The document reached the Perovsky District Court of Moscow on 27 October, according to Mediazona, which first reported the filing. No hearing has been scheduled.
Kynev has been held in pre-trial detention since 25 September on charges of large-scale illegal production, sale or shipment of narcotics, an offence that carries up to 20 years in prison. He does not admit guilt.
The Justice Ministry added Kynev to its "foreign agents" register in February, saying he had spread "fakes" about the Russian authorities and the electoral system and had taken part in producing material for other "foreign agents" and "undesirable" organisations.
Kynev was detained with the involvement of Federal Security Service (FSB) officers. According to Kynev and his lawyer, he was injured during the arrest and was diagnosed with two fractures of the tibia. He appeared at a hearing on an appeal against his detention by video link with his leg in a cast. The defence said he was not receiving the necessary medical care.
Yekaterina Shulman said Kynev was tortured with electric shocks to force him to confess to high treason, TV Rain reported.
On the eve of the filing, his lawyer Mikhail Biryukov said his client had refused food in the detention centre because his injuries and cast made it impossible for him to use the toilet. According to the lawyer, this is not a hunger strike but a refusal to eat. The Moscow branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) says Kynev has not declared a hunger strike and that his conditions of detention comply with the law.
Kynev specialises in analysing the structure of power in Russia's regions.
Accounts differ: Biryukov says the political scientist refused food because of conditions in the detention centre and the injury he sustained during his arrest, while the Moscow FSIN branch denies he announced a hunger strike and says meals are provided under the established schedule.