Alexei and Masha Moskalev have been granted political asylum in France.

This was reported by the human rights organisation InTransit, which assisted them. The father and daughter moved to France in March on humanitarian visas.

Before this, the family lived in Armenia—they emigrated immediately after Alexei was released from the penal colony. In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the father and daughter tried to obtain German humanitarian visas, but later turned to the French embassy, where they received documents in a month and a half.

The story of the persecution of the Moskalev family

In April 2022, sixth-grader Masha Moskaleva drew an anti-war picture in her art class. The girl depicted the Russian and Ukrainian flags with the words “No to war” and “Glory to Ukraine”, and a woman with a child, at whom rockets were flying from the Russian side. After this, problems began: the police got involved, and there were interviews with FSB officers.

In December 2022, the family’s home was searched. It turned out that a criminal case had been opened against the girl’s father, Alexei Moskalev, for repeated discrediting of the army because of posts on social media. Moskalev spent one year and ten months in a penal colony.