United Russia Dominates Russian Parliamentary Vote

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has secured a majority in the State Duma in Russia’s first parliamentary elections since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, according to preliminary results reported by Politico.

United Russia won around 58% of the vote for the 225 deputies elected through party lists. Its candidates also dominated contests for the Duma’s other 225 seats, which are elected in single-mandate constituencies.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the elections “marked another major setback for Russian democracy” and that their outcome “was never in doubt”.

Politico reported that the elections were marked by severe repression, with dissenting voices largely silenced. Yabloko, Russia’s only openly anti-war party, was barred from fielding a national list of candidates.

Voting also took place in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, with some residents reportedly coerced into taking part. Kallas described the votes held in occupied Ukrainian territory as “sham elections” and said she had proposed measures against those facilitating them.

(mja)