Kenyan woman pleads for help after Russian ex-lover kicks her out, takes off with baby

In a quiet corner of Mvindeni village near Ukunda, 23-year-old Jerop Faith stares into the distance, her heart shattered, her arms empty, but her spirit holding on.

Her baby girl, Maya, is thousands of kilometres away in Russia, taken by the man she once loved.

The man is Andrey Sinista, a broad-chested, grey-eyed Russian in his late 40s whom she met on April 4, 2023, during a casual walk inside a Diani shopping mall.

What began as a whirlwind romance quickly morphed into a transnational tragedy that Faith now describes as her worst nightmare.

“I met Andrey Sinista, fell in love, trusted him, and three months later I got pregnant,” narrates Faith.

Back then, she believed she had found the one, a doting partner and a possible father figure for her future family. But Sinista’s cold reaction to her pregnancy sent the first shivers of doubt down her spine. He didn’t rejoice. Instead, he issued ultimatums.

He demanded she quit her job at a massage parlour in Ukunda. Then, he pushed for a move to Argentina, a decision Faith suspects was meant to secure South American citizenship for the unborn child.

“Since the processing of my passport was delayed, he changed his mind about the pregnancy (he wanted her to abort). My mother rejected the idea of aborting my baby,” she says.

Faith’s mother, Jenifer Ekitela, a devout Christian and small-scale shopkeeper, stood by her daughter through it all.

“I thought I had found my matching partner. The cosy dates, the hugs and kisses were too good, but only for a short period,” Faith adds tearfully.

Maya was born on April 3, 2023, via caesarean section. Just days later, Sinista asked them to travel to Russia, claiming his ailing father’s dying wish was to see his granddaughter.

Faith agreed, but the journey was a logistical nightmare. It took weeks of chasing documents, embassy visits, and phone calls to immigration officers before she finally boarded a plane to Moscow with her baby and estranged lover.

But what awaited her in Russia was far from a family reunion.

“This looked strange, and I was scared, as I was forced to sleep in the apartment's living room and not the bedroom with the husband,” Faith says of the cold, distant apartment she was shoved into upon arrival.

Things grew worse. Sinista began acting erratically. He would disappear for days. He took her on bizarre late-night errands, forcing her onto amusement park rides despite her crippling fear of heights.

“He took me out on night errands where we would frequent an amusement park with swings and forced me to rise on them even though I freak out about heights and would make disappearance acts for days without a trace,” she said.

Then came May 7, 2025, a date Faith will never forget.

Sinista walked into the apartment with a lawyer. Moments later, he was gone, baby Maya in hand, claiming Faith was violent and unstable. She was left behind, blindsided and heartbroken.

“I was framed and accused of being violent and a danger to my child. I cried out and sensed something fishy was in the offing. The child was taken away,” she recalled.

Two days later, on May 9, he returned, not with peace, but with fury.

“On May 9, 2025, he pushed me out of the house, accusing me of disrespecting him. Our neighbours witnessed everything,” Faith narrated.

Locked out, stranded in a foreign land, Faith scrambled for help. She reached out to the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow, which managed to place her in a safe house. She was flown back to Kenya shortly after — without her baby.

“The embassy tried to help. They called and begged him to bring me the baby and travel documents, but he never showed up."

"We went to four different police stations, but we found out that he had not registered me. We later went to another police station, and when he was summoned, he claimed I had tuberculosis, and from that time no one wanted to listen to me, me,” she lamented.

Faith’s cries for justice are now growing louder. She is rallying support and legal aid to mount a custody battle against Sinista in a Russian court, a process she estimates will cost at least KSh2 million. Her resolve is unwavering.

“I want help from my government, and I want it now,” she pleads.

Her mother, Jenifer, feels vindicated, and deeply saddened.

“As a caring mother and one who has seen better and worse days, I never supported the union. I only prayed for my daughter's safety and now that of my grandchild,'' she said.

Faith is now calling on Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi to step in. Her case, she says, is a cry for every Kenyan woman who has been abandoned or betrayed on foreign soil.

As she prays and plans, her heart remains tethered to one thing, Maya.