Diana Serebryannik grew up in Turkmenistan, where her two sisters studied for years to become doctors. Her sister Yulia's husband was once the national minister of horse breeding, but in 2002 he fell out of favor with the dictator Saparmurat Nyazov and ended up serving six years in jail on charges of abuse of power and negligence. From then on, the whole family faced years of harassment and intimidation, even after his release. 

“It was almost impossible to live there,” Serebryannik said of her family’s life in Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most isolated and authoritarian countries. “They confiscated everything.”

Serebryannik fled to Moscow in 2010 and, after many attempts, Yulia and the rest of her family joined her. Even there, persecution that they believe was orchestrated by Turkmenistan continued.

“We were threatened again, they tried to kidnap my daughter twice, when she was four and six months old, so we were afraid to go outside with her, and I was attacked with a knife.” she said.