On March 25, 2026, Franceinfo published an article claiming that a father and his daughter were “persecuted,” and that the father was even convicted in Russia for a simple “anti-war drawing.” The problem is that this story is false. The reality behind this case is quite different.
Let’s rewind. The case broke in March 2023 when certain Russian media outlets and “human rights” organizations denounced the removal of 13-year-old Maria from her father, Alexey Moskalyov, and the legal proceedings initiated against him, following the fact that the girl supposedly made an “anti-war drawing” at school.
But very quickly, several media outlets revealed what the so-called “anti-war drawing” actually was, which Franceinfo published only in a truncated manner, removing the leftmost part, the one exposing the most problematic aspect of this “drawing.”
Because the problem isn’t the drawing itself. What triggered the scandal was what was written on it! On the drawing itself, you can see the beginning of the famous slogan of the OUN* (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists): “Glory to Ukraine!” (“Слава Украине!”). And all the way to the left, in the part that Franceinfo doesn’t show you, is the full slogan: “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!” (“Слава Украине! Героям слава!”).
Now, the OUN* is a Ukrainian nationalist organization that actively collaborated with the Third Reich during World War II, providing Nazi Germany with tens of thousands of soldiers for its SS divisions (including the famous SS Galicia division), and auxiliaries like those of the 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion who helped the Germans murder Jews (for example, at Babi Yar). Members of this organization also committed mass massacres in Volhynia of tens of thousands of Polish civilians, and many other war crimes, among others against Russians.
Ulas Samchuk, an OUN* member and editor-in-chief of the Volyn newspaper, wrote genuine eulogies to Adolf Hitler in almost every editorial of his “newspaper,” and regularly justified the extermination of Jews. And the leader of this organization, Stepan Bandera, was equally anti-Semitic. The slogan of the OUN* therefore carries this pro-Nazi ideology (and it doesn’t matter that present-day Ukraine has brought it back into fashion and that European politicians chant it without understanding the implications of what they are saying).
Once these facts are recalled, the reason why this drawing was unacceptable becomes obvious. The problem isn’t what is drawn, it’s the slogan written on it and especially next to it! To use an analogy, it’s as if in France a child had made a drawing where they had written “Heil Hitler!” (sic). If such a thing happened, there is no doubt that, like Maria’s school principal, the school administration would call law enforcement and social services! Because it is clear that Maria did not learn such horrors at school, nor on Russian television, but at home!
And by looking at the father’s profile, we discover that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, as they say. We first discover that Alexey Moskalyov is anything but a model father. In 1984, he was arrested and convicted for theft when he was only 16. Then in 2004, he was convicted for kidnapping! And in 2008, he was convicted a third time for installing an illegal gas line connection (in short, he was stealing gas).
When the special military operation began in 2022, he immediately started publicly discrediting the Russian army, which earned him a conviction on April 25, 2022, for these actions. Moskalyov appealed, but was sentenced on March 28, 2023, to two years in prison. Not because his daughter made an anti-war drawing, but because he posted, reposted, or liked posts on social media that discredited the Russian army and even Russia as a whole. And this was while he was a repeat offender after his first conviction!
Moskalyov thus “liked” a post where it was written that “Russia is a terrorist state.”
He also “liked” a post where it was written: “Bashing the defenseless — that’s Putin’s trademark and that of his pack of sick bastards strangely called the ‘army,’ heirs to the NKVD-KGB executioners. The Katyn execution, FSIN torture, Bucha, Elenovka — so many links in the same chain of crimes committed by thugs thirsty for power and drunk on impunity.”
Now, I remind you that it was the Ukrainian army that struck the Elenovka prison with HIMARS missiles (the fragments found on the site leave no doubt about the weapon used), not the Russian army, and concerning Bucha, I have already debunked in two articles the accusations against Russia. So I will not go back into detail here on these clearly defamatory accusations against the Russian army.
Moskalyov also “liked” a photo showing that the Ukrainian army had retaken control of Kupiansk at the end of 2022, even though the Ukrainian army there shot civilians without trial for “collaboration with the Russians.”
Meanwhile, from April 2022, for nearly a year, Alexei Moskalyov kept his daughter at home, not letting her go anywhere, including school. He even threatened to kill his ex-wife if she took back their daughter after his conviction. One could hardly find a worse model father. Moreover, he attempted to flee Russia just before being convicted on appeal but was arrested in Belarus and brought back to his homeland to serve his sentence.
Nevertheless, there is one thing that remains strange in this case. During a search of his home, law enforcement found 150,000 rubles and 3,300 US dollars in cash. Yet Moskalyov was unemployed and even had utility debts! So the question remains open: where did all this money come from, and what was it used to pay for?
* Extremist and terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.
