Security forces detained Aleksey Moskalev, the father of a schoolgirl who made an anti-war drawing, in Minsk. Prior to this, a man sentenced to two years in prison under an article about discrediting the Russian army escaped from house arrest in Efremov, Tula region.
The detention of Moskalev in the capital of Belarus was confirmed by his lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov to the Mediazona publication (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation). He kept in touch with the man after his escape. According to preliminary information, Moskalev was “spotted” by law enforcement officers as soon as he turned on his mobile phone.
The security forces drew attention to the 53-year-old resident of Efremov, Tula region, after his daughter made an anti-war drawing at school in an art lesson. The man was detained for leaving comments on social networks discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. Moskalev was fined 32,000 rubles. In December, a criminal case was opened against the man for repeated discrediting.
Moskalev raised his sixth grade daughter alone. Since March 2, he was under house arrest, and his daughter was sent to an orphanage.
The prosecution asked to give Moskalev two years in prison in the case of discrediting the Russian army. The prosecutor noted that the man should also be banned from using the Internet for three years. The court supported the prosecutor’s side and sentenced Moskalev to a two-year prison term.
But the man was not present at the announcement of the verdict. During the meeting, the judge told reporters that the man “ran away last night.”
According to the court decision, the schoolgirl was sent to the care of social services while serving her father’s term. In addition, on April 6, the court will consider the demand to deprive Moskalev of parental rights.
In an interview with the Daily Storm, the head of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, Nina Ostanina, called sending Moskalev’s daughter to an orphanage “an outrage.” The deputy believes that separation will not be better for either the father or the child himself.
Ostanina also considered the punishment in the form of a prison term too harsh for Moskalev, who raised his daughter alone. The parliamentarian urged the authorities to think about the fate of the girl who lost her only breadwinner.
Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who calls himself the founder of PMC Wagner, also stood up for Moskalev. The entrepreneur asked the regional prosecutor Alexander Gritsaenko to check the legality of the verdict. The letter to the prosecutor was also signed by PMC commander Dmitry Utkin and director of the League for the Protection of the Interests of Veterans of Local Wars and Military Conflicts Andrei Troshev.
