Francine Villa, a Black woman who left the United States in 2019 to escape racial discrimination, says her attempt to find safety and dignity in Russia has ended in violence and betrayal.
In an emotional video posted to Instagram, Villa alleged that she and her two-year-old child were assaulted by racist neighbors in her Moscow apartment building — a place she once believed would offer her peace.
Villa, who was born in Russia but spent most of her life in the U.S., had moved back to her birth country in hopes of escaping what she described as repeated racist encounters with American law enforcement.
Her story was previously featured in the 2020 Russian state media documentary Back in the USSR, where she explained that her great-grandfather, George Tines of Virginia, moved to the Soviet Union in the 1930s to work as an agriculturalist.
“Why did I make up my mind to move to Russia? I wanted to leave a country where I was facing discrimination,” she said in the documentary.
At the time, Villa described feeling safe in Moscow.
“No matter what time it is, I can walk outside and I’m safe,” she told RT in 2020.
But five years later, her optimism has collapsed. In a disturbing series of social media posts, Villa said she was physically attacked by a couple in her building, who reportedly beat her with their fists while screaming racial slurs in Russian. all while she held her toddler.
In a harrowing hospital video, Villa is seen bloodied and crying, with visible injuries to her face. She alleges that her child suffered bruises during the incident as well.
Villa also claims the couple escalated their harassment by changing the locks to her apartment, cutting off her electricity, and even throwing her baby’s stroller down the stairs.
In edited footage shared by Villa, the pair can be seen in a heated confrontation with her in the building hallway, threatening to evict her forcibly. Villa said her neighbors had blocked her from entering her own apartment and that the situation had reached a terrifying level of hostility.
Despite filing complaints, Villa says police have failed to respond adequately or offer any protection, echoing the same systemic failures that originally pushed her to leave the U.S. in search of a better life.
Villa’s story has ignited online outrage and a wave of support from followers who say her experience reflects the global dimensions of anti-Black racism, even in countries where people of African descent represent a small minority.
Once held up as a symbol of reverse migration and transnational Black resilience, Villa now says she’s unsure of what comes next for her and her child.
“It’s heartbreaking,” one commenter wrote. “She ran from violence only to be met with more.”
