Cast and cane behind bars. Moscow judge questions how political Alexander Kynev broke his leg during arrest, then leaves him in custody

Kynev, 51, is a leading expert on Russian regional politics and elections and the author of the 2025 book “Who Governs Russia’s Regions and How”. The Justice Ministry designated him a “foreign agent” in February 2026; despite that, he chose to stay in Russia and provided coverage of the Duma electoral campaign.

Moscow’s Perovsky District Court sent him to pre-trial detention on September 25, just two days after he posted a summary of his four-month monitoring of the State Duma elections. The charge carries 10 to 20 years in prison. He denies the charges, but further details of the case remain unknown.

Days after the arrest, the human rights project Slovo Zashchite reported that Kynev had been diagnosed with two tibia fractures, citing a source in the prison service’s medical unit who described the injuries as “the result of torture.”

At the appeal hearing, Kynev told the court he could hardly move. To reach the room where the video link was set up, he said, he had to climb stairs over and over across a cold floor, his leg “effectively in a cast.”

His lawyer Vera Goncharova called his continued detention “inhumane.” “If Kynev does not receive medical care soon, he will be left disabled,” she said, adding that the injuries were sustained during the arrest and that complaints had been filed. A discharge summary submitted by the defence shows that Kynev was treated in a surgical ward for a closed fracture from September 25 to October 8. He was discharged in “satisfactory condition,” walking on his own “with the support of a cane.”

The judge questioned Kynev about how he came to be injured. He said he was detained in his apartment by officers who did not identify themselves. “I felt fear and shock, not understanding who had come for me,” he said. “They threw me to the floor. I remember the rest very poorly.” Asked whether he had done anything before that, Kynev said he had not. “Just stood there? And they took you and threw you down? Your position is clear,” the judge replied.

Another defence lawyer, Arseny Levinson, said Kynev had not resisted (prompting a quick rebuttal from the judge: “And you were there?”) and that the delay in treating him risked “irreparable harm” to his health. Levinson also told the court that Kynev’s foreign travel passports had been seized during a search, though this is not reflected in the case file. The defence noted that Kynev has no criminal record, owns an apartment in Moscow and has no property abroad, and asked for a non-custodial measure.

The prosecutor called the original ruling lawful. After a brief recess, judge Natalya Nikishina left the arrest in place.

On October 14, Kynev was transferred from the hospital wing of “Matrosskaya Tishina” to Moscow’s SIZO-4, “Medved.” In a letter shared by journalist Gleb Yarovoy, Kynev wrote that he would remain in a cast for about three more weeks but could not really walk because he had no crutches. Rights advocates have documented beatings, extortion and inadequate medical care at the “Medved” facility for years.