Moscow candidate Yulia Kuznetsova missing after Sokolniky meeting

September 18, 2026 at 04:12 PM2 min

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Yulia Kuznetsova, a State Duma candidate from the Green party, went missing on September 17 after a meeting with voters in Moscow's Sokolniki district. Her team suspects she and her husband may be held at a police station in the Central Administrative District. Observers from her campaign were removed from polling stations on September 18 based on a document she allegedly signed.

Key Facts

Yulia Kuznetsova, a State Duma candidate from the Green party, disappeared on September 17 after a meeting with voters in Moscow's Sokolniki district.
Her team suspects she and her husband may be held at a police station in the Central Administrative District of Moscow.
On September 18, observers from her campaign were removed from several Moscow polling stations based on a document she allegedly signed.
Kuznetsova previously worked in the headquarters of Boris Nadezhdin, an anti-war presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny and Maxim Katz's team included Kuznetsova on their list of recommended candidates for the State Duma elections held September 18–20.

Disappearance

Kuznetsova stopped communicating after a meeting with voters in the Sokolniki district on the evening of Thursday, September 17, according to the Slovo Zashchite project. She was traveling in a taxi with her husband before her disappearance. Her team believes the couple may be at a police station in the Central Administrative District of Moscow. Activists from her headquarters called dozens of Moscow police stations overnight, but all said they had no information about her or her husband's whereabouts.

Observer Removal

On the morning of September 18, observers from Kuznetsova's campaign began to be removed from several Moscow polling stations. The removal was based on a statement of recall that she allegedly signed herself. Sources from the Slovo Zashchite project claim the candidate's signature is forged. Before her disappearance, Kuznetsova herself denied the authenticity of the document used by the territorial election commission of Moscow's Bogorodsky district to claim her observers had been recalled.

Candidate Background

Kuznetsova is running for the State Duma from the Green party in Moscow's Babushkinsky single-mandate district. Her campaign slogan was "For Peace." She previously worked in the headquarters of Boris Nadezhdin, an anti-war contender in Russia's 2024 presidential election. The Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny and Maxim Katz's team included Kuznetsova on their list of recommended candidates for the State Duma elections held September 18–20.