- Steve Rosenberg
- BBC Russia Editor Yefremov
Masha Moskaleva has not been seen in public since March 1.
In the center of the Russian city of Yefremov, located 320 km south of Moscow, there is a wall covered with images of war.
They are large portraits of Russian soldiers with their faces masked, guns and the letras Z y V in large, which are symbols of the so-called “special military operation” of the country in Ukraine.
A poem is also read:
Kindness must have fists.
Kindness requires an iron hand
To tear the skin off those
Russian propaganda in Yefremov.
In Russia this is the official and patriotic image of the invasion of Ukraine.
But in Yefremov we find another image of the Ukrainian war. A very different one.
Masha’s drawing
City Councilor Olga Podolskaya shows me a photo on her mobile phone. Is by one drawing of a girl.
image source, Olga Podolskaya
The school called the police following seeing this drawing made by the 12-year-old girl.
On the left is a Ukrainian flag with the words “Glory to Ukraine!”; on the right, the Russian tricolor and the inscription “No to war!”. Missiles fly from Russia but a mother and her daughter stand defiantly in their way.
The drawing is from April 2022 and was made by Masha Moskaleva, who was 12 years old then.
Alexei, the girl’s single father, then spoke to the councilor and she told him that following seeing Masha’s drawing, the school had called the police.
“The police began to investigate Alexei’s social networks,” Olga tells me. “And they told him that he was raising his daughter badly.”
Authorities filed charges.
For an anti-war post on his social media, Alexei was fined 32,000 rubles (regarding US$415 at the time) on charges of discredit the armed forces russian.
And a few weeks ago a criminal case was opened once morest him for the anti-war publications, with the same accusation of discrediting the army.
This time Alexei faces a possible prison sentence.
Masha’s father is under house arrest in Yefremov and his daughter has been sent to a juvenile facility, without allowingTHEa both communicateNot even by phone.
“No one has seen Masha since March 1,” Olga Podolskaya explains to me, “despite our attempts to get into the juvenile facility and find out how she is doing.”
“The Russian authorities want everyone to obey the rules. No one can have their own opinion. If you don’t agree with what you think, ignore his posts on social networks, but don’t put that person under house arrest and his daughter in a juvenile facility,” she protests.
We are in front of an apartment block in Yefremov. A window opens and a man leans out. It’s Alexei.
Alexei Moskalev is under house arrest and might face jail time for his social media posts.
We are not allowed to communicate with him. Under the rules of his house arrest, she is only allowed to have contact with his lawyer, the investigator and the prison service.
His lawyer, Vladimir Biliyenko, has just arrived. He has come to deliver Alexei food and drink that local activists have bought for him.
“He is very worried regarding the absence of his daughter”, Vladimir tells me, following visiting Alexei Moskalev. “Everything in her apartment reminds him of her. He’s worried regarding what might be happening to her.”
I ask the lawyer why he thinks the authorities took Masha away.
“If they really wanted to question the father, they should have asked him for a statement. They should have also invited Masha to talk to her,” Vladimir says.
“None of this was done. They just decided to send her (to the juvenile facility). I think if it wasn’t for the nature of the administrative and criminal charges Alexei received, this wouldn’t be happening. Social services seem obsessed with this family. I think it’s for purely political reasons. The family’s problems started following the girl made the drawing.”
Fear of having a different opinion
On the street, I talk to some of Alexei’s neighbors to ask what they think of the situation.
“She is a good girl and I have never had any problems with her father,” says pensioner Angelina Ivanovna. “But I’m afraid to say something. I’m afraid”.
“Maybe we might collect signatures in support (of Alexei),” suggests a younger woman. But when I ask her opinion regarding what’s going on, she says, “Sorry, I can’t tell you.”
I ask him if he is afraid of the possible consequences.
indoctrination at school
Just a few steps separate Alexei Moskalev’s apartment block from School Number 9, where Masha studied and whose authorities called the police over Masha’s anti-war drawing.
The school has not yet responded to our written request for comment. When we tried to visit her, they told us we mightn’t go in, and they didn’t answer our phone calls.
But I visited the website of School Number 9 and its images remind me of the patriotic wall in the center of the town.
The home page features the “Heroes of the Special Military Operation” – 24 portraits of Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine.
There are also slogans like “all for the win. Let’s support our youth on the front lines!”
Last October, soldiers who returned from Ukraine visited School Number 9.
In a speech, the director of the day shift, Larisa Trofimova, declared: “We believe in ourselves and in our homeland, that can never be wrong“.
Across town, supporters of the Moskalev family and journalists gather at the local courthouse.
“Give Masha back!”
The Yefremov Youth Affairs Commission is taking legal action to officially restrict parental rights by Alexei.
This is an initial hearing known as a “conversation” with the judge.
His lawyer, Vladimir Biliyenko, explains that Alexei wanted to be here in person, but has not been allowed to break his house arrest to appear in court, despite his daughter’s guardianship being at stake.
In the corridor of the courthouse, an activist displays a poster.
“Give Masha back to her father!” she prays.
A police officer tells him to remove it.
The Youth Affairs Commission has not yet responded to our request for comment on the case of Alexei Moskalev and his daughter Masha.
Natalya Filatova, a supporter of Alexei, believes that the history of the Moskalev family shows the repression of dissent in Russia.
“Our constitution recognizes freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, the total freedom of citizens to express their opinions,” Natalya tells me.
“But now they forbid us to do that“, sentence.
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