Putin casts parliamentary election as barometer of support for war, urges Russians to vote
Putin says the vote will show millions of Russians back the war, as Yabloko is barred and United Russia is expected to keep its majority.
- On Friday, September 18, 2026, voting began across Russia for a three-day parliamentary election to fill all 450 seats in the State Duma, the country's lower house.
- President Vladimir Putin framed the ballot as a test of national unity, urging Russians to demonstrate support for the ongoing "special military operation" in Ukraine ahead of the vote.
- Authorities systematically suppressed opposition, disqualifying the anti-war party Yabloko in August and limiting choices for 111 million eligible voters across the country.
- The ruling United Russia party is expected to retain its overwhelming majority, with analysts describing the process as "legitimating rituals to give the impression that mass consensus is behind the Kremlin."
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested the Kremlin may pursue post-election military mobilization, a claim Putin dismissed as "nonsense" amid economic strain and public anxiety about conscription.
264 Articles
264 Articles
Russians begin 3 days of voting in a parliamentary election set to cement the Kremlin’s power
Russians on Friday began three days of voting in the country’s first wartime parliamentary election, which features virtually no opposition and is all but certain to secure the Kremlin’s political dominance.
Russians begin voting in parliamentary election in shadow of war
Polling stations opened Friday in Russia’s Far East, kicking off a three-day election that President Vladimir Putin’s party is all but guaranteed to win in the fifth year of war with Ukraine. It will be Russia’s first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has since killed hundreds of thousands. Only parties that support Putin and the Kremlin’s dragging military campaign have been registered to …
Russia is holding parliamentary elections from Friday to Sunday, with the tightly controlled vote likely to bring victory to the ruling United Russia party.
The Russians vote from 18 to 20 September to renew the Parliament. If Vladimir Putin's party's victory is no doubt, the authorities have for a long time changed its proportions, before opting for 47% of the vote. In the spring, the figure had risen to 55%.
For more than 20 years the election winner in Russia has been Vladimir Putin – this will also be the case in the Duma election. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is nervous.
In Russia the parliamentary election has begun. Parties criticising the Ukraine war are not allowed to vote for the three-day vote. However, the performance of individual candidates could give a signal. From S. Laack.
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