War in Ukraine: 13-year-old Masha, separated from her father because of a drawing, was entrusted to her mother

The story of Masha and her father Alexei Moskalev has been stirring the Russian press for more than a month. According to a school denunciation, in April 2022, after she pulled rockets flying at a Ukrainian family, 13-year-old Maria Moskaleva, nicknamed Masha, was taken from her father, who raised her alone, and placed in a house in March.

Father, Alexei Moskalev, was sentenced to two years in prison and taken into custody. On Thursday, in Yefremov, 300 km south of Moscow, a hearing is due to be held to decide on the restriction of his parental rights.

On Wednesday evening, on the eve of this fateful hearing, the authorities unexpectedly announced that the mother, Olga Sitchikhina, who had not seen Masha for several years, returned and took the child. “Olga took Masha away from the social rehabilitation center where she was staying at her request,” Russian Children’s Affairs Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said on Telegram on Wednesday evening. “Let’s hope the mother and daughter are doing well,” added the Russian official, who was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court in another case on charges of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

“They have not lived together for a long time and communicated very little. Initially, Masha did not want to see her mother, ”said Maria Lvova-Belova. “But she changed her mind, she herself told me on the phone,” she added.

The case of Masha and her father sparked strong emotions in Russia, becoming a symbol of repression against those who condemn the Kremlin’s military offensive in Ukraine. An online petition launched in Russia demanding the return of the child to the father has garnered more than 145,000 signatures despite an atmosphere of fear.

After separating from his daughter, Aleksey Moskalev was accused of “discrediting” the army by criticizing the military operation in Ukraine on social networks, and at the end of March he was sentenced to two years in prison. The 54-year-old man fled shortly before sentencing while under house arrest. But last week he was found and arrested in Belarus, a neighboring country and an ally of Russia.