Founder of Children's Hospice Detained in Moscow Over War 'Fakes'
Russian authorities searched the home of children's hospice charity founder Lida Moniava and took her in for questioning over alleged spreading of false information about the military. Her lawyer says no formal charges have been filed yet, but a court is expected to rule on detention measures.
Russian law enforcement officers searched the home of Lida Moniava, a well-known advocate for the care of critically ill children, on Wednesday and brought her in for questioning as part of a criminal investigation into alleged "fakes" about the Russian military. Her attorney, Mikhail Biryukov, told the state news agency TASS that Moniava has not been formally arrested or charged.
According to Biryukov's separate comments to RBC, Moniava is being questioned by officials from the Investigative Committee, Russia's top investigative body. Moscow's Simonovsky District Court is expected to decide on possible pre-trial detention measures. The charge of disseminating false information about the armed forces carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Background on Moniava's work
Moniava founded the Moscow-based charity "Lighthouse," which runs hospices for seriously ill children and young adults in the capital and surrounding region. Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she set up a separate foundation providing shelter, medical supplies and food to people fleeing the war. That organization later also assisted Armenians displaced by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and Russians who fled the Kursk and Belgorod regions. It suspended operations last September as the number of refugees arriving in the Moscow area declined.
This is not Moniava's first run-in with authorities: she was previously detained in January and February and was fined 45,000 rubles (about $520) for "discrediting" the Russian military in posts on Telegram. Despite the pressure, she has said she will not leave Russia, writing earlier this year that her departure would mean critically ill children spending longer periods in nursing homes and intensive care units.
