Miklyukov's party colleagues from "Yabloko" shared details of his detention.

After the detention of the observer from "Yabloko", Boris Miklyukov, in the Rostov region, his whereabouts remained unknown for some time, and a person who participated in the court, introducing himself as a lawyer, took Miklyukov's phones and stopped communicating, reported his party colleagues.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 18, the Soviet District Court of Rostov-on-Don fined Boris Miklyukov, a member of the regional council of the Rostov branch of "Yabloko", 100,000 rubles for petty hooliganism, who was previously detained at polling station No. 58 in the village of Yuzhny in the Azov district. The party announced its intention to appeal the court's decision.

There have been no similar incidents with observers during the current elections in the Rostov region, reported the head of the regional branch of "Yabloko" Aleksey Popov.

"What happened to Boris Miklyukov <...> is, fortunately, so far a unique case, but it is a sufficiently outrageous event that raises a lot of questions," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

Miklyukov is at home surrounded by family, but his own means of communication have been confiscated, Popov reported. According to him, Miklyukov was able to contact his party colleagues using his grandmother's phone and reported that he was fine.

Party members have questions about the person who participated in the court session as Miklyukov's defender, noted Popov.

"The person who introduced himself as his lawyer and participated in the process, and ultimately took his phones, promised to return them, but is currently not in contact. Who this person is, whether he is a state defender <...> or a law enforcement officer, we cannot say at this time," he said.

The party expects to receive the motivated court ruling on September 20, after which another lawyer will decide on the appeal against the fine, Popov reported. He noted that the police came for Miklyukov from Rostov-on-Don to the village of Yuzhny in the Rostov region. "This is quite far, almost on the border with the Krasnodar region," said the head of the regional branch of "Yabloko".

After the detention, Miklyukov was taken to police station No. 8 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Rostov-on-Don around 14:00 Moscow time, Popov reported. According to him, the party's lawyer tried to find the observer, and representatives of "Yabloko" called the duty unit several times, where they were told that Miklyukov was not there. Around 17:00 Moscow time, he was taken to the Soviet District Court, Popov reported.

The reason for the case was a comment on social media, in which Miklyukov, according to the prosecution, argued with the mother of a participant in the military operation in Ukraine, Popov reported. According to him, the court did not establish whether Miklyukov's interlocutor was indeed the mother of a serviceman and whether the comments belonged to the observer himself.

"Everything happened in a very rapid environment. The court fully agreed with the prosecution," Popov explained.

The administrative penalty does not deprive Miklyukov of the opportunity to work as an observer, Popov believes. According to him, there is no talk of a criminal case, physical force was not applied to Miklyukov, and the police did not ask him questions about his work as an observer. At the same time, the timing of the detention raises questions for Popov.

"Who prevented them from fining him before the elections? Or after the elections? The fact that he was taken on election day certainly raises big questions <...>. Nevertheless, on Saturday, Boris intends to continue observing the elections," he said.

The detention and fine of the observer are a rare and serious incident, noted the head of the federal election monitoring headquarters of the "Yabloko" party Alexander Yefimov. He sharply criticized the Rostov security forces.

"But even there, the detention and fine of the observer is still a rather serious situation," Yefimov told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

The court did not make a decision to remove Miklyukov from the polling station, so he can continue to work as an observer, Yefimov noted. According to him, at some polling stations, "Yabloko" observers are not allowed, citing their alleged inclusion in extremist lists, and in some cases, they are removed by court decision.

The administrative fine itself also does not prevent election observation, believes electoral analyst and election observer Ivan Shukshin.

"Moreover, this decision has not entered into force, he is effectively not punished. What can hinder observation is if the court makes a decision to remove the observer from the site. But otherwise, sitting at the site with a court ruling on the fine is possible," Shukshin told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

"Caucasian Knot" has gathered materials on the elections on the thematic page "Elections-2026: where will the protest go?"