A single father who was sentenced to jail for discrediting the Russian army was on the run Wednesday after he fled detention, a dramatic twist in a case that emerged out of a drawing by his 13-year-old daughter and has highlighted the depths of the Kremlin’s crackdown on free speech.
Alexei Moskalyov, 54, from the small town of Yefremov, south of Moscow, was convicted Tuesday over social media posts that were critical of the war in Ukraine and sentenced to two years in prison. His daughter, Maria, whose anti-war drawing at her school first drew authorities’ attention and who was taken from her father when he was detained this month, wrote a supportive letter praising him as her hero.
The case had already drawn media attention, as well as criticism from rights groups, before court officials in the Tula region revealed that he had escaped house arrest the night before the verdict. Now, with his whereabouts unknown, even some Russian hard-liners are expressing misgivings about the severe nature of the case.
Vladimir Biliyenko, Moskalyov’s lawyer, said by phone Wednesday that he doesn’t know where his client is or how he had apparently fled house arrest.
He said the Moskalyovs were a typical Russian family until Maria’s anti-war drawing last April prompted concerns from school officials and drew interest in their lives from the Russian authorities. He added that his client had not pleaded guilty and said they plan to appeal his sentence.
Biliyenko said investigators opened a criminal case against Moskalyov in December for “discrediting Russian armed forces” based on his social media activity around the war in Ukraine last year. He was detained March 1, and his daughter was taken away to a social rehabilitation center for minors, Biliyenko said. Moskalyov was officially charged the next day and confined to house arrest, he added.
Biliyenko said he tried to see Maria on Tuesday but was told that she was away taking part in a children’s contest. He…
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