Key Takeaways
- United Russia party secured a large majority in Russian parliamentary elections.
- Elections took place despite cyberattacks and Ukrainian drone strikes.
- Turnout could indicate public opinion on Russia's ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party has won a significant majority in Russia’s parliamentary elections, according to state media reports. The election, held to elect members for all seats in the lower house State Duma, is the first since Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The results, reported by Russian news agencies after over 71% of ballots were counted, show United Russia taking 57.5% of the vote. The Communist Party and LDPR nationalists followed with 14% and 8.7% respectively. Projections by the state agency TASS suggest that United Russia is on course to retain its two-thirds majority of the 450 seats in the State Duma, allowing it to amend the constitution.
The election was marked by cyberattacks and a barrage of Ukrainian drone strikes. On the final day of voting, Ukraine launched a wave of drone attacks on Moscow and the surrounding region, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze, officials said. The Ukrainian attack was the largest on Moscow since the start of the war and involved around 1,600 drones, 450 of which were aimed directly at the capital.
Russian officials vowed to intensify their strikes on Kyiv in response. The defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to 'disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens.' An exit poll by a state-run pollster showed United Russia on course to win 49.4% of the vote, close to the same amount it achieved in the previous election.
The attacks on Moscow raised concerns about the security of the election process. While diplomatic efforts to end the war have not prevented mutual strikes from escalating, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the attacks, saying 'our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night.'
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been in communication with US President Donald Trump, who has urged Kyiv to stop its attacks on Russian refineries. The pair are expected to meet in New York in the coming days.
The election results and the cyberattacks and drone strikes highlight the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The turnout could offer a barometer of public opinion towards Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
