Russian teenager Masha Moskaleva is handed over to a ‘new family’ after her anti-war father was imprisoned

The 13-year-old daughter of a Russian single father jailed for “discrediting” the Russian military is being placed in foster care as the Kremlin places war propaganda above the “traditional values” they routinely preach.

Maria Lvova-Belova – the children’s rights ombudsman accused by The Hague jointly with Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes against children – said at a briefing Tuesday that “several applicants” were in the running to host Masha Moskaleva.

The teenager has been forced to remain in Russian government custody since authorities took her father away last year, a day after she provoked the wrath of security services with an anti-war drawing made at school. Since then, the Kremlin seems to have taken the Moskalev family as an example for other potential dissenters. Masha’s father Alexei was sentenced to two years in prison last week after Putin’s spokesman publicly denounced his “deplorable” parenting skills.

“At the moment it is important for us that the child grows up in a family,” Lvova-Belova said at a briefing on Tuesday, according to the RAPSI news service. “I met with blood relatives, but so far the relatives refuse to take Masha, perhaps because of the spectacular nature of the situation and because they did not really communicate with the child. But we have several applicants for the position of foster family.”

She said there is one family in particular to whom the teenager is said to be handed over, then took the opportunity to stab Masha’s biological mother, who told Russian media last week that she wanted to take custody of her daughter.

“There is information that the mother is ready to take her child, but honestly I would not count on that, because the mother promised to come several times and never came. She doesn’t keep in touch with her daughter and they have quite a complicated relationship,” Lvova-Belova said.

In a heartbreaking letter to her father, released last week after his sentencing, Masha Moskaleva wrote: “I love you very much and know you have done nothing wrong.”

“I believe everything will be fine and we will be together,” she said.

“I beg you – just don’t give up,” she wrote, signing the note, “I love you, you are a hero. My hero.”

While the Moskalev case has made global headlines for the politically motivated destruction of a Russian family, since the full-blown war began last year, Russian authorities have also abducted thousands of Ukrainian children from Ukrainian territory, with Lvova-Belova often proudly posting photos of the “orphaned children.” ‘ on social media. Activists said some of these children were put up for adoption by Russian families despite having Ukrainian relatives back home.