March 11, 2026

Alexey Moskalev and his daughter arrived in France on humanitarian visas

In the evening of March 11, Alexey Moskalev and his daughter Maria flew to Paris. The day before, they received humanitarian visas and a document allowing them to enter France without a passport, "Novaya-Europe" learned. Photo: inTransit.The request for documents to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs was submitted at the end of December by the human rights organization inTransit, to which the Moskalevs turned for help. According to the coordinator of inTransit, the Moskalevs hoped to obtain a German humanitarian visa based on the criteria of "special significance for Germany." This option was available until January 2026. The document processing took more than a year. In addition, the risks of persecution in Russia increased. At the end of December last year, child protective services began searching for Maria and pressuring her remaining relatives, and due to her anti-war Telegram channel, there was a risk of a case being opened against her for "discrediting" the Russian army. "At the end of December 2025, the family asked to apply for a French humanitarian visa and laissez-passer, as they do not have ten-year passports, and entry into France with a humanitarian visa is impossible with five-year ones," said the inTransit coordinator. In February, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the Moskalevs' request for humanitarian protection. On March 10, the family received the documents. "They have now flown to Paris. We are very happy and thank the German Foreign Ministry, which made every possible effort to provide protection to the Moskalevs. And the French Foreign Ministry, for protection in this case and in principle - for continuing to support Russians who are politically persecuted. This is especially valuable against the backdrop of the closure of similar programs in other countries," noted the inTransit coordinator. The persecution of the Moskalev family began in April 2022, when 13-year-old Maria drew an anti-war picture in a school lesson. Because of this, a case was opened against her father for "discrediting" the army, and the girl herself was first sent to a shelter, and then to her mother, with whom she had almost no contact. In October 2024, the father and daughter left for Armenia. On March 28, 2023, on the day the court announced Moskalev's sentence, he attempted to flee the country. But it was unsuccessful: two months later, the man was detained in Belarus and extradited to Russia, where he faced two years in prison. Later, in an interview with OVD-Info, Moskalev said that FSB officers - the same ones who searched his home and beat him during his arrest - visited him twice in prison. They summoned his cellmates for interrogations, and threatened him: "Well, Moskalev, don't think that we'll leave you alone after your sentence ends, we won't let you go now, for life." In October 2024, Moskalev was released, but the security forces did not stop pressuring the family. Two days after returning home, police officers came to him and his daughter - they knocked on the door for a long time, walked around the building, and looked at the balcony. Neighbors told the Moskalevs about this. In October 2024, fearing renewed persecution, Alexey and Maria left for Armenia. Later, they applied to inTransit for help in obtaining a German humanitarian visa. The possibility of obtaining it was complicated by the fact that Moskalev's Russian passport was not issued for a long time. "The Moskalevs faced the gradual closure of European programs for the protection of anti-war Russians, including the German one, which had previously been one of the main ones. Despite the efforts of the German Foreign Ministry to expedite the Moskalevs' case, Germany stopped considering applications from May 2025, and since August, the procedure for German humanitarian visas under paragraph 22.2 has been de facto frozen," explains the inTransit coordinator. Become a co-participant of "Novaya Gazeta" Become a co-participant of "Novaya Gazeta", subscribe to the newsletter and receive letters from the editorial office Subscribe