The famous creator of the Soviet Olympic uniform was kicked out of her apartment

Tatyana Kormilitsyna came to the editorial office with a bag containing the most expensive things for her (a dress she sewed from antique Vologda lace, sketches, photographs, a work book, etc.). There are very few of them, and now she carries relics with her everywhere.

“Everything else disappeared from the apartment without a trace,” says the woman. — Most of all I regret the theft of the author’s collection (37 items), drawings, family photo albums…

Tatyana Alekseevna is an artist and fashion designer. Yes, it’s not easy: it was she who, by decision of the Moscow City Council, in 1989 became the director of the first author’s atelier in the entire Soviet Union. Before this, Kormilitsyna designed and sewed uniforms (among many others) for the 1980 Olympics, and was recognized as the best cutter of 1980.

Over her long life, Tatyana Alekseevna sewed a lot of things, for which she was awarded various awards (they also disappeared, but the entries in the work book were preserved). One of these rewards, in fact, was an apartment.

“This apartment on Vernadsky Avenue was allocated to me on behalf of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov,” says Kormilitsyna. — Yuri Mikhailovich knew me personally because I made costumes for children for various city holidays and decorated special events. He was aware of my family situation: my mother was sick at that time, I had to take her to my place to look after her.

The new three-room apartment was not exactly a gift: Kormilitsyna gave the city her old one-room apartment in Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane for it (she still laments this, because housing prices there have skyrocketed).

Be that as it may, Tatyana Alekseevna and her husband, her mother and daughter Nastenka lived in the new apartment. And then the worst tragedy in Kormilitsyna’s life happened. My daughter died in an accident on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. This happened on June 2, 2000. A first-year MGIMO student was driving that day with her fiancé in his car…

Kormilitsyna carries with her all the surviving photographs of her daughter, including those from the funeral. Her daughter was an incredible beauty. The loss of an only child is a grief that can drive anyone crazy. But more than 20 years have passed since then, and Kormilitsyna was not and is not registered with a psychiatrist.

Then my mother died. Kormilitsyna divorced her husband (once an employee of the Kurchatov Institute) in 2009. He went to the village, where he began to drink. As a result, under strange circumstances, he issued a deed of gift for his share in the apartment to a certain woman. And soon, due to alcoholism, he fell ill.

“He died in my arms because there was no one else to look after him,” says Kormilitsyna. “And then he told me how he was drugged, how he signed some papers in an inadequate state…

Be that as it may, the ex-husband’s share in the housing after his death was resold at least three times (at the same time, Tatyana Kormilitsyna was not offered to buy it out, although the law provides for the first right of purchase for those who live), until it finally passed to a certain Roman from Dagestan. In 2021, a tenant appeared on the doorstep of an apartment on Vernadsky for the first time.

“He came not alone, but with a crowd,” says Tatyana Alekseevna. — I counted 10 people. All are bearded and strong. They said that if I didn’t let him into the apartment, they would blow up the door. I later learned from lawyers how the move-in was supposed to take place: the new tenant must come with the district police officer and show documents confirming his right to a share in the apartment. And immediately this man began to threaten. When I asked him to show his documents, he grabbed a sugar bowl from the table and threw it at my head. I was scared. I grabbed pillows, a blanket, some things – and ran out of there. I lived with my neighbor Zina for four months. On February 15, 2022, she made an attempt to return to the apartment. But he beat me, and in front of my neighbor. And then he attacked again. The last time was April 28, 2022, at two in the morning. By that time, I had already returned to my home, but I lived like on a powder keg, I tried not to leave the bedroom (I locked myself). So, he kicked down the door to my room, grabbed me and seemed to even try to rape me. I rushed to the window (a group of young people were sitting on the street) and began shouting: “Guys, help, they’re killing me!” They called the police and ran to save me. And this one hit my head on the glass (here, look, there are cracks – I still haven’t inserted a new one), as a result of this blow I lost three teeth. The police arrived, said that I needed to write a statement, and gave me a referral for a medical examination. I did everything the next morning. So what’s the point? There was no investigation. And valuables, paintings, and furniture disappeared from the apartment. My home was in ruins. Yes, you can see everything yourself.

