For this awful crime of discrediting the Russian army, Alexei Moskalev was sentenced to two years for bringing up his daughter in the wrong way. The single father has since fled his home and authorities don't know where he is. His daughter, then 12 at the time of the offensive drawing occurred, was sent to a children's home.

Steve Rosenberg of the BBC, who speaks fluent Russian, with the report. A follow-up to our earlier post on the father's arrest.

Source: BBC

A Russian single father whose daughter was reported for drawing an anti-war picture has been given a two-year jail term for discrediting the army.

Alexei Moskalev, 53, was not in court in Yefremov for the verdict. The court press secretary said he had escaped house arrest.

"I don't know where he is," his lawyer Vladimir Biliyenko told the BBC.

His daughter Masha, 13, was sent to a children's home in early March when the criminal case began.

Moskalev was accused of repeatedly criticising the Russian army on social media and had appeared in court the day before.

He is only the latest Russian to be given a jail term for discrediting the military but his case has attracted international attention because of the authorities' decision to remove his daughter from their home early in March.

The family's problems began last April when Masha Moskaleva's school told authorities that she had drawn a a Ukrainian flag with the words "Glory to Ukraine", rockets and a Russian flag bearing the phrase "No to war!"

UPDATE: He's now been found in Belarus and arrested by the puppet state of Russia.