He was released, but did not fail to tell about his ordeal in prison. Alexeï Moskalyov, a father, separated from his 14-year-old daughter for a drawing denouncing the Russian offensive in Ukraine and convicted of having “discredited” the army, found his freedom on Tuesday after having spent nineteen months in detention .
The affair, which became one of the symbols of the repression of voices critical of the conflict in Ukraine, shocked Russian society.
Alexei Moskaliov, 56, recounted his ordeal in prison in a video interview broadcast by OVD-Info. Shortly after his arrival in the prison camp, he says he was placed in a punishment cell where he spent two months. “A real torture cell,” he said.
Near Kursk, in Russia, the scene of a surprise offensive by the Ukrainian army in early August, euphoria has given way to skepticism. Two months later, kyiv soldiers are questioning this strategy, while Moscow’s troops are advancing on Ukrainian territory. “I don’t understand what the next plan is,” admits Serguiï, a Ukrainian soldier participating in the operation, to AFP.
One of the announced objectives was to ease pressure on the Donbass region (eastern Ukraine), where kyiv’s forces have been retreating for months. “Perhaps the enemy has retreated from other directions […] but we have not felt any significant changes here,” comments Oleksandre, a young soldier deployed near Toretsk, a town in Donbass that has been targeted for weeks.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, announced on Tuesday
on social networks that he had invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to present his “victory plan” to defeat Russia at a European Union summit which is to take place this Thursday.
Military support for kyiv and strengthening Ukraine’s already battered energy sector are among the topics on the agenda of the meeting of leaders of the 27 countries of the European Union, which will be held in Brussels.
Fights on the fronts, bellicose declarations and diplomatic negotiations, follow with us the highlights of the conflict on the 966th day of the war in Ukraine.