…Kormilitsyna’s apartment at number 127 on Vernadsky is really in poor condition. The front door and doors in the rooms had obviously been broken more than once. Broken glass in the windows…

“But when he kicked me out, he moved different people into my rooms,” Kormilitsyna shows these very rooms. “And they already did whatever they wanted here… They tore off the walls, took things out.” Someone burned out the eyes of my pilot grandfather in the photo… I called the local police officer more than once, but he didn’t come then. When he finally showed up, he refused permission to use the video cameras to see who was carrying the furniture (they say there is no such possibility).

In general, it’s strange that a person was beaten in Moscow – we know when, we know who, but the police are silent. Maybe Kormilitsyna is making everything up?

But no: the fact of the beating on February 15 was recorded (written a statement) by a neighbor named Paputse. I stopped by to ask him about everything personally.

– Yes, I confirm, it was with me. Kormilitsyna asked to help her get into her apartment. The door was closed on the other side. We started knocking loudly. Finally Roman opened, greeted us rudely, and began swearing. He attacked Tatyana with his fists. Imagine, he hit her right on the head. And then he attacked me with his fists… After this incident, Kormilitsyna was in the hospital.

Tatyana Alekseevna shows me the apartment, places on the wall where, according to her, paintings hung, furniture stood.

“I wrote to both the president and the Prosecutor General’s Office, but everyone is sent to the police, and then to the local police officer.” And the following answers come: “Your appeal addressed to the president has been forwarded for consideration to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow.”

I explain to Kormilitsyna that everything here is logical and correct – it’s not the president who should personally deal with such everyday stories. But the answers from the police really look like unsubscribes. This was noted even in the prosecutor’s office. In March 2023, the Nikulinsk Interdistrict Prosecutor’s Office made a decision (available to the reaction): “The decisions to refuse to initiate a criminal case have been cancelled, the materials have been sent to the Department of Internal Affairs of Russia for Troparevo-Nikulin for additional verification. Based on the facts of violations, a request was made to the head of the Department of Internal Affairs to eliminate them. Kormilitsyna’s complaint must be satisfied.” And recently another letter arrived from the prosecutor’s office, dated July 17, 2023. It says that the decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case was recognized as illegal and unfounded. But until now no one has even called Tatyana to the police for a conversation.

It’s probably the local police officer’s fault. In a conversation with me on the phone, he irritably said that Kormilitsyna had tortured everyone with appeals, that she herself was not very well off, and generally hinted that she might be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital. I wonder, what about the neighbors who confirm her words, too? What about doctors? And the prosecutor?

“Today the district police officer has such power that the result of any appeal to the police can depend on him,” says Ilya Sherstnev, the former best police officer at Petrovka, 38 (his portrait hung on the Honor Board at the Central Internal Affairs Directorate). – This is what it looks like. The Presidential Administration does not conduct inspections, but redirects them according to their jurisdiction to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs itself has the right to check, but, as a rule, it does not do this and sends it down to the first instance, that is, to the police department about which they are complaining. In 99% of cases, the head of the department instructs the district police officer who is being complained about to write a response. That is, he himself conducts the check and gives an answer. Vicious circle. Each problem has a first name, last name and patronymic. In this situation, it appears to be the district police officer. And in general, usually, as the district police officer presents the material to the investigative bodies, as a result, so it will be.

The heroine of this story returned to the apartment, taking advantage of the fact that the tenant had disappeared somewhere. Most likely, he was afraid of the consequences, because the district police officer informed him about the interest in the fashion designer’s case from human rights activists and the prosecutor’s office. This could be a good ending to the story. But in the human world it is law, not the law of the jungle. And this means that for beating a person (whoever he is) one must be held accountable. Just like a district police officer should be held accountable for inaction.