Story summary
Russian parliamentary elections, held from September 18-20, were widely expected to see United Russia, President Vladimir Putin's party, maintain its dominance over the State Duma (lower house of parliament). Despite critics arguing that the outcome was predetermined and would have no significant impact on the country’s future, Russian authorities made persistent efforts to ensure high voter participation under current electoral law. The elections came amidst increasing war fatigue and economic hardship due to Ukraine's drone strikes targeting oil refineries and warehouses within Russia, causing fuel shortages and internet blackouts.
Exit polls conducted by independent groups at embassies and consulates abroad revealed starkly different results from those inside Russia: New People, an opposition party, garnered around 45% of the votes compared to United Russia’s reported near-58% support domestically. These discrepancies highlight a divergence between domestic and international perceptions of Putin's popularity, with many Russian expatriates opposing the war and expressing anxiety over its economic and social consequences.
Critics argue that these elections are more about demonstrating the regime's resilience than reflecting genuine public sentiment or political contestation, given the tight control exercised by the Kremlin.
Written for “Russia's Wartime Elections” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 64 other(s) covering the same event.
Putin's ruling party on track to comfortably win wartime Russian election
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party → rule → election
Voting took place as Ukraine hit Moscow with massive drone attack
Russia's ruling United Russia party was on track to easily win a parliamentary election that President Vladimir Putin has cast as a test of support for the war in Ukraine, partial official results showed on Sunday, after Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on the Russian capital.
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Ukraine → take → capital
In a tightly controlled political system that critics say does not tolerate genuine dissent, initial results showed United Russia comfortably ahead with 57.5 per cent of the vote.
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results → control → vote
Other parties like the Communists, the ultra-nationalist LDPR, the New People party and the Just Russia party — who all vote the same way as United Russia on major issues — trailed by a huge margin but were on course to win seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
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who → vote → parliament
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a former president, was quick to declare that United Russia had performed with dignity, a result he said showed that Russians had entrusted it to govern further.
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Russians → declare → it
Russian government officials accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the State Duma vote — the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022 — after Kyiv launched hundreds of drones at Moscow and other regions in what the TASS state news agency said was the biggest attack of its kind since the war began.
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war → accuse → kind
The drone strikes killed three people in the Moscow region and two more in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region, including an election official, according to the region's governor and the election commission.
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strikes → kill → governor
A facility at Moscow's oil refinery, which has been targeted before, was also damaged.
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which → target → refinery
As voting got underway in the capital, flames and huge columns of smoke rose from the site on its outskirts.
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flames → get → outskirts
"The biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
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Sobyanin → repel → Telegram
"This unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections.
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attack → plan → elections
The enemy did not succeed."
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enemy → succeed → ?
Russia's Defence Ministry said Ukraine had also fired Flamingo cruise missiles and that it had downed nearly 2,000 Ukrainian drones targeting various regions and eight cruise missiles in the last 24 hours.
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it → say → hours
It said it would intensify its own strikes on Ukrainian military targets in response.
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it → say → response
Alleged cyberattacks
Voting systems also faced waves of cyberattacks, according to election authorities, who said the electoral process had nonetheless been mostly smooth.
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process → allege → authorities
Russia's opposition in exile had called on those who opposed the authorities to stand in line at voting stations at noon to express their dissent, a call that saw long lines form in some locations.
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lines → call → locations
It was unclear, however, what impact that had on the overall outcome.
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that → have → outcome
The Kremlin is likely to present the results as evidence of public backing for Putin's policies and for the war, now in its fifth year with no sign of ending soon.
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Kremlin → present → sign
Ella Pamfilova, chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC), said the latest attacks had not deterred voters.
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attacks → say → voters
"The more pressure they put on us, the more we are seeing an unprecedented level of what I would call public unity," RIA news agency quoted her as saying.
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agency → put → her
Turnout had reached nearly 57 per cent as of early evening Moscow time, CEC data showed.
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data → reach → evening
Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot.
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candidates → bar → ballot
Those who did run from the liberal Yabloko party, which has polled in the single digits in recent years but hoped to tap into war fatigue, said they feared for their freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior party figures before the vote for comments about the conflict.
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courts → run → conflict
Discrediting the army or spreading what authorities regard as fake news is punishable by lengthy prison sentences.
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authorities → discredit → sentences
In a small act of defiance, Yabloko's leader, Nikolai Rybakov, demonstrably spoiled his ballot paper, writing his party's name and the slogan "For peace."
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leader → spoil → peace
The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
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it → say → Ukraine
It casts the conflict — Europe's deadliest since the Second World War — as part of an existential struggle with a hostile West.
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It → cast → West
Moscow says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are stepping up efforts to stir unrest inside Russia.
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services → say → Russia
Kyiv, which has suspended elections under martial law, has dismissed the Russian vote as a "pseudo election."
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which → suspend → election
Despite what experts see as the election's predictable outcome, the NEST think-tank in Berlin, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whom Russian authorities have designated "a foreign agent," said the vote could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin at a time of economic strain.
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vote → see → strain
Ukraine fires more than 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds launched at Moscow
Alex Ovechkin says he's 'for peace and love' after appearing in ad for Putin-aligned party
It said the Communist party and the New People party could attract votes that the authorities would prefer go to United Russia.
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authorities → fire → Russia
"The consequences of the war are increasingly being felt within the country, and accumulated anxiety and frustration may translate into votes for the systemic opposition parties that the Kremlin has allowed to remain on the ballot," the think-tank said in a note.
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tank → feel → note
The Aporia
