Russia votes as United Russia dominates three-day parliamentary election

Polling stations opened early in Russia’s Far East on Friday, starting a three-day vote to renew the 450 seats in the State Duma that President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is widely expected to win.

Vote unfolds amid war and tight political controls

The election is the first parliamentary vote since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022. Only parties that support Putin and the Kremlin’s military campaign have been registered to run, and the vote includes polling organised in occupied Ukrainian territories.

The Kremlin has banned criticism of its Ukraine campaign and tightly controlled the election process, leaving few surprises about the likely result.

Security and public messaging

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that Russian forces destroyed dozens of Ukrainian drones bound for the capital overnight. He said:

“More than 350 UAVs flew towards the Moscow region between 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on 17 September and 7:00 am on 18 September. … most were destroyed at an outer defensive perimeter and some 64 were shot down as they were approaching the sprawling city.”

President Putin urged Russians to vote to show troops that “behind our fighters stand millions of people” and to give a “common answer to those who want to weaken Russia,” according to the AFP report.

Opposition, debate and public sentiment

The parties contesting the vote include the Communist Party, the nationalist LDPR, A Just Russia and New People all of which back most of Putin’s policies and the war in Ukraine. Yabloko, which called for an end to fighting, was barred from running shortly before the vote, and one of its figures, Lev Shlosberg, was imprisoned for criticising the war.

The absence of public debate and bans on protests mean the election will also serve as a barometer for the Kremlin of public frustration with the conflict, the AFP piece said. The campaign and the war have affected Russians more visibly this year, with Ukrainian strikes reaching as far as the Urals and Siberia and causing significant damage and casualties inside Russia.

Calls from exiles and election tactics

Russia’s exiled opposition published recommendations for anti-Kremlin voters on who to back in each region, urging people not to boycott the election. The report said that Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, also called on anti-war Russians to vote at the same time at noon on Sunday. By contrast, Yabloko’s chairman Nikolay Rybakov said his party preferred people not vote.

What the vote will show

While United Russia is expected to dominate, the Kremlin will use the three-day vote, which runs until 1800 GMT on Sunday, as a measure of public support for its policies and for the war in Ukraine.