Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

Cops in Russia have arrested a dad on suspicion of killing his seven-year-old daughter, who vanished a year ago after he reportedly kidnapped her with several other men.

Andrey Brezgin was arrested on Friday, 3rd June, with the District Court of Sysert in Russia’s Ural region ruling for him to be remanded in pre-trial custody on Sunday.

Brezgin first came to the attention of law enforcement when he and some heavies took the girl by force from the home of his estranged wife Natalya Brezgina in July last year.

The moment when Brezgin snatched his daughter and loaded her into an Opel SUV, which then drove off, was caught on CCTV and can be seen here.

A court swiftly ordered him to return the girl to her mother, but he failed to comply with the ruling.

This prompted the authorities in Sverdlovsk Oblast to put the girl on the missing persons list.

The girl was believed to be living in her father’s house until December last year, when investigators conducted a search of the property and failed to find her.

Brezgin told them he had sent her off to a religious school, but investigators now suspect that he may have murdered her.

The investigators are continuing their search for the girl and are also working to identify any accomplices.

Meanwhile, Brezgin faces charges of illegal imprisonment and murder.

Local media reported that before taking his daughter, Brezgin had taken his son to live with him.

On Monday, Natalya and representatives from the child services went to the suspect’s house to collect the boy.

However, the boy reportedly refused to return to his mother, who believes that his father had turned him against her.

Local media reported that if he continued to refuse to live with his mother, he would be taken to a rehabilitation centre to receive psychological treatment while his father remained in custody.

It is not clear if he eventually decided to go with his mother or if he entered a centre.

The last time the missing girl was seen was in a video apparently dated to 3rd June – the day her father was arrested.

But Natalya said: “A video has been posted on social media… But I do not know if it really is my daughter. I cannot confirm.

“I have not seen the child for a year, I do not even know what she looks like now.”

In an online petition (accessible here: https://chng.it/qQ8Lm4Tqzf), Natalya wrote (in Russian): “On 17th July, 2021, a group of persons unknown to me, led by my ex-husband, forcibly took my youngest daughter (six years old) from the front lawn of our house against her will, and our second daughter (10 years old) suffered a hand injury from a closing car door, in which the father of our children pushed his youngest daughter by force.”

She continued: “For a long time I lived in the belief that we live in a country where everything is decided with the help of the law and the times when everything was decided by force (the notorious 90s) are long gone.

“As it turned out, in our country it is not necessary to execute a court decision, it is enough to have money and a couple of strong unscrupulous guys in order to snatch a child from her mother, pull her out of her usual environment and hide her in an unknown location, while being outside the law and not incur punishment.”