Kuznetsova, who is running in single-mandate district No. 195, was last heard from after a meeting with voters in Sokolniki devoted to internet freedom, according to her staff. She told them she was traveling home by taxi with her husband and was about 15 minutes from the house. At around 9 p.m. both spouses' phones went offline, and neither was at home, the staff said.

The disappearance was reported by the projects Slovo Zashchite and SotaVision, as well as by politician Yekaterina Duntsova.

Activists called Moscow police stations overnight but were unable to obtain information about the whereabouts of Kuznetsova and her husband, the staff claims. On the morning of September 18, the husband's phone briefly came back online, but he did not make contact himself. The staff believes the man was forced to give access to his device or that it was hacked.

Later, a source for Slovo Zashchite in Kuznetsova's team said she was allegedly at a police department in Moscow's Central Administrative District and had told relatives that she was fine. There has been no confirmation of this information from Kuznetsova or her husband.

Nikolai Toropov, chairman of the Moscow branch of the Rassvet movement, who had earlier said the couple was fine, subsequently retracted his own words, saying there was still no concrete information about the candidate's whereabouts.

At the same time, the staff reported problems with admitting Kuznetsova's observers to polling stations. The territorial election commission of the Bogorodskoye district said the candidate had allegedly withdrawn their referrals herself. Kuznetsova denied this and claimed the document bearing her signature was forged. The decision to withdraw the observers was not published publicly.

On the morning of September 18, at Moscow polling stations No. 1263, No. 1273 and No. 514, observers were shown statements withdrawing their referrals that Kuznetsova had allegedly signed. Her supporters consider the signature forged. The candidate's representatives intend to press police to search the couple's apartment, where their dog and cat remain.

Kuznetsova entered the Duma race with a platform of "For Peace," for admitting all candidates and parties to elections, free media and freedom for political prisoners. She previously worked in Boris Nadezhdin's campaign staff. The Anti-Corruption Foundation and Maxim Kats's team included her in their list of recommended candidates.