Twelve-year-old Masha drew a pro-Ukraine drawing during an art lesson in Russian Jefremov. The students’ task was to sign in support of the Russian military. Now her father Aleksej risks losing custody of his daughter. When sixth-graders at a school in the Russian city of Yefremov had art class last April, 12-year-old Masha painted a woman and a child next to a Ukrainian flag. The flag read “Long Live Ukraine” and the woman held up a hand against projectiles fired at them from a Russian flag, which read “No to War.” The 12-year-old was reported to his art teacher and the police were called to the school. Now, almost a year later, a court case is underway in which her single father, Aleksey Moskalyov, can lose custody. – It is important to understand that the Moskalyov case is part of a larger worrying trend, as part of a wider crackdown in wartime where the regime routinely goes after underage war critics and their families, says Maria Kuznetsova of the legal organization OVD-info, whose lawyers helps the father in court, to The Guardian. Taken into care by the Russian state Since the beginning of March, twelve-year-old Masha has been taken into care by the Russian state, and father Aleksej is imprisoned until the verdict falls. According to The Guardian, he is accused of making anti-war statements on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social network. – She will be under state care until her father’s fate is decided, says the father’s lawyer, Vladimir Bilienko, to the newspaper. The twelve-year-old risks ending up in an orphanage if the father is convicted as, according to the lawyer, it has not been possible to locate any relatives. Not a unique case When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the Russian laws on what one can speak about were tightened. Since then, at least 19,500 people have been arrested, according to OVD-Info. The Moskalyov case is not the only one in Russia. Last October, a fifth-grader was arrested along with her mother after the girl’s school alerted the police about a pro-Ukraine profile picture on social media. A total of 485 people have been put on trial in Russia for their criticism of the war. This week alone, 59 such trials are underway. Photo: Human rights organization OVD-Info/Aleksej Moskaljov
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12-year-old drew pro-Ukraine cartoon – arrested by Russian police
