'Our family is broken apart': Stepdad's plea as court bans British girl from leaving Russia for 7 YEARS

Victoria Osborne, step-daughter of a British university lecturer, was stopped by border guards as she was about to board a flight home.

The youngster, who was due to start a new school back home in Hampshire, was returning from a family visit with her mother, Tatiana.

Stepdad Patrick Osborne with stepdaughter Victoria and her mother Tatiana

They were told that the girl's biological father, Colonel Yuri Gladkikh, from whom Tatiana has been separated for eight years, had imposed the order.

Although they are British citizens the pair travelled on Russian passports, making them subject to the country's law - under which divorced parents are allowed to block the movements of their children out of the country until they are 18.

Mrs Osborne, 34, was told she was free to leave but she refused to go without her daughter, who is known as Vicka.

Victoria's stepfather, Dr Patrick Osborne, is now fighting to bring his family back to their home in Winchester.

' This order came totally out of the blue,' he said. 'Mr Gladkikh has never tried to play any part in Vicka's life in the last eight years except for one phone call a year. Sometimes he doesn't even call her on her birthday.'

Dr Osborne, 52, who married Tatiana six years ago after meeting her while working in Russia, added: 'We know it is not going to be easy, but we are determined to get our family back together.

'Both Tatiana and Vicka are desperate to come back to this country. When we go over there to see Tatiana's family Mr Gladkikh knows exactly where we are because his mother lives in the same village - but he never tries to see Vicka.

'The first I heard about this was when Tatiana left a message on my answerphone.

'She is getting increasingly distressed and it's going to get harder and harder the longer it goes on for her.'

Mrs Osborne has been locked in negotiations with lawyers 1,500 miles away in Saratov, a city in southern Russia, where she and her daughter have been since Victoria was stopped last Thursday.

Mrs Osborne said from Saratov: ' We are devastated. Had we known about this restriction we would never have gone to Russia this summer.

'Our family is broken apart and Vicka is not at school. She was so much looking forward to it.

'I will never leave her on her own. She needs to be with her mum and feel she's loved and wanted. This is a betrayal by her biological father.'

The family could face a lengthy court battle if the order is not withdrawn by Colonel Gladkikh.

They have sought help from the British Embassy in Russia but have been told there is little they can do because they were travelling on Russian passports.

Dr Osborne, who lectures in civil engineering at the University of Southampton, said he he was trying to get her new school, the Westgate School, in Winchester, to send work for her by email.

'It is unbelievable that any parent, however far-removed from daily upbringing, would deny his child the right to a good education, access to her home and friends,' he said.

Dr Osborne said the family were in talks with Colonel Gladkikh over the ownership of a flat in Saratov.