Father and Daughter Who Fled Russia Win Magnitsky Human Rights Award

Alexei Moskalyov and his daughter Maria have received the 2026 Magnitsky Human Rights Award for “Courage Under Fire”. The award recognises their refusal to stay silent after they faced political persecution in Russia over Maria’s anti-war drawing.

Maria was 12 when she drew Ukrainian mothers protecting children from Russian missiles at school. In 2023, a court sentenced her father to two years in prison for “discrediting” the Russian military; after his release in October 2024, they reunited and later fled to France, where they were granted political asylum. The annual awards honour people who challenge authoritarian regimes and commemorate lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow prison in 2009.