Steve Cohen

In April 2022, a 12-year-old Russian girl named Masha Moskalyova was told in art class to draw a picture supporting russian troops in Ukraine. Instead, she drew a Ukrainian mother protecting her child as russian missiles flew toward them. On the Ukrainian flag she wrote, “Glory to Ukraine.” On the russian flag: “No to war. No to Putin.” Her school reported her to the authorities. Police began investigating her father, Alexei Moskalyov, a single father who had raised Masha largely on his own. They searched his social media and discovered posts criticizing russia’s invasion and documenting russian atrocities in Bucha. In December 2022, around a dozen russian security officers raided their home. They ransacked it, seized their computers, phones, and savings. Alexei later said that during interrogations, officers beat him and slammed his head against the wall and floor. They blasted the russian national anthem at full volume while questioning him. Eventually, the regime charged him with repeatedly “discrediting” the russian military because of his anti-war social-media posts. Masha was taken away from him and placed in a state “social rehabilitation” center. Alexei was sentenced to two years in a penal colony. He later described horrific conditions there: a tiny punishment cell roughly two meters long, freezing temperatures, rats crawling out of the sewer, and days when he was forced to stand for as long as 16 hours because the bunk was locked against the wall. Meanwhile, his daughter wrote to him. “Dad, don’t give up.” “You are my hero.” They were separated for more than a year and a half. On October 15, 2024, Alexei finally walked out of prison. Masha was waiting for him. Five days later, they fled russia. They first escaped to Armenia and applied for a German humanitarian visa. After waiting for more than a year, their case stalled when Germany suspended the relevant humanitarian admission program. Then France stepped in. In March 2026, Masha and Alexei received French humanitarian visas and flew to Paris. And on July 17, 2026, France granted them political asylum. Today, Masha is drawing again and hopes to pursue art. She also writes and has spoken out in support of russian political prisoners. When asked whether, knowing everything that happened afterward, she would still have made that drawing, Masha said she would. “One only lives once.” One drawing. A child saying no to war. And for that, the russian state destroyed their home, separated a father from his daughter, imprisoned him, and drove them both into exile. This is what dictatorship looks like.

BREAKING: "I am deeply ashamed of him” RFK Jr.'s sister Kerry Kennedy tears into him for his disgustingly racist remarks about Arabs. And she was just getting started... "There's 500 million Arabs in the world, and yet they don't produce science, they don't win the Nobel Prize, they don't win the Fields prize, they don't win the Wolf Prize, they don't produce literature," RFK falsely claimed at a rally for Mike Rogers in Michigan. It represented a new low for a man who sold his soul for power inside Trump's administration and it was a blatant attempt to smear Abdul El-Sayed, who is Arab-American. Since they can't contest him on the merits of his policies, right-wingers have been relying entirely on Islamophobic and racist attacks. For the record, Arabs regularly win awards in everything from literature to chemistry. In response to the hateful remarks, Kerry Kennedy posted a quote from her brother on Larry King Now back in 2016 when he said, "The easiest thing for a political leader to do is to appeal to our bigotry and our hatred and xenophobia and prejudice, and point to people who are unlike us and say they're the ones who are damaging our country." Beneath the post was where she really tore into him— "There was a time when I completely agreed with my brother," wrote Kennedy. "Today, I am deeply ashamed of him. Arab and Muslim people alike have made extraordinary contributions to the world across literature, science, mathematics, medicine and countless other fields." "To name a few, Omar M. Yaghi won the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2018 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2025. Ahmed Zewail won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999, and Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988," she added. "A person's race, religion, ethnicity or socioeconomic background does not determine their intellect, creativity or capacity to contribute to humanity. My thoughts are with all those hurt by my brother's false, cruel and derogatory words," Kennedy concluded. There is one final layer to this scandal. In addition to being jaw-droppingly racist, RFK's remarks are just plain bad strategy. Michigan has a heavy Arab population and he's out there telling these people that they're stupid and useless. Next week, they'll have a chance to pay his entire party back in spades by sending Abdul El-Sayed to the Senate! Please ❤️ and share if you think that RFK Jr. is a disgrace to his family name!