Russian girl taken from father over Ukraine sketch given to estranged mother

A Russian child who was taken away from her father last month after she drew a picture in support of Ukraine at school has been handed by authorities to her estranged mother.

In early March Russian authorities separated 13-year-old Maria Moskalyova from her single father Alexei Moskalyov, and placed her in a rehabilitation centre in her small town of Yefremov, south of Moscow.

Her father last week made the shock move of fleeing house arrest while a Russian court found him guilty of "discrediting" the Russian army and given a two-year prison sentence.

Authorities detained him in the Belarusian capital Minsk. On Thursday, he is due to face court in Yefremov on depriving him of the custody of his child.

Ahead of the trial, Russia's children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova -- wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for her role in "deporting" Ukrainian children -- announced Maria had been given to her mother.

The girl had not lived with her mother, Olga Sitchikhina, in years.

"As many know, she did not live with her (mother) for a long time, and they communicated very little," Lvova-Belova said on Telegram late on Wednesday.

"Masha (Maria) at the start did not want to go to her mother," the official said.

- 'My hero' -

"Her position has changed, she told me about it on the phone."

AFP was not able to verify this, and activists and lawyers had complained they had no access to Maria.

But Lvova-Belova said it was a "miracle."

"During a conversation with the mother, having learned all the details about her life making an immediate impression, I thought: what if a miracle is really possible," she said.

Local media quoted the director of the rehabilitation centre where Maria was placed as saying that "social teachers and psychologists" had worked with the girl.

The Kremlin had defended the case against Moskalyov, describing his parenting as "deplorable."

Last week, after Moskalyov fled house arrest, activists published a letter from Maria to her father that lawyers confirmed was authentic.

"I love you very much and know that you are not guilty of anything," the letter read. She called him "my hero."

bur/yad

© Agence France-Presse