Putin’s United Russia retains parliament majority in tightly controlled vote

Russia's ruling United Russia party has retained its commanding majority in the State Duma after a tightly controlled three-day vote that excluded most opposition candidates and unfolded against the backdrop of the largest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow since the war began.

Results from more than 90% of polling stations gave United Russia just under 58% of the vote for the 225 seats apportioned by party lists, according to the Central Election Commission on Monday. CEC chair Ella Pamfilova said preliminary results indicated United Russia would secure roughly 355 of the Duma's 450 seats, with the party's candidates leading in 208 of the 225 single-ballot constituency races.abcnews+1

A Vote Without Opposition

The election, held from Friday through Sunday for 111 million eligible voters, was Russia's first parliamentary ballot since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin had positioned the vote as a demonstration of popular support for the war effort, while systematically eliminating any challenge to its dominance.pbs

The liberal Yabloko party — the only registered political entity to publicly criticize the war — was removed from the party-list ballot last month by Russia's Supreme Court and was permitted to field only a handful of candidates in single-seat races. Several anti-war politicians were imprisoned or forced into exile ahead of the campaign. In a small act of defiance, Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov spoiled his ballot in St. Petersburg, writing "For peace" across it in bright green ink.arkansasonline+2

Four other parties that broadly vote in lockstep with the Kremlin also won seats: the Communist Party at roughly 14%, the ultranationalist LDPR at about 9%, New People near 8%, and A Just Russia around 5%. The Berlin-based NEST think tank, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, suggested that votes for these parties may represent a form of silent protest amid war fatigue and economic strain.cnbc+1

Drones, Cyberattacks and Allegations of Fraud

The final day of voting was overshadowed by what TASS called the largest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow since the war began. Russia's Defence Ministry said it intercepted nearly 2,000 Ukrainian drones and eight cruise missiles over 24 hours. The strikes killed three people in the Moscow region and two in the Russian-held part of Kherson, including an election official. A facility at Moscow's oil refinery was also damaged.cnbc+1

Election authorities reported cyberattacks on the electronic voting system, while the independent outlet SotaVision documented widespread glitches in Moscow's electronic registry that prevented voters from receiving paper ballots. Leonid Volkov, a close associate of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, suggested the electronic failures may have been deliberate. Opposition parties reported violations including unsealed ballot boxes and observers being turned away from polling stations.arkansasonline+1

International Condemnation

Voting was held in four illegally annexed Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia — as well as in Crimea. At one polling station in Donetsk, voters cast ballots while an armed Russian soldier stood nearby. Ukraine denounced the vote as illegal, and the European Union called it a "blatant violation of international law". Russia did not invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the OSCE's parliamentary assembly president calling the decision a breach of Russia's commitments.abcnews+2

Turnout stood at just under 57%, the CEC said. Final results are expected by Friday.aljazeera