KYIV: A Russian who was investigated by the police after his daughter drew an anti-war picture at school was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in a penal colony on charges of discrediting the armed forces. But the whereabouts of the convicted man, Alexei Moskalyov, were unclear.
The court said in an official posting on VKontakte, similar to Facebook, that he had fled from house arrest. Moskalyov has been separated from his 13-year-old daughter Masha since he was placed under house arrest at the start of this month and she was moved to a children’s home in their hometown of Yefremov, south of Moscow.
The case has provoked an outcry among Russian human rights activists and sparked an online campaign to reunite father and daughter. Moskalyov’s lawyer Vladimir Biliyenko said he had not seen his client since Monday and did not know whether Moskalyov had fled, as he had only the spokesperson’s statement to go by.
He said the defence would appeal against the verdict and Masha would remain in the children’s home for the time being. Moskalyov was convicted over comments he himself had posted online about the war in Ukraine.