Belarus on Wednesday extradited a man to Russia convicted of “discrediting the Russian military” after his daughter drew a picture of Russian missiles hitting people near a Ukrainian flag, a specialist NGO said.
Alexei Moskaliov, a 54-year-old Russian, escaped house arrest shortly before a Moscow court sentenced him to two years in prison for “discrediting the Russian army” in the context of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Moskaliov caught the attention of Russian authorities in early 2022 when his daughter, Maria, 13, drew a picture of Russian missiles hitting a woman and child near a Ukrainian flag in the classroom.
The girl, who had been raised by her father until then, was separated from Moskaliov and interned in a state institution for minors after the head of the school contacted the authorities about the drawing.
The authorities will have discovered posts on social networks in which Moskaliov criticized the offensive and which would have served as justification for the removal.
“Alexei Moskaliov was extradited from Belarus to Russia,” says the Russian organization OVD-info, which specializes in monitoring detentions.
Moskaliov’s lawyer, Vladimir Bilienko, told the AFP news agency that he did not know where his client was at the moment.
Last week, Russian authorities said the girl had been returned to her mother, with whom she had a distant relationship, and Moskaliov now faces the risk of losing parental rights at the next trial scheduled for April 20.
Source: DN
