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Belenkaya was released from custody the day French police brought her to France from Hungary but a French court prohibited her from approaching Andre's home to a distance of less than 50 kilometers. A Frenchman was on Friday awarded custody of his three-year-old daughter whose Russian mother came under prosecution earlier on a charge of abducting the girl from her father.

"Of course, I had been ready for something of the kind," Irina Belenkaya, mother of three-year-old Elise, told Russian television channel Vesti 24 in a comment on a court ruling that gave Jean-Michel Andre custody of the girl.

Belenkaya said she had been granted two 45-minute meetings with Elise since she was extradited by France on May 27 by the authorities of Hungary, where she was arrested in March on a charge of abducting the girl from Andre.

"My former husband fully controls [Elise's] behavior. I can't say I've been able to maintain human contact [with the girl]," Belenkaya said.

Belenkaya said she had had her last meeting with Elise last Sunday at a police station "where I had come to make a statement against Monsieur Andre."

The defense of Belenkaya, who was arrested while she was trying to cross the Hungarian border into Ukraine with Elise, is seeking to have criminal action against her quashed.

Belenkaya was released from custody the day French police brought her to France from Hungary but a French court prohibited her from approaching Andre's home to a distance of less than 50 kilometers.