President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has secured a record supermajority in Russia’s parliamentary elections, near-complete official results showed on Monday, strengthening the Kremlin’s grip as the war in Ukraine continues.
With more than 58 percent of the vote, United Russia is projected to take over three-quarters of the seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, according to results announced after three days of voting that ended on Sunday.
The polls were the first parliamentary elections since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the first to include residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow seized and annexed that year.
According to Al Jazeera, the outcome and a turnout of almost 60 percent “is likely to be seen by Moscow as emboldening, as public support for what it is doing, especially for what it’s doing in Ukraine for the continuation of the war.”
Ella Pamfilova, chair of the Central Electoral Commission, confirmed that Yabloko, the only registered anti-war party, won no national seats. The party had been removed from the national ballot by Russia’s Supreme Court last month and fielded only a limited number of candidates in single-seat races.
Yabloko did enter the regional parliament in Novgorod region after receiving about 12,000 votes, just over six percent.
The Communist Party, which has avoided direct criticism of Putin, took 13.8 percent of the vote and 40 seats. The nationalist LDPR secured 25 seats and the New People party 20.
Russia did not invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a decision the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said violated the country’s commitments.
Moscow resident Tatyana said the result came as little surprise. “In the morning, I saw that United Russia was winning. It probably comes as a surprise to nobody.” On the conflict, she added: “Well, I guess everyone knows the most acute thing – the conflict in Ukraine. I’d like to see it end sooner, with peaceful methods if possible.”
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas dismissed the vote. “The Kremlin silenced dissent, barred the only registered party that opposed its war in Ukraine and shut out international election monitors. The veneer of democracy is all that remains in Russia,” she said.
Five countries, including Australia, Britain and Canada, jointly condemned the elections held in occupied Ukrainian territories as part of a “wider system of occupation.”
