Jailed Election Expert Kynev Denied Crutches After Leg Broken During Arrest, Journalist Says

Oct. 16, 2026 Alexander Kynev. Vayvor Russian political scientist and election expert Alexander Kynev is unable to walk after being denied crutches at a Moscow detention center, a journalist who received a letter from him said. Kynev, who was arrested in late September on drug charges, has been transferred to Moscow’s Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 4, known as “Medved” (“Bear”), journalist Gleb Yarovoy said. His leg was reportedly broken during his arrest. “He writes that he is still in a cast and has about three more weeks to ‘walk’ around in it. Except he can’t walk,” Yarovoy wrote. Kynev also said he was being held in quarantine and receiving no information about the outside world, according to Yarovoy. Moscow’s Perovsky District Court ordered Kynev into pre-trial detention on Sept. 25 on charges of attempting to sell a large quantity of drugs. He denies wrongdoing and faces between 10 and 20 years in prison if convicted. The legal news Telegram channel Slovo Zashchite reported that Kynev suffered two fractures to his shinbone after being beaten during his arrest and was taken to the hospital at Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina detention center. His lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, previously said he could neither confirm nor deny that account. The Medved detention center, in Moscow’s Yuzhnoye Medvedkovo district, previously held opposition politician Ilya Yashin while he was under investigation for spreading “false information” about the Russian military, the investigative outlet Agentstvo noted. Other former inmates include police rights activist Vladimir Vorontsov, former monk Nikolai Romanov and Andrei Bykov, the former head of the Federal Penitentiary Service’s research institute. Yelena Masyuk, a former member of the presidential human rights council, previously documented allegations of extortion and abuse at the facility, including beatings by fellow inmates and cases in which prisoners were driven to suicide. Kynev remained in Russia and had regularly commented on the Sept. 18-20 State Duma elections before his arrest. He estimated that turnout would have been around 40% and the ruling United Russia party would have won no more than 35% of the vote without electoral fraud. He also warned that the party’s record haul of 349 seats could backfire. A specialist in Russian regional politics and elections, Kynev previously taught at the Higher School of Economics and headed independent election monitor Golos’ analytical department. The Justice Ministry designated him a “foreign agent” in February 2026, accusing him of spreading false information about government policies and the electoral system, as well as cooperating with an organization designated “undesirable.” This article was translated with the help of artificial intelligence and was reviewed by a Moscow Times editor before publication. Learn more about our newsroom's AI policy here. Read this article in Russian at The Moscow Times' Russian service. Read more about: Court case , Drugs , Politics , Moscow Sign up for our free weekly newsletter Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy We sent a confirmation to your email. Please confirm your subscription. A Message from The Moscow Times: Dear readers, We are facing unprecedented challenges. 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