Father and daughter who fled Russia receive Magnitsky Human Rights Award

Alexei Moskalyov, a Russian father, and his daughter Maria, who left Russia after being persecuted over an anti-war drawing, have been awarded the 2026 Magnitsky Human Rights Award. The organization behind the annual honor announced on Thursday that the Moskalyovs will receive the “Courage Under Fire” award for refusing to stay silent in the face of state prosecution.

A case that began with a school drawing

The case began in 2022, when Maria, then 12, drew a picture at school showing Ukrainian mothers protecting their children from Russian missiles. In 2023, a Russian court sentenced Moskalyov to two years in prison for “discrediting” the Russian military.

Maria was first placed in a state orphanage and then sent to live with her estranged mother. After his release in October 2024, Moskalyov was reunited with his daughter. Because law enforcement continued to harass them, including through repeated searches of their home, the two left for France, where they were granted political asylum.

About the award

The Magnitsky Human Rights Awards were established in memory of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after uncovering a major state tax fraud scheme. The annual awards honor journalists, activists and public figures who risk their lives to confront authoritarian regimes.

In a statement, Moskalyov said that through everything they have endured, Masha has stayed true to the values he tried to teach her from childhood: honesty, compassion, courage and the determination to speak the truth, even when it comes at a terrible personal cost.