Early results from Russia’s first parliamentary elections since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine show President Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, firmly in the lead, a result many anticipated. The elections, held between Friday and Sunday, were aimed at electing members of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, and are expected to reaffirm United Russia’s dominance amid a tightly managed political environment with limited opposition.
The Kremlin portrayed the vote as an opportunity for citizens to express their views following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the resulting economic difficulties. Most antiwar candidates were excluded, and those running from the liberal Yabloko party expressed concerns for their safety after two senior members received lengthy prison sentences due to statements about the conflict.
Nikolai Rybakov, Yabloko’s leader, publicly protested by spoiling his ballot, writing his party’s name along with the slogan “For peace.”
According to the state news agency TASS, as of Monday, 90.43 per cent of ballots had been counted, and voter turnout was reported at just below 57 per cent. United Russia led the poll with 57.86 per cent of the vote, securing 225 deputies from party lists, with another 225 expected from single-member constituencies. No significant surprises or upsets have emerged from the results so far.
TASS also indicated that over 3.6 million people voted online, including residents from four Ukrainian regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia—that Russia annexed in 2022, and Crimea, which was seized in 2014. The United Nations and most of the world do not recognise these areas as part of Russia.
Other parties such as the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), New People, and A Just Russia lagged behind in the early results but are still expected to secure seats in the Duma. TASS reported the CPRF at 13.84 per cent, the LDPR at 8.9 per cent, New People at 7.94 per cent, and A Just Russia at 4.95 per cent.
While these early results seem predictable, the Berlin-based think tank NEST suggested they could lead to awkward situations for the Kremlin in light of economic difficulties. It noted that increased support for the CPRF and New People might reflect silent protests against Putin and United Russia, even if these parties do not pose a real challenge.
In the 2021 State Duma elections, United Russia maintained an absolute majority, holding 326 of the 450 seats, while the CPRF secured 57. The Central Election Commission (CEC) will announce preliminary results and turnout on Monday, but final results are not expected until Friday, once all ballots are counted.
Ukraine has condemned the elections, especially with voting from annexed regions, labelling it illegal. Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting to disrupt the elections following a series of drone attacks on Sunday, which resulted in fatalities both in Moscow and Russian-held Kherson. The attacks marked the largest incident of this type since the conflict escalated in February 2022.
