) and eventually moved out.
In St. Petersberg, Avigail insisted that ‘A’s grandparents now call Anastasia by a Jewish name — “B” — but they refused to do this. Avigail then left for long periods (at one stage ‘A’ never saw Avigail for nearly 2 years) and eventually found work in the UK.
Now begins the part of ‘A’s life which Jeff had no knowledge of until 10 years later when he found her on Instagram in November 2021. At some stage in the UK, Avigail met a wealthy lawyer named Neville Eisenberg (of British law firm BCLP Cubed) and when ‘A’ was thirteen Avigail returned to St. Petersburg and took Anastasia and her younger sister to live in an expensive apartment in St.Petersburg. Avigail was often violent towards ‘A’.
One time, the grandmother said to Avigail words to the effect that such beatings would get ‘A’ used to it and acceptance of beatings from men later in life. One day, Avigail emptied a bucket of water over ‘A’ when she was in bed because she had not finished some cleaning, and bed remained wet for several days.
After an incident in which Avigail held a knife in one hand and belted the stone floor with a wooden chair which eventually broke, ‘A’ went to her grandparents. Avigail called police and took them to grandparents apartment, but police said that they could do nothing because ‘A’ said she did not want to live with Avigail.
‘A’s grandfather then drove her to stay with friends in a nearby town to protect her from Avigail. This only enraged Avigail further who paid thugs to slash all the tires on the grandfather’s car.
When ‘A’ eventually returned to school, Avigail paid two police officers (one a female) to go the school, take ‘A’ alone to a room and tell he that “something bad” would happen to her grandparents if she did not sign a document saying that she would live with Avigail. Fearing the worst, ‘A’ signed.