Russian girl in anti-war art case given to mother: official

A Russian girl who made international headlines for her anti-war drawings has been removed from a group home by her estranged mother, authorities said on Thursday.

In early March, officials sent 13-year-old Maria Moskalyova to an orphanage and separated her from her single father, Alexei Moskalyov.

Her father was convicted of discrediting the Russian armed forces and sentenced to two years in prison after his daughter drew a sketch at school in support of Ukraine.

Russia's children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), said that she had spoken to the girl's mother who had collected her from social care. The move happened just hours before a court was due to hold a hearing over depriving Moskalyov of the custody of his child.

"[Maria] did not want to go to her mother at first, and her opinion is legally required to be taken into account. Now her position has changed – she told me this herself on the phone," Lvova-Belova said.

Concern for girl's wellbeing

Activists and lawyers had complained they had no access to 13-year-old Maria to verify the statements made by Lvova-Belova. 

Russia's children's rights commissioner is currently the subject of an international arrest warrant from the ICC for her role in illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

The girl had not lived with her mother, Olga Sitchikhina, in years, and had lost all contact with her, according to legal documents cited by Reuters news agency. Lvova-Belova, however, called the girl's collection by her mother a "miracle".

"During a conversation with the mother, having learned all the details about her life making an immediate impression, I thought: what if a miracle is really possible," she said.

Father sentenced

Maria's father, Alexei Moskalyov, fled house arrest last week after Russian court handed him a two-year sentence for discrediting the Russian army. He was detained in in the Belarusian capital Minsk two days after he fled "upon request of the Russian police".

Last year, Maria drew a picture in a school art class last year that showed Russian missiles flying towards Ukraine and the slogans "Glory to Ukraine" and "No to Putin, no to war".

Russian authorities were alerted by her secondary school in Yefremov, a small town located some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Moscow.

Shortly after, officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) questioned both father and daughter. Moskalyov was then accused of poor parenting by social services and of insulting the Russian armed forces in social media posts. He rejected the accusations and said that his account has been hacked.

Moskalyov was placed under house arrest on March 2, and his daughter taken away and put into a "rehabilitation" center in Yefremov, despite a request from a detective that she should be returned home.

Activists published a letter from Maria to her father that lawyers confirmed was authentic after he fled house arrest.

"I love you very much and know that you are not guilty of anything," the letter read, calling her father "my hero."

Russia introduced severe punishments for discrediting the armed forces after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

vh/es (Reuters, AFP, AP)