MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian man convicted of defaming the military after his daughter drew a drawing criticizing Russia’s military actions in Ukraine has been released from prison after serving 22 months, a court said. group that monitors political detentions Tuesday.
Alexei Moskalyov was convicted in March 2023 based on messages he posted on a social media site. The post came to the attention of authorities after his daughter, then 13, drew a picture at school opposing the military operation.
Moskalyov was sentenced to two years in prison, but he fled. A day later he was arrested in Belarus and extradited to Russia. A court later reduced his sentence to one year and ten months.
The OVD-Info group, which reported his release, said Moskalyov said Federal Security Service officers interrogated other detainees in his unit before his release and suggested they were looking for grounds to file new charges against him.
Since sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has cracked down on criticism of the military and the operation in Ukraine. Several prominent opponents of the fighting, who were sentenced to long prison terms – one of them up to 25 years – were released and deported in August in a large-scale prisoner swap with the West.
