A Yabloko election observer, who was taken from the polling station by masked security officers, has been fined.

The court has fined Boris Miklyukov, an election observer from the Rostov branch of Yabloko, 100,000 roubles (US$1,100) under the petty hooliganism charge (Part 3, Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences), reported the regional branch of the party. The reason was a comment Miklyukov made on social media, but its content remains unknown. His phone and other devices were confiscated.

The day before, two plainclothes security officers wearing balaclavas, along with a uniformed police officer, came to the polling station in the settlement of Yuzhny for Miklyukov. They had followed the observer for about 100 kilometres from Rostov-on-Don, put him in a non-police car and drove him back to the city.

In 2022, Miklyukov had already been fined 30,000 roubles (US$330) under the charge of “discrediting” the Russian army for posts in a Telegram chat. A search was also carried out at his place, with his devices seized.