Updated

Alexander Kynev, Russia's best-known expert on regional politics who had publicly criticized fraud and administrative pressure during the State Duma elections, was detained by a Moscow court on September 25 on drug charges. Kynev, a veteran political consultant who taught at the Higher School of Economics, is widely seen by observers as having been targeted for his criticism of the vote. Rights advocates and independent media have raised concerns that the drug charges are a pretext to silence one of the few remaining independent voices analyzing Russian elections.