Russian man sentenced to two years in jail over daughter's anti-war artwork

Alexey Moskalyov, a Russian man whose 12-year-old daughter drew an anti-war picture at school, has been sentenced to two years in prison for his own online posts critical of the invasion of Ukraine. He was charged with "discrediting the Russian military" and was under house arrest in the Tula region after being accused of repeatedly publishing anti-war posts. In April last year, his daughter Masha drew a picture of Russian missiles being fired at a Ukrainian family and wrote "No to war" and "Glory to Ukraine" during her art class. On December 30, his house was searched in connection with his comments on social media. He pleaded not guilty but failed to turn up to his hearing in the city of Yefremov on Tuesday. Masha was placed in an orphanage.
RIA Novosti reported that the whereabouts of Masha's mother were unknown, and the chairman of the commission for minors in Yefremov, Svetlana Davydova, said the family had been "on a preventive list of families in a socially dangerous situation" since May last year. Alexander Brod, a member of the Human Rights Council, said Moskalyov did not fulfil his obligations as a father, and Masha had not attended school for a year. The Russian human rights group Memorial said that the criminal prosecution was motivated by his political views and aimed at the involuntary termination of civil activity of critics of the authorities and intimidation of the society as a whole.