The whereabouts of Aleksei Moskalyow, a resident of the Tula region detained by Belarusian police on March 30 in Minsk, are unknown. The man had fled from house arrest just before being sentenced for discrediting the army. Lawyer Vladimir Bilienko told the 7x7 media about Moskalyov's disappearance on April 5
On April 5th, lawyer Vladimir Bilienko visited the pre-trial detention center-1 in Tula to inquire about Alexei Moskalyov. However, the man was not there, and the lawyer was left without any information regarding his client's whereabouts.
Moskalyov was sentenced to two years in prison for discrediting the army by the Efremovsky district court on March 28th. He was absent from the trial since he had managed to escape from house arrest. However, on March 30th, Moskalyov was detained in Belarus, tracked down after he had allegedly turned on his phone in an apartment in Minsk.
Initially, Moskalyov was arrested on March 1st in a defamation case, and his daughter Masha was sent to a social rehabilitation center in Efremov. The police took notice of the family when Masha drew Russian and Ukrainian flags with the slogan "No to War" in school, resulting in her teacher informing the authorities.
Masha's mother, Olga Sitchikhina, stated that she had wanted her daughter to live with her, but Moskalyov had forbidden her to communicate with the girl for several years. After her statement, it was discovered that the woman had a debt of 300 thousand rubles ($3738), which she had paid off before agreeing to take Masha. According to Dmitry Zakhvatov, a lawyer, Tula Governor Alexei Dyumin might have persuaded Sitchikhina to take the girl.
Children's Rights Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova reported that Masha would not be given to her mother, who refused to take her daughter from the orphanage in early March and wrote a petition to have Masha placed in a social institution. Tula activist Elena Agafonova is seeking custody of the girl.
On April 6th, a court hearing will be held on restricting Alexei Moskalyov's parental rights.
