In Moscow, Levon Smirnov, a municipal deputy of the Akademichesky district of Moscow, was detained at the exit of his own house. Sota reports .

Smirnov was detained by a district police officer and taken to the police department in the Akademichesky district. The Mundep himself is sure that this incident is connected with the detentions of other deputies - Yulia Shcherbakova and Elena Selkova, who are accused of publishing extremist symbols for posts about "Smart Voting" from 2019.

“I am convinced that this is an order from the city hall aimed at intimidating independent municipal deputies and preventing them from running in the upcoming elections,” Smirnov commented on the situation.

The day before, on June 14, municipal deputy Yulia Shcherbakova was detained. She was kept at the police station for several hours, promising a trial on the same day, but was finally released. The deputy of the Cheryomushki district Elena Selkova (KPRF) was also detained.

The reason for the detention was a “certain statement” about the posts of 2019 by Shcherbakova and Selkova on social networks mentioning “Smart Voting”. The project itself is not banned, but after the structures of politician Alexei Navalny were recognized as extremist in the summer of 2021, the police began issuing fines, including for demonstrating the Smart Vote symbols.

Politician and blogger Maxim Katz notes that administrative cases are being opened to prevent deputies from participating in the September elections to the State Duma.