BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

The Russian supermodel who defended her autistic sister

  • Published
    14 August 2015
Share page
About sharing
Natalia Vodianova arrives at the Valentino Spring / Summer 2013 show as part of Paris Fashion WeekImage source, Getty Images
By BBC Trending
What's popular and why

A supermodel has started a debate about rights for disabled people in Russia.

It all started on 11 August, when 27-year-old Oksana, who has autism and cerebral palsy, went to a cafe with her carer. It was a hot day in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod and the pair wanted to rest. But it appears the owner of the cafe didn't take kindly to Oksana, and she was soon shown the door for allegedly "scaring all the customers away".

The incident might usually have gone unnoticed.

But Oksana's sister happened to be a supermodel.

Natalia Vodianova, who has appeared on the cover of Vogue and fronted campaigns for Calvin Klein, took to Facebook, external to share her sister's story late on 12 August. According to Vodianova's post, the owner demanded that both women leave immediately. "Leave. You're scaring all our customers away. Go and get medical help for you and your child. And then go out in public," he apparently said.

Natalia posted on her page about the incident that involved her sister getting kicked out of a cafe in Russia.Image source, Facebook

After the carer tried to explain that Oksana has special needs, the owner apparently called security guards to force the two women out. "Leave, or we'll call a nuthouse, and an ambulance, and will lock you in a cellar," Vodianova quoted one of the guards as saying.

Natalia and Oksana's mother Larisa was called, and the women were all taken to the police on suspicion of "minor hooliganism".

Criminal inquiry

Within a day, the Facebook post had 80,000 likes and over 4,700 comments. The story made it onto major TV channels. No charges were brought against the women, and instead the attention prompted a criminal investigation into whether there had been "humiliation of human dignity" by the cafe owners.

The owners defended their actions, however. They said Oksana was behaving "strangely".

"She was sitting on the pavement for an hour. She hit her head against the wall," Anar Bayramov, the owner's son, told the state owned Rossiya 1 TV channel. Online, some agreed with the owners. "The look of a sick person does not improve your appetite," said a comment , externalon VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook.

Grey line

Analysis: Lee Kumutat and Kathleen Hawkins, BBC Ouch blog

The effects of an encounter like this can be long-lasting and even indelible for disabled people.

In the UK certain places have acknowledged that autistic people and those with other disabilities, including cerebral palsy and Tourette's, may be unable to sit quietly for long durations of time.

In Russia, the 2012 Winter Paralympics in Sochi were considered a success in terms of accessibility for disabled people. There is also legislation relating solely to disabled people which was adopted in 1995, but Tanya Cooper from Human Rights Watch says this does not relate to discrimination, and only covers benefits, employment and subsidies.

At present the cafe owner is being investigated by Russia's Federal Investigative Committee. But Cooper says it would make more sense to use anti-discrimination law consistently, instead of applying an excessively harsh article of the criminal code which could result in five years in prison.

As a former resident of Moscow, she said that disability discrimination is "rampant and engrained" in Russia, and many Russians treat disabled people "as if they are diseased or ill and should be shut out of the public eye".

Grey line

But many more Russians sided with Oksana online, and condemned the cafe owner's actions. "These people are sick, they are an embarrassment for humanity," wrote Sarmad Akram on Vodianova's Facebook page. Prominent Russians joined in the criticism. "I will never set foot in the Flamingo cafe and I hope you will support me," editor-in-chief of The New Times magazine Yevgeniya Albats tweeted, external.

Tweet by editor-in-chief of the New Times magazine that says: "I will never set foot in the Falmingo café and I hope you will support me."Image source, Twitter
Image caption,

"I will never set foot in the Flamingo cafe and I hope you will support me," says editor-in-chief of The New Times magazine Yevgeniya Albats.

Other Russians questioned Vodianova's motives, saying she was seeking media attention. "The disabled have nothing to do with it, Vodianova has inflated her PR Western-style," one person tweeted, external. "Ms Vodianova, since you have so much money, why haven't you provided your sister with a life in some proper health centre for sick people by the sea, for instance?" a VKontakte user asked, external.

According to disability experts, the situation with Vodianova's sister is "typical" for Russia, and "every family with such a child" faces similar situations. Irina Dolotova of Road to World - a Russian charity for children with special needs - tells BBC Trending that Russia is just "at the beginning of the path" in terms of disability rights protection. "This situation is new. Until the 1990s it wasn't considered acceptable to show such children, there are a lot of superstitious beliefs, and there's little awareness in society," she says.

Translation: "Vodyanova's sister suffering from cerebral palsy has been cynically kicked out of a café in Nizhnoy Novgorod. Humanity and kindness are not currently in fashion."Image source, Twitter
Image caption,

Translation: "Vodyanova's sister who suffers from cerebral palsy has been kicked out of a café in Nizhnoy Novgorod. Humanity and kindness are not currently in fashion."

Blog by Olga Bugorkova

Next story: What Michael Jackson is doing for an ancient language

Renata Flores sings a Michael Jackson song in QuechuaImage source, Renata Flores

A 14-year-old girl's cover of a Michael Jackson song is changing the image of the Quechua language. WATCH

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Families demand answers as Southport inquiry opens

    • Published
      1 hour ago
  • Poisoned water and scarred hills: BBC visits world's rare earths capital in China

  • Why Texas floods were so devastating

More to explore

  • How King Charles is helping to 'reinvigorate' the shaken UK-France friendship

    Index pic
  • 'PM to press Macron' and 'mushroom murders' trial

    The front pages of the Daily Mail and the Times
  • Poisoned water and scarred hills: BBC visits world's rare earths capital in China

    Large plumes of white smoke billow out of a large canyon in China
  • The doctor fighting for women's health on Ukraine's front line

    A doctor smiles as he takes a selfie with a woman patient inside a mobile medical unit. His hair is dyed the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, and medical paraphernalia is in the background.
  • Did US government cuts contribute to the Texas tragedy?

    A boat on a river in Texas with four rescue workers on board
  • From India to Britain and back: The cartoonist who fought censors with a smile

    Abu cartoon
  • 'Everyone knows somebody affected': The small towns in shock after mushroom murders

    A sign for Korumburra General Cemetery, with headstones and hills in the background
  • 200 million year-old flying reptile species found

    The image is an artist's impression of the ancient winged reptile that scientists have discovered at a site that, 200 million years ago, was a riverbed. The image depicts a creature with a long, pointed jaw and wings folded in at its sides. It has its clawed feet submerged in the water of the river and appears to have caught a small amphibian in its mouth.
  • US Politics Unspun: Cut through the noise with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s newsletter

    Anthony Zurcher with Washington landmarks and red white and blue stripes
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Emergency alert to be sent to smartphones in UK test

  2. 2

    'PM to press Macron' and 'mushroom murders' trial

  3. 3

    US delays higher tariffs but announces new rates for some nations

  4. 4

    Workplace misconduct and discrimination NDAs to be banned

  5. 5

    Families demand answers as Southport inquiry opens

  6. 6

    How King Charles is helping to 'reinvigorate' the shaken UK-France friendship

  7. 7

    Trump upbeat on Gaza ceasefire talks as he hosts Netanyahu

  8. 8

    Manchester Airport brawl CCTV shown to jury

  9. 9

    Hosepipe ban to be introduced across Yorkshire

  10. 10

    The Salt Path author defends herself against claims she misled readers

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Love and fatherhood in noughties Brixton

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Babyfather
  • Your new favourite offbeat, snappy US sitcom

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    St. Denis Medical
  • Step into the world of luxury holidays

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Billion Dollar Playground
  • The inside story of the Live Aid concert

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Live Aid at 40: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.