"Going for a walk in New York?" Ruslan asked. "You must be mad. You'll get lost in the biggest city in the world," he said. The idea of a blind woman walking around in a city like New York is completely unthinkable to Ruslan.

"As for my safety," he said, "The trial would be my comeback, so the government may not expect that. I won't be surprised if it's safe. But the next ones may not. Surprises don't work twice".