Russia finally releases man whose daughter’s drawing opposed Ukraine war

A Russian man convicted of discrediting the military with his daughter’s artwork has finally been released from prison.

Alexei Moskalyov was convicted in March 2023 on the basis of posts that he made on a social media site. The post came to authorities' attention after his daughter, then age 13, made a drawing in school opposing the military operation.

He has now been released from prison after serving 22 months, a group that monitors political detentions said on Tuesday.

According to his lawyer and supporters, Moskalyov’s troubles began after his daughter drew a picture at Yefremov School No. 9 that depicted missiles flying over a Russian flag at a woman and child. The drawing also featured the words “No to war” and “Glory to Ukraine .”

Moskalyov was fined and convicted over his social media posts.

Moskalyov was sentenced to two years in prison, but he fled. He was arrested in Belarus a day later and extradited to Russia . A court later reduced his sentence to a year and 10 months.

The OVD-Info group, which reported his release, said that Moskalyov told it that agents of the Federal Security Service questioned other inmates in his unit before he was released and suggested they were looking for cause to file new charges against him.

Since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has cracked down harshly on criticism of the military and the operation in Ukraine. Several prominent opponents of the fighting who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms — one of them to 25 years — were freed and sent out of the country in August in a widescale prisoner exchange with the West.

The news comes during a bleak moment in the war in Ukraine.

The country’s military is suffering losses along the eastern front as Russian forces inch closer to a strategically significant victory near the crucial logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

At every turn, Kyiv is outnumbered by Moscow . The country is struggling to replenish ranks with an unpopular mobilisation drive; its ammunition stocks are limited; and Russia‘s superiority in the skies is wreaking havoc for Ukrainian defensive lines.