Voting for the parliamentary elections has begun in Russia, starting Friday morning in the Far Eastern region and continuing until Sunday. Following the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine in 2022, this election holds significant importance as Russia’s first parliamentary vote since the conflict began. Victory for President Vladimir Putin’s party is widely anticipated. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that dozens of Ukrainian drones targeting the capital had been destroyed, with more than 350 drones detected flying over the Moscow area.
The three-day election started in Russia’s Far East as voters cast ballots for the State Duma amidst the fifth year of conflict with Ukraine. This is the first parliamentary election since Moscow initiated a military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022. President Putin’s party is expected to win decisively amid tight control of the electoral process. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, and only parties supportive of Putin and the Kremlin’s prolonged military efforts are registered to participate. Voting has also taken place in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
A minority in Russia doubts the smooth victory of Putin’s United Russia party, but the election serves as a key barometer for Kremlin support of the war in Ukraine among the public. The war’s domestic impacts are being felt more intensely this year. As a stark reminder of the ongoing conflict, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated on Friday that “Russia destroyed dozens of Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital. Between 8 p.m. September 17 and 7 a.m. September 18 local time, over 350 drones flew over the Moscow region,” according to his Telegram post.
Most of these drones were neutralized in the outer security zone, with approximately 64 reaching the vicinity of the city before being deactivated. Voting is set to continue through Sunday to elect members for the 450-seat State Duma, Russia’s lower house. Putin has led Russia since the 1999 New Year’s Eve and his United Russia party has dominated Russian politics since the early 2000s. Moscow has banned criticism of the Ukrainian campaign, and analysts believe the Kremlin-controlled elections will offer no surprises.
United Russia, considered “emotionally important” for Putin, faces competition only from parties aligned with Kremlin policies supporting the war, including the Russian Communist Party, the nationalist LDPR, A Just Russia, and New People. Notably, Lev Shlosberg, a prominent member, was jailed for criticizing the conflict.
