The recent State Duma elections in Russia have seen the ruling United Russia party take 57.5 percent of the vote, according to results reported by Russian news agencies after 71 percent of ballots were counted. This puts the party on course to retain its two-thirds majority of the 450 seats in the State Duma, allowing it to amend the constitution. The elections, held on September 21, 2026, were the first since Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The elections were not without controversy, as no party opposed to the war was allowed to run. Russia's Supreme Court removed the anti-war Yabloko party off the ballot weeks before the vote, although its candidates remained on the ballot in some single-mandate constituencies. President Vladimir Putin had urged Russians to take part, casting the vote as a show of support for Moscow's troops and an "answer to those who want to weaken Russia".
The voting process was also disrupted by cyberattacks and drone strikes. Russia's electoral chief, Ella Pamfilova, reported that there had been a wave of cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, with over 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks recorded against infrastructure in Russia specifically involved in the electoral process. Additionally, Ukraine fired waves of drones at Moscow and the surrounding region on the final day of voting, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze.
The drone strikes, which involved around 1,600 drones, were the largest on Moscow since the start of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the attacks, saying "our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night". The Russian defence ministry vowed to "intensify" its strikes on Kyiv in response, accusing Ukraine of attempting to "disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens".
An exit poll published by a state-run pollster showed United Russia on course to win 49.4 percent of the vote, close to the same amount it achieved in the previous election. The Communist Party and LDPR nationalists trailed behind on 14 and 8.7 percent respectively. The first official results and turnout are expected to be announced on Monday morning.
The elections were also marked by opposition protests, with dozens of supporters gathered outside Russian embassy buildings in Berlin and London. Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Putin's main rival Alexei Navalny, called on anti-war Russians to collectively cast their ballots at noon on Sunday, a tactic that drew crowds in the 2024 presidential election.
The outcome of the elections is seen as a barometer of public opinion towards Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. With the ruling party set to retain its majority, it is likely that the conflict in Ukraine will continue to shape Russia's domestic and foreign policy in the coming years.
Key points
- United Russia party is set to retain its two-thirds majority in the State Duma.
- Elections were marred by cyberattacks and drone strikes.
- Opposition parties were barred from running, including the anti-war Yabloko party.
