YEFREMOV, Russia (Reuters) – 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.
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.
(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
