WHO. Masha Moskaleva, a sixth-grader in the city of Efremov, south of Moscow, has triggered the arrest of her father.
THAT. 12-year-old Masha painted the Russian and Ukrainian flags. On them he wrote “no to war” and “glory to Ukraine”. Between the two he drew a woman with a child and rockets coming out of the Russian flag.
BECAUSE. In Russia, severe penalties have been established for ‘discrediting’ the army. Alexei Moskalev, who is a single father, is in custody. Masha was taken to the juvenile center
Masha, a sixth grader from the city of Efremov, Tula region, made an anti-war drawing in art class last year. The ‘painting’ represented the Russian and Ukrainian flags: on one it was written “No to war”, on the second, the Ukrainian one, it put “glory to Ukraine”, an expression that in Russia is related to Ukrainian nationalists but is very widespread among the Ukrainian population and more in a context of foreign aggression. Between the two drawn flags she put a woman with a child. Above them fly rockets from the side of the Russian flag.
Children, like adults, are not allowed in Russia to express their views on what the government still calls the “special operation,” the term they sweeten the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the war began, they have received patriotic or moralizing talks once a week, as well as singing the anthem and raising the flag.
In the case of 12-year-old Masha, the scandal was huge. The teacher reported the drawing to the school principal, who in turn called the police. They took the girl out of class. Later, the police and the guardianship service had a conversation with Masha’s father. The authorities opened an administrative case against him and even fined him. But with the beginning of the year the case has gone further with a criminal process. Last Tuesday Alexei Moskalev, the girl’s father, was arrested and taken to a temporary detention center. Last night he was placed under house arrest until March 27. The girl is expected to return home in the next few hours, if there is no order to the contrary.
Masha, whom Alexei Moskalev is raising on his own, has been sent to a juvenile facility. After her father was arrested, the police called the youth affairs commission and initially left the girl alone in the apartment. Lawyers for the father hope to win a pardon for Moskalev so that his daughter is not sent to an orphanage permanently.
Moskalev, 53, who made a small fortune raising pheasants, peacocks and other birds, is yet another victim of the nationalist, bellicose and paranoid atmosphere in Russia. He found himself cornered for being the father of a girl who simply drew a picture for peace. “They started telling me, ‘Look what you’re teaching a kid! Look what he drew, “Alexei Moskalev told OVD-Info journalists. He defended his daughter:” What is special about it? She is against war, against bloodshed, what’s wrong with that?”
His explanations were in vain. The authorities opened a process and called witnesses. “They took us to the patrol car, the students looked from the windows, as if they were terrorists and were being brought to justice.” He was brought before the police chief: “He lectured me that he was raising a child incorrectly,” Alexei explained indignantly. He didn’t know then that he was one step away from losing his freedom.
Based on his daughter’s drawing, a case was opened against Moskalev under the article on “public actions aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” Already in April 2022, Moskalev was fined 32,000 rubles (about 400 euros at current exchange rates) for a comment on social networks that the court considered discrediting the Russian army, a new crime for which a Russian can spend up to 15 years in prison. jail.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project