“Alexei Moskalyov was finally able to see his daughter,” said his lawyer Vladimir Bilienko.
X/DR
A father, separated from his daughter over a drawing denouncing the Russian offensive in Ukraine, was released Tuesday after serving his sentence, his lawyer said. He was sentenced to one year and ten months in camp for “discrediting” the Russian army.
The affair, a symbol of the repression of voices critical of the Russian assault, shocked Russian society, strongly attached to the family framework.
“Alexei (Moskaliov) is at large. He feels more or less well, he was finally able to see his daughter,” said his lawyer Vladimir Bilienko.
The specialized NGO OVD-Info, declared a “foreign agent” by the authorities, published a video of the reunion of Alexeï Moskalyov with his 14-year-old daughter Maria, in tears, at the exit of camp number 6 in Novomoskovsk , in the Tula region, south of Moscow.
“They are returning home to Efremov and will live together again,” the lawyer said.
Alexei Moskalyov, 56, came to the attention of authorities when his daughter, Maria, then 13, drew a drawing in class showing Russian missiles heading towards a woman and child near a blue flag and Ukrainian yellow.
The director of the school then contacted the police, who discovered messages from the father on social networks criticizing the offensive by Russian forces.
The father was immediately separated from his daughter who was placed in a home for minors.
Alexei Moskalyov, raising his daughter Maria alone in the town of Efremov, south of Moscow, was subsequently prosecuted and sentenced in March 2023 to two years in prison for having “discredited” the Russian army.
Alexei Moskalyov, during his trial.
AFP
A few hours before his conviction, Mr. Moskaliov had broken his house arrest and fled in an incredible manner to Belarus – a neighboring country allied with Moscow. He was quickly arrested and extradited to Russia.
The Tula regional court then reduced his sentence by two months on appeal. Alexei spent a total of one year and seven months in prison, because a day in pre-trial detention is counted, according to Russian law, as a day and a half in an ordinary regime camp where he served his sentence.
More than 1,000 people have been prosecuted in Russia since February 2022 for criticizing the Russian offensive in Ukraine, according to OVD-Info. Hundreds of others have been intimidated or driven into exile for their opinion, a way for the authorities to limit dissent.
(AFP)
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