inTransit says France granted asylum to Masha Moskalyova and her father after a Russian prosecution over his online posts separated them and led to her placement in state care.
The group, which helped them relocate, said they arrived in France on March 11, 2026, after leaving Russia and spending time in Armenia. It said they entered on humanitarian visas and received an asylum decision on July 17, 2026. CNN’s October report, however, described their status as temporary visas.
The case drew attention after Masha made a picture at school in Yefremov in April 2022. The assignment called for support for Russian troops, but Masha, then 12, depicted a woman and child facing missiles from the Russian side. She included Russian and Ukrainian flags, Amnesty International said.
Her father, Alexey Moskalyov, was convicted over social media posts, not the drawing. On April 25, 2022, a court fined him 32,000 rubles over an online comment. That administrative penalty enabled a later prosecution under a provision covering repeated discrediting of Russia’s armed forces. The criminal case concerned posts the court said appeared on Odnoklassniki on July 29 and 30, 2022; Moskalyov denied publishing them.
A court sentenced him to two years in a penal colony on March 28, 2023. His term was later reduced to one year and 10 months, and he was released Oct. 15, 2024. Masha stayed in a state care center during the proceedings and later lived with her mother, Amnesty International said. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention subsequently found her father’s detention arbitrary and said his posts were protected expression.
CNN described the father and daughter as living in hiding in a village in eastern France. Masha, now 16, attends school there and continues to speak online, the network reported. She told CNN she still worries about her safety and would like to return to Russia, though she does not know when that might be possible.
