A screen displays preliminary results of Russia’s parliamentary election during a briefing at the headquarters of the Central Election Commission in Moscow
Turnout stood at 56.66 per cent when polls closed, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission. About 111 million voters were eligible to cast ballots for the 450-seat lower house. The election also included voting in four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia after the war began, as well as Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 1,110 Ukrainian drones across Russia, Crimea and the Black Sea. Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov said two people were killed and 20 wounded.
Yabloko and the Communist Party also reported that some of their observers were turned away from polling stations and alleged other violations, including ballot boxes being opened after being sealed and voters being denied paper ballots. The three-day vote was held amid a crackdown on political dissent, with major anti-war opposition figures imprisoned, exiled or barred from the ballot. Half the seats are contested through party lists and the rest through single-seat constituencies. Ukraine condemned the voting in Russian-held territories and urged other countries not to recognise the results. The European Union called it a “blatant violation of international law. The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that openly criticised the war, was removed from the ballot by Russia’s Supreme Court last month, although some of its candidates remained in constituency races. The claims could not be independently verified. The election’s final day coincided with a major wave of Ukrainian drone attacks.
Russia on Sunday wrapped up its first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party widely expected to retain its overwhelming control of the State Duma.