In Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine for over a year, an elementary school student’s father was arrested and sent to an orphanage after drawing an anti-war picture in art class, the Washington Post reported on the 1st (local time).
According to the WP, Alexei Moskalyov (53), who lives in Yefremov, a town in Tula province, 241 kilometers south of Moscow, Russia, was detained on the same day on charges of repeatedly insulting the Russian military. Investigative authorities conducted a house search for a picture that Alexei’s daughter Masha Moskalyova (12) drew at school in April last year, and arrested Alexei after investigating the posts posted on social media.
In April of last year, the school Marsha attended asked students to draw pictures encouraging their soldiers fighting on the front lines. However, her Masha painted a picture of a Ukrainian woman protecting a small child from Russian missiles. She also included anti-war slogans such as ‘No War’ and ‘Glory to Ukraine’ in her paintings.
Masha’s art teacher immediately reported this to the principal, who reported it to the authorities, prompting the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to investigate. While interrogating Masha and Alexei, the FSB discovered caricatures of Russian President Vladimir Putin and comments supporting Ukraine on Alexei’s social media. Previously, Alexei was fined about $425 (about 557,000 won) for calling a Russian soldier a “perpetrator.”
Alexei was then prosecuted again under the Law against Blaming the Military, which was enacted in December of last year. He claimed that investigators searched his home, seized his deposits, and beaten him during interrogation.
Alexei could face up to three years in prison, the WP said. As Alexei, who was raising his daughter alone, was detained, his daughter Masha was sent to a state-run orphanage. “Masha will remain under the protection of the state until her father’s fate is decided,” Alexei’s defense attorney said. said.
Marsha is not the first case that she has suffered trouble after revealing her anti-war position. In Moscow last October, when a school principal reported a 10-year-old schoolgirl who posted a picture of “Javelin Saint” as her social media profile picture to authorities, she and her student and his mother came under investigation. Her Virgin Mary was shown holding a Javelin anti-tank missile symbolizing the Ukrainian resistance.
In the same month, a 5th grade elementary school boy living in Yekaterinburg, Urals region, was reprimanded for writing a letter to soldiers telling them to ‘don’t kill people and return home’. Also in March of the same year, a sixth grader at an elementary school in Moscow was investigated by the police after asking a history teacher, ‘Why did Putin start the war?’
According to the Russian human rights group OVD-Info, at least 544 minors have been detained over the past year for anti-war protests, and seven minors are currently facing criminal trials.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.