Russia Closes Wartime Vote With United Russia Dominant — SkimNews
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- United Russia is expected to retain dominance in the State Duma election, the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, with most anti-war candidates barred from the ballot.
- Yabloko party candidates said they feared for their freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior party figures before the vote for comments about the conflict deemed illegal by authorities.
- President Putin on Friday September 18 accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing a strike on the home of election official Elena Astanina in Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia that killed her; Reuters said it could not independently verify the attack.
- Russian electoral officials reported Moscow's online voting system came under cyberattack on Saturday September 19, the day before polls closed.
- Kyiv dismissed the vote as a "pseudo election" and has suspended elections under martial law, framing the Russian contest as illegitimate.
- The NEST think-tank in Berlin warned the Communist party and New People party could attract votes from war-weary voters that the Kremlin would prefer go to United Russia, citing accumulating "anxiety and frustration" over the war's economic costs.
- Initial results were expected to begin emerging at around 1800 GMT on Sunday September 20, with more complete tallies available Monday September 21.
Why it matters: With anti-war candidates jailed or barred, the election delivers the Kremlin a stage-managed mandate for Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two, now in its fifth year. The NEST think-tank's warning that the Communist and New People parties could siphon votes from United Russia signals that war fatigue and economic strain may surface even inside a managed contest, complicating Putin's narrative of national unity at a moment of prolonged conflict.
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