A Russian man is to be imprisoned for two years after his daughter created a ‘No to War’ poster at school.
Children had at the school, in the Tula region, had been asked to create artwork inspired by Russian troops.
Masha Moskalyova, 13, drew Kremlin missiles aimed at a woman and child and wrote the phrases ‘Glory to Ukraine’ and ‘No to War’.
Her single father, Alexei Moskalyov, was hauled into the school and questioned.
Authorities later found he had posted his support for Ukraine online and he was ordered to pay a £350 fine.
But, the 54-year-old claims, he then faced further interrogated by the FSB – Putin’s fearsome counterintelligence service.
Masha was taken to a ‘rehabilitation centre’, part of the state orphanage system, and Alexei barred from seeing her as criminal proceedings then began.
Legal action against him continued culminating in today’s sentence.
Alexei was found to have ‘repeatedly discredited the army’ and ordered to spend two years in a harsh penal colony.
But there was one issue, the single father wasn’t there to hear the sentence.
Court officials revealed he had ‘escaped’ the night before the court session, with his whereabouts unknown.
‘The verdict was announced today, but the defendant was not present because he escaped last night,’ said court spokeswoman Olga Dyachuk.
There was applause from his supporters in the court.
This marks the first time since the Soviet era that a child has been separated from a parent based on political views.
A day earlier in the witness box in Efremov, Tula region Alexei had said: ‘Those who are in the court are 90 per cent against the war in Ukraine.’
A petition signed by almost 150,000 called Masha’s treatment ‘monstrous’ and cites experts saying there are ‘no legal grounds’ to incarcerate her in a Tula region ‘rehabilitation’ centre.
The girl’s fate will later be decided by the social services authorities.
His lawyer described the sentence – which mirrored the demand by the prosecutors – as ‘harsh’.
Even the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose men are fighting for Putin in Ukraine, offered his support and criticised the local authorities.
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