Russian girl held for Ukraine posts refused contact with father

Moscow: A 13-year-old Russian girl is being denied contact with her father who was placed under house arrest for comments critical of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, a rights group reported Wednesday.

Since the beginning of the offensive last February, Russian opposition voices have been targeted by legislation that government opponents say is designed to stamp out criticism of the conflict.

OVD-Info, a human rights monitor, said the girl, who drew a pro-Ukrainian sketch in school, was moved to a "juvenile rehabilitation centre" after investigations had begun into her father's comments.

"Maria Moskalyeva ... is not allowed phone calls with her father," OVD-Info reported after speaking to the family's lawyer.

An independent lawmaker was also not allowed access to the girl, the NGO said.

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According to the rights group, authorities first targeted the family after Moskalyeva drew a picture critical of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine at school in April last year.

Moskalyeva disobeyed her teacher's instructions to make drawings in support of the offensive, instead drawing Ukraine being bombarded and writing "No to War" and "Glory to Ukraine," the independent news website Meduza reported.

Her father Alexei Moskalyev, a single parent, was later fined 32,000 rubbles ($420) for discrediting the army in a post on social media.

This month he was accused of repeating the offence and was placed under house arrest, OVD said.

His daughter was sent to a "social-rehabilitation centre" in Yefremov, in the Tula region just south of the capital Moscow, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti said.

"The child is being prepared to return to normal educational activities," the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Tula Region told RIA Novosti.

A petition demanding her release has gathered almost 65,000 signatures.

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