Russian father sentenced to two years in penal colony for discrediting armed forces, escapes house arrest

28th March 2023 – (Moscow) A Russian man, Alexei Moskalyov, has been sentenced to two years in a penal colony on charges of discrediting the armed forces. The charges stemmed from comments he posted online about the war in Ukraine. The investigation started after his daughter, Masha, drew an anti-war picture at school last April, which prompted the head of school to call the police. Police then began examining Moskalyov’s social media activity and initially fined him for comments critical of the Russian army. In December, investigators opened another case against him based on a social media post in June.

The case has provoked an outcry among Russian human rights activists and sparked an online campaign to reunite Moskalyov and his daughter. Since being placed under house arrest at the start of this month, Moskalyov has been separated from his daughter, who was moved to a children’s home in their hometown of Yefremov, south of Moscow.

However, on Tuesday, a court spokesperson announced that Moskalyov had escaped house arrest overnight, and his whereabouts were unknown. He was not present for the sentencing, and the spokesperson made the announcement in a video from the courtroom published by the independent news outlet SOTA.

His daughter, Masha, drew an anti-war picture at school last April.

The banned Russian human rights group Memorial said it considered Moskalyov to be a political prisoner. His case has highlighted concerns about freedom of expression and the use of anti-discrediting laws in Russia. Shortly after invading Ukraine last year, Russia passed laws against discrediting the armed forces or knowingly spreading false information about them, with a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail.

A lawyer for Moskalyov’s family visited Masha on Tuesday in a children’s home and came away with drawings she had made for him. He was also allowed to photograph a letter she had written him that read “Dad, you are my hero,” according to a video posted by the independent news outlet SOTAvision.

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