Russian opposition party Yabloko’s leader urges Interior Ministry to investigate alleged torture of political scientist Alexander Kynev

Nikolai Rybakov, chairman of the Yabloko Party, wrote to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev demanding an urgent investigation into reports of violence against political scientist Alexander Kynev, who is in pretrial detention.If the reports are confirmed, Rybakov demands that the Interior Ministry use its authority to hold those responsible accountable.Kynev was arrested on September 25 on charges of producing and selling large quantities of drugs. Human rights advocates say he was severely beaten as he was being detained. He was later diagnosed with two fractures in his shinbone and admitted to the hospital at the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center.The previous day, political scientist Yekaterina Shulman said that after Kynev was detained, his leg had been broken to force him to confess to treason. Shulman said he refused. She did not say where she had obtained the information.Kynev’s lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, told the news outlet Ekho that “the lawyers have no documents corroborating what Shulman said.”At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.