This Wednesday, March 1, Alexei Moskalev was scheduled to speak to Le Monde from a friend’s phone for more discretion. The call didn’t go through: the 54-year-old was arrested in the late morning. During his pre-trial detention, the length of which has not yet been determined, his 13-year-old daughter Maria was placed in the orphanage in Ifremov, a small town in the Tula region, south of Moscow, where the father and daughter live.
Since the beginning of his misadventures almost a year ago, this is the scenario that Alexei Moskalev fears most, as he confided to the human rights organization OVD-Info and the news site Spektr just a few days ago. Maria’s mother left her when she was three years old; If there is a problem with the father, social services will deal with it.
It all starts in April 2022. At school number 9 in Ifremov, the fine arts teacher asks the children to make drawings in support of the soldiers deployed in Ukraine. Everyone adheres to it, except Maria Moskaleva, then 12 years old. The teenager draws a mother and her daughter with Russian missiles falling on them and a Ukrainian flag with the slogan: “Honour to Ukraine”.
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Immediately warned, the headmistress called the police – which she denies today when asked by Spektr and OVD-Info. Maria manages to leave the classroom confused, giving the calling police officers a false name. The teenager is afraid. Her father accompanies her to school the next day and promises to wait for her until evening. He is arrested outside the establishment and his daughter removed with him from the course she was attending.
At the police station, Alexei Moskalev is entitled to sermons about the education he gives his daughter. His social networks are scrutinized and two biased publications are discovered: a cartoon of Vladimir Putin and an anti-war post that proclaims: “Russian army. Rapists are among us. The father of the family was tried the same day and fined 32,000 rubles (400 euros) for “discrediting the army”. For this man who makes a living from breeding ornamental birds, the sum is anything but insignificant.
The threat of the orphanage
Back to school the next day, but this time the FSB, the security service, come to get Maria and summon the father. New sermons, but also threats: if Alexei Moskalev does not make amends, Maria will be sent to an orphanage. A classic form of intimidation by security services and the police, especially against mothers. The officials suggest that the girl participate in helping the soldiers. Traumatized, she experiences anxiety and panic attacks and begs her father not to send her to school anymore.
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