Court drops custody case against parents of sixth-grader Masha Moskaleva, whose anti-war drawing sparked backlash from Russian authorities

The Russian authorities have dropped the custody case against the parents of Masha Moskaleva, the Tula sixth-grader whose father was hit with charges of “discrediting” the Russian military after she drew an anti-war picture at school last year.

Vladimir Biliyenko, the lawyer representing Masha’s father, called the decision an “important moral victory,” and thanked “all of the caring people who worried for this family.”

The juvenile affairs commission for the city of Yefremov, where Masha Moskaleva lived with her father, announced two days after that it wouldn’t seek to restrict Alexey’s parental rights because Masha, who is now in her mother’s custody, has begun attending school again.