Belarus

Father of Russian girl who drew anti-war pictures held in Belarus

cde.news desk 7 April 2023, 14:20 · 1 min read

epa10561237 A supporter of the Moskaleva family with Masha Moskaleva picture on his T-short, attends a court hearing in the Yefremov Interdistrict Court in town Yefremov, Tula region, Russia, 06 April 2023. The Yefremov Interdistrict Court held a closed session with the participation of Masha Moskaleva and her mother Olga Sitchikhina to consider the issue of limiting both parental rights. In the spring of last year, Masha Moskaleva, the then 12-year- old, drew an anti-war drawing in an art lesson. Her father Alexei Moskalyov was fined under an article on discrediting the army, and later detained and placed under house arrest. He fled before the court session at which the verdict was announced and later the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus reported his detention in Minsk. Masha had been placed at a children's home. EPA-EFE/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

MOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) – Alexei Moskalyov, a Russian man who was charged with discrediting the country’s army after his daughter drew an anti-war picture, is being held in Belarus, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported, citing the Russian embassy in the country.

TASS cited the embassy’s press service as saying: “We confirm that citizen of the Russian Federation Alexei Moskalev was detained on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Now he is in a pre-trial detention center in the city of Zhodino”.

Alexei Moskalyov was convicted of discrediting the armed forces and given a two-year jail term, leaving his daughter Maria, or Masha in the diminutive, in the hands of the state.

Masha last year drew a picture in a school art class last year that featured Russian missiles flying towards Ukraine and the slogans “Glory to Ukraine” and “No to Putin, no to war”, touching off her father’s legal troubles.