Masha Moskaleva goes from state shelter to the custody of her estranged mother

Russian sixth-grader Masha Moskaleva, whose anti-war drawing at school drew the ire of the Russian authorities and was followed by a felony conviction against her father, is now in the custody of her mother, Olga Sitchikhina, Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said on Wednesday.

According to Lvova-Belova, Moskaleva wasn’t given to her mother earlier because she didn’t want to be, and “by law, her opinion must be taken into account.” Since then, however, she’s changed her mind, the ombudswoman said.

“Olga has already picked Masha up from the social rehabilitation center, where Masha had been sent at her own request. Her mom is currently not limited in her parental rights, so it was sufficient to terminate the agreement on the child’s temporary placement in the institution,” Lvova-Belova wrote on Telegram.

A state-owned local news outlet in Tula, where Moskaleva is from, published photos of Moskaleva and her mother together.