Kseniya Maiseenka's mother, for whom money was collected for SMA treatment, recorded a video appeal asking for help to get her children back

Nina Sankova. Screenshot from video

Earlier, all four of this woman's children were taken away and placed in an orphanage or other families. She admits that she "made a mistake I cannot forgive myself for," and that the realization that her children are not with her now "burns every day."

She explains her behavior, which led to this outcome, by stating that she herself grew up in an orphanage.

"I didn't know parental tenderness, I didn't see my mom hugging my dad or a family gathering at a common table. I grew up without an example of love and simply didn't know how to be a 'proper' mom. I got lost because I never had a map," the text appeal says.

But today, the woman assures, everything has changed: her own past should not determine her children's future, and she doesn't want them to repeat her fate.

"At this moment, I am working, I don't drink, I try to do everything in my power," she says in the video. "And I want to ask you for help to bring my children home, so they can be with me. Yes, I stumbled, I admit it, but I want my children back, I ask you to help me with this."

She herself, as stated in the text appeal, is going through a transformation, working on herself, and doing everything required by law and conscience to prove that she can be a support for them.

"I never abandoned my children and never will," Nina Sankova assures in the video. "I will try to become a good mother and an example for my children."

She promises to do everything she is told and follow all recommendations.

According to the Ministry of Health, as of April 14, 2026, all of Nina Sankova's children had the status of "child left without parental care until the causes that led to their recognition as needing state protection are eliminated." On April 24, volunteers learned from guardianship authorities that officials had filed documents in court to deprive Nina of her parental rights.

Kseniya Maiseenka, Nina Sankova's three-year-old daughter, was diagnosed with type 2 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — a severe genetic disease requiring expensive treatment. Thanks to a rapid fundraising effort involving ordinary Belarusians, organizations, and foundations, nearly two million dollars — an amount sufficient for a costly injection — was collected for her treatment.

But then it became known that it was not yet possible to administer the injection to Kseniya. But now doctors are giving hope again.

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