Zakhvatov said Moskalyov, 54, had been arrested in Minsk, most
likely as a result of turning on his mobile phone and giving
away his location.
"Apparently someone made a mistake, maybe it was due to him
using a mobile phone," he said. "Most likely it was due to him
using a mobile phone improperly."
Moskalyov came to the attention of Russian police last year
after his daughter Masha, then 12, drew an anti-war picture at
school showing Russia firing missiles at a Ukrainian mother and
child.
He was later charged with discrediting Russia's armed forces in
connection with separate anti-war comments he was alleged to
have made on social media.
The case has resonated widely in Russia and abroad, particularly
since Masha, now 13, was separated from her father and placed in
a children's home at the start of March.
Moskalyov fled house arrest in the town of Yefremov, south of
Moscow, in the early hours of Tuesday. Later the same day, a
court sentenced him in absentia to two years in a penal colony.
It was not clear how he had made his way from Yefremov to Minsk,
a distance of about 700 km (440 miles), or what further legal
consequences he would now face.
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by
Andrew Osborn and Kevin Liffey)
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