Moskalyov, whose child drew an anti-war picture, was sentenced to prison for discrediting the Russian military but fled.
A Russian father, who was separated from his daughter over a Ukraine-themed school drawing, was detained in Belarus after fleeing house arrest in Russia, the Belarusian authorities said.
Alexei Moskalyov, a 54-year-old single father from the town of Yefremov south of Moscow, fled house arrest this week just before a court handed him a two-year sentence for ‘discrediting’ the military Russian.
“Moskalyov was arrested … following a request from the Russian police” and is currently being held in Belarus, a spokeswoman for the Belarusian Interior Ministry said on Thursday, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov said Moskalyov was arrested in the capital Minsk, possibly because he turned on his mobile phone and revealed his location.
“Apparently someone made a mistake, maybe it was because he used a cell phone,” said Zakhvatov, who had been in contact with Moskalyov. “It was probably due to him using a mobile phone inappropriately,” he told Reuters news agency.
Moskalyov first came to the attention of authorities last year after his daughter Maria, now 13, drew a picture at school showing missiles next to a heading Russian flag towards a woman and a child standing near a Ukrainian flag.
His manager contacted the police.
A criminal case was later opened against the father for allegedly criticizing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on social media.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to two years in prison for “discredit” the Russian army. Moskalyov was not present in the courtroom, having fled house arrest before sentencing.
Maria was taken from him in March and placed in a local juvenile ‘rehabilitation centre’, with the couple denied contact.
The case has drawn national attention, as Moscow cracks down on criticism of the Ukraine offensive.
Moskalyov’s lawyer, Vladimir Biliyenko, said it was now “difficult to predict” what will happen to Maria.
Moskalyov faces losing his parental rights in a separate trial due to begin on April 6.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended Moskalyov’s conviction, calling the father’s parenthood “deplorable”.
But in a letter posted on social media, Maria called her father “the bravest person in the world”.
Russia’s leading human rights organization, Memorial, which was banned by the authoritiessaid he considered Moskaliov a “political prisoner”.
Memorial said his case was “an attempt to intimidate all opponents” of the conflict.
