Russia.- A Russian father separated from his daughter over drawings of the girl critical of the offensive in Ukraine has been arrested in Belarus, authorities there said Thursday.
The man was in search and capture after being sentenced to two years in prison in Russia.
Alexei Moskaliov “was arrested (…) at the request of the Russian police” and is currently detained in Belarus, the Belarusian Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by Russian agencies.
Moskaliov, a 54-year-old single father from Yefremov, some 300 km south of the Russian capital, was placed under house arrest on March 1 after his 13-year-old daughter Maria drew a picture at school critical of the Russian offensive in the Ukraine.
In the drawing, missiles were seen next to a Russian flag directed at a woman and a child next to a Ukrainian flag.
The school principal notified the police, who detected comments from the girl’s father against the Moscow operation on social networks.
Moskaliov was arrested and his daughter sent to a juvenile institution, a “rehabilitation center” from which they do not allow her to have contact with her father.
Just before the Russian justice sentenced him to two years in prison for “discrediting” the Russian army, the man fled on Tuesday and his whereabouts were unknown.
This case has aroused great outrage in Russia for several weeks and has become a symbol of repression against those who oppose the military operation.
Her lawyer, Vladimir Bilyenko, said it was “difficult to predict” what would happen next with the minor. Moskaliov could lose custody in a separate trial scheduled for April 6.
The Russian human rights organization Memorial, banned by the authorities, considers Moskaliov a “political prisoner” and considers the case “an attempt to intimidate all opponents of the conflict.”
