Russian girl who drew anti-war picture collected from orphanage by her mother

A Russian girl who was sent to a children's home after drawing an anti-war picture and the conviction of her father for discrediting the armed forces has been taken out of the orphanage by her mother.

Just hours before a court was due to hold hearing over the parental rights of the girl's father, Russia's children's rights commissioner said that she had spoken to the girl's mother who had collected her from social care.

Her father, single parent Alexei Moskalyov, was convicted of discrediting the armed forces and given a two year jail term, leaving his daughter Maria, or Masha in the diminutive, in the hands of the state as her mother had not lived with the family for years.

What happened to the girl?

Children's Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said she had spoken to the girl and to her mother, named Olga.

"Masha 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.

"Olga has already taken Masha from the social rehabilitation center," she said. "Let's hope that everything will work out for mom and daughter."

Lvova-Belova posted a picture of the girl and her mother together.

'No to war'

The problems for Moskalyov began after his daughter drew a picture in a school art class last year that featured Russian missiles flying towards Ukraine and the slogans "Glory to Ukraine" and "No to Putin, no to war."

Secondary School Number 9 in Yefremov, 290 km south of Moscow, alerted the police who discussed the matter with both Moskalyov and his daughter, then 12.

More ominously, officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era Committee for State Security (KGB), also spoke to both father and daughter, Moskalyov's lawyer told Reuters.

Shortly afterwards, social services got involved and Moskalyov was accused of poor parenting and fined. He was accused of discrediting the Russian armed forces in social media posts. He said his account had been hacked.

On March 1, he was detained and the next day a court placed him under house arrest. Maria was taken away and put into a children's home, despite a request from a detective that she be returned home.

Moskalyov went on the run and was arrested in Minsk. While on the run, he was sentenced in absentia to two years in a penal colony for discrediting the armed forces.