Russian State Duma candidate goes missing after forged document used to pull her observers from polling stations
Yulia Kuznetsova, a candidate for Russia’s State Duma from the Green Party, has been missing since Thursday evening, the independent legal aid outlet Slovo Zashchite reported.
Kuznetsova disappeared after attending a meeting with voters in Moscow’s Sokolniki district dedicated to internet freedom. According to her campaign team, she had told colleagues she was heading home by taxi with her husband and was about 15 minutes from their apartment. Her phone then turned off. Her husband could not be reached either, and the couple were not found at their home.
Overnight, campaign members called police stations across Moscow but were unable to obtain any information on the whereabouts of Kuznetsova or her husband. On Friday morning, her husband’s phone briefly appeared online, but he did not contact anyone.
The disappearance coincided with efforts to remove Kuznetsova’s election observers from polling stations. The district election commission in Moscow’s Bogorodskoye district claimed she had withdrawn her observers herself, but Kuznetsova denied this, saying the document bearing her signature was forged. The purported withdrawal order has not been made public, but her campaign says observers have already been pulled from at least several polling stations.
Kuznetsova’s team said they would ask police to check the couple’s apartment, where their dog and cat were left unattended.
Kuznetsova is running for State Duma on a platform calling for peace, the admission of all candidates and parties to elections, media freedom and the release of political prisoners. According to her Telegram channel, she has worked in Russian politics for a decade.
Russia’s State Duma elections begin on Friday and will last three days, from 18–20 September.
