Vogue model stabs ‘abusive’ husband to death in heart after he brings woman home from bar and flirts with her
A model at Vogue allegedly killed her husband by stabbing him in the heart after he brought another woman home from a bar and began flirting with her. The model, identified as 26-year-old Lilia Sudakova, reportedly faces up to 15 years in prison after the death of 28-year-old Sergey Popov. Sudakova's mother, however, has claimed that Popov was abusive towards her daughter and that she acted in self-defense.
Sudakova has reportedly confessed to the killing. She has previously appeared on the cover of Russian Vogue and in multiple other magazines in Italy, China, and Japan. The model said that she called an ambulance immediately after stabbing her husband and that he was rushed to the hospital. However, he succumbed to his injuries there. Sudakova, post his death, was charged with manslaughter and has been detained in pre-trial custody for at least two months.
Sudakova's mother, Irena Sudakova, 48, however, has claimed that her daughter — famous for her natural ginger hair — has been a longtime victim of domestic abuse at the hands of Popov, and that she acted in self-defense when she attacked her husband.
Irena, while talking to Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, said that a drunk Popov had brought a woman he met at a bar home and expected his wife to cook for both of them. The mother added that he then allegedly grabbed Sudakova's hair and kicked her in the legs. She claimed that there was another witness in the flat. Popov, according to Irene, retreated but eventually returned while she was cutting vegetables for a salad. "He grabbed her by the hair,” she said. “At that moment, she waved him away and accidentally stuck a knife into him."
Irene said that it was an "irresistible impulse" and at first she thought the heart wound was "just a cut." "When the witness came [into then kitchen], he saw how it was," the mother said, "My daughter was shaking all over. Lilia is a victim, it was self-defense. This was such a sick love. It all happened by accident, it was an accident."
While talking about Popov, Irene said that her son-in-law was "smart" and "mesmerizing with his mind." She labeled him a computer genius, however, she added that he was an "alcoholic" who could be "an arrogant snob." Irene also claimed that Popov often beat her daughter when he was drunk and that she had even witnessed the assault.
"My daughter was completely sober,” she said, claiming the law in Russia is biased against victims of domestic abuse. "Here self-defense is considered only when a man rushes at you with an axe,” she said. “The fact that he beat her before, that he was despotic, this does not bother anyone. Nobody takes into account the nuances. She wasn't aiming [the knife]. She did it accidentally. I don't know how my daughter will live with the knowledge of what she has done. She is vulnerable, it will bring her down. Hopefully, there are chances of a minimum suspended sentence [because] this is all so unfair."