United Russia Set to Expand State Duma Control in Preliminary Election Results

Preliminary results from Russia’s parliamentary election showed President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party strengthening its already dominant position in the State Duma.

With more than 95 percent of votes counted, the Central Election Commission indicated that United Russia was on course to win 355 of the chamber’s 450 seats. The result would give the party more than three-quarters of the lower house, a record share according to the source report.

United Russia received just under 58 percent of the vote for the 225 seats allocated through party lists and won 208 single-seat contests, according to preliminary figures. Several smaller parties regarded as part of Russia’s systemic opposition were projected to take most of the remaining seats.

Final results were due to be announced on Friday.

Vote held amid opposition restrictions

The election was Russia’s first parliamentary vote since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Balloting took place over three days, from Friday through Sunday, with electronic voting available in many regions and encouraged by authorities.

The election included residents of four Ukrainian regions seized and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2022, as well as Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Kyiv denounced voting in the four Ukrainian regions as illegal.

The vote was held after some anti-war politicians had been imprisoned or forced to leave the country. Yabloko, described as the only registered political entity to publicly criticise the war, was removed from the ballot by Russia’s Supreme Court and fielded only a few dozen candidates in single-seat races. Preliminary results indicated that none of its candidates won a seat.

Yabloko and the Communist Party said many of their election observers were refused entry to polling stations. Russia also did not invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Pere Joan Pons, president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said the decision breached Russia’s commitments as a member of the organization. Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the criticism as “double standards.”

Turnout exceeded 59 percent, which the source report described as the highest recorded for a Russian parliamentary election in more than a decade. Critics argued that electronic voting made it easier for the government to control the outcome.

Opposition gains reported in Moscow

Yabloko said five of its candidates in Moscow finished second in their respective races, each receiving more than 10 percent of the vote. Ivan Bolshakov, who heads the party’s analytical centre, said the results showed that “demands for peace and freedom enjoy significant support.”

Tatyana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center said the government had been “able to carry out the campaign and the voting the way it wanted, with the most optimal output.”

Stanovaya also said Putin could interpret United Russia’s performance as evidence of public backing for the war, while arguing that demand for ending the conflict was growing. She said the post-election period raised concerns about “mobilisation, new repressions, harsher measures, and escalation.”

Drone attacks reported during voting

The election took place alongside reported Ukrainian drone attacks and strikes affecting Russian infrastructure. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 1,110 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight on Sunday.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 450 drones were intercepted while approaching the capital. He described the reported assault as “the largest ever” against Moscow and said it was a failed attempt to disrupt the vote.

The reported attacks damaged an oil refinery and a residential building. In the wider Moscow region, three people were reported killed, while Russia’s Health Ministry said 38 others were injured and received medical treatment.

The Russian officials’ accounts of the drone interceptions, casualties and damage were presented in the source report as statements by Russian authorities and were not independently verified there.