A Russian man who was probed by the authorities after his child drew an anti-war drawing in class was given a two-year prison term on Tuesday for defaming the armed services.
Yet, it was unknown where Alexei Moskalyov, the condemned guy, may be. He had escaped from home detention, according to a court statement on the Facebook-like social media site VKontakte.
Masha, Moskalyov’s 13-year-old daughter, was sent to a children’s home in their village of Yefremov, south of Moscow, after he was put under house arrest at the beginning of this month.
Human rights advocates in Russia have expressed outrage over the situation, and an internet campaign to reunite father and daughter has been launched.
Vladimir Biliyenko, Moskalyov’s attorney, said that he had not seen his client since Monday and was relying only on the spokesperson’s assertion to determine if Moskalyov had departed.
He admitted to Reuters that he was “now in a state of shock.”
Masha would temporarily stay at the children’s home, he noted, and the defense will appeal the decision.
The leader of Russia’s most powerful mercenary organization and the creator of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, deemed the decision “unfair” and requested that it be reconsidered.
Prigozhin sent a letter to the case’s prosecutor that was later made public on the Telegram platform of his press agency. “Especially in light of the fact that his daughter Masha will be forced to grow up in an orphanage,” he wrote.
Prigozhin requested that the attorneys be permitted to represent the defence in a combined appeal with those connected to Wagner.
For the sake of our children’s future, he said, “We are fighting evil.”
Moskalyov was found guilty due to remarks he made regarding the conflict in Ukraine online. But, the inquiry was launched when Masha, who was 12 at the time, drew a drawing in April depicting Russian missiles falling on a Ukrainian mother and kid, which prompted the principal of her school to contact the police.
Glory to Ukraine was written across the Ukrainian flag, while “No to war” was written across the Russian tricolor.
Moskalyov’s social media activity was investigated by the police, and he was first fined 35,000 roubles ($460) for remarks that were derogatory of the Russian army. Investigators launched a new investigation against him in December on the basis of a social media post from June, this time for allegedly defaming the military.
The outlawed Russian human rights organization Memory claimed that Moskalyov was a political prisoner.
On Tuesday, Biliyenko paid a visit to Masha in the children’s residence known as “Social Rehabilitation Centre For Minors Number 5”. She left with drawings Masha had created for her father. Also, he was permitted to take a snapshot of the letter she had written him, which began, “Dad, you are my idol.”
Immediately after annexing Ukraine last year, Russia made it illegal to disparage the military services and established lengthy prison terms for doing so.
