Popular Rock Musician Leaves Russia After Publicly Supporting Girl Who Drew Anti-War Picture

The leader of Russia's popular Naiv rock group, Aleksandr Ivanov, has left Russia for an unspecified country after he supported a 13-year-old girl, Masha Moskalyova, whose anti-war picture helped lead to her father's prosecution, media reports said on May 9. Ivanov wore a T-shirt with Moskalyova's name on it during his group's concert in Moscow in mid-April. The teenager’s drawing last year drew attention to her father's online posts about the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. He was handed a two-year prison term in March on a charge of "discrediting Russia's armed forces." To read the original story by RFE/RL's North.Realities, click here.