A BOMBSHELL update in the hunt for missing Brit boy Oliver Pugh, feared to have been abducted by his mum, suggests she has whisked him over to THAILAND.
Clues from social media posts appear to show Anastasiia Chikina swanning around a lux shopping mall in Bangkok – rather than her native Russia, as police initially suspected.
SuppliedOliver Pugh, three, has been missing for six weeks and is suspected to have been abducted by his mum[/caption]
Anastasiia’s post last week, left, and the juice bar in Iconsiam’s food court, right
Ansitasiia and her sister on her Instagram story, left, and the Cartier store in Iconsiam, right
Oliver, three, vanished alongside his Russian influencer mum six weeks ago – just before a court could block her custody of the boy.
His distraught dad this week launched a £87,000 (€100,000) cash reward in a desperate bid to bring his son back home to Marbella.
Initially, there were zero leads on where Anastasiia could be hiding with Oliver.
Then the relationships influencer, with 140,000 followers, broke her silence and cryptically claimed the “truth would come out”.
Now, two Instagram stories posted a week apart both appear to have been taken inside the Iconsiam shopping mall in Bangkok.
The first, posted on August 31, shows her eating with the Hula Hula Juice Bar in the background.
While the juice bar is not listed online, reviews of the Iconsiam food court include pictures of the same juice bar, as seen in the picture above.
The second picture was posted yesterday – September 5 – showing Anastasiia and her 15-year-old sister walking past a Cartier store.
Various clues including the position of the escalators, style of the benches and appearance of the ceiling appear to confirm it is the Cartier store in Iconsiam.
If the missing group – Oliver, Anastasiia, her mum Angela Nikolenko and 15-year-old sister are indeed all in Thailand, it raises fresh hopes that Oliver could be rescued.
It is better than him being bundled into Putin’s Russia, as previously feared, as Moscow would never agree to extradite Anastasiia.
In fact, the Kremlin has already waded in to say it would gladly welcome Oliver into its clutches.
Oliver’s distraught dad, with the first scrap of hope since his boy disappeared, is now concentrating his efforts on Thailand.
Oliver was born in Marbella but is British with a UK passport.
SuppliedAnastasiia Chikina, 32, is suspected of snatching Oliver and fleeing abroad[/caption]
Anastasiia Chikina, 32, Russian national
He was being looked after by both parents, who are separated, in Marbella – though recently a court ruling this summer gave his dad full custody.
After the final hearing in July, Anastasiia realised what was going to happen and fled – with the boy in tow.
She had been allowed to continue looking after Oliver until the final decision came in August, but was barred from leaving the country and ordered to surrender Oliver’s passport.
However, she claimed to the court she had lost his passport, and then abruptly disappeared.
SuppliedOliver likes cars and Lego, according to his dad[/caption]
East2WestOliver’s Russian grandmother Angela (Anzhela) Nikolenko disappeared at the same time and believed to be with them[/caption]
A missing persons appeal and an abduction investigation were launched in Spain – and Interpol has been contacted.
On Thursday, Anastasiia posted a cryptic message online about Oliver and “the truth”.
She wrote: “We have a difficult conversation to have.
“Talk about how scary it is when the system is against the child.
“We have time, not much, but we have it, to understand the truth.
“The truth will not be pleasant to everyone, it usually remains behind closed doors, but here it comes out.”
This week Oliver’s dad made an emotional appeal through The Sun directly to Anastasiia.
He said: “Oliver needs and deserves to have both of his parents in his life.
SuppliedOliver should not be in the care of his mother, per a Marbella court ruling[/caption]
GettyThe family disappeared from Marbella[/caption]
“By taking him away from his father, his friends, and everything familiar, the only one truly being hurt is Oliver.
“I know you love him and want the best for him, but this is causing pain not just for him, but for you and your family too.
“Please, stop before it gets any harder for everyone.”
At the end of last week, a spokesperson for Spain‘s national police said: “The youngster and his father are British and the mother is Russian based in Marbella.
“We are treating this as a parental abduction.”
The force was unable to provide any further updates this week.
The Foreign Office said it is “supporting the family of a British child who has been reported missing in Spain“.
Oliver is 3 years and 9 months old, 100cm tall with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with any information about Oliver is asked to contact Spain’s National Police, email info@oliverpugh.info, or use this dedicated website.
The Spanish missing persons appeal to find OliverEnterprise