Voters cast ballots at a polling station during Russia's parliamentary election, in the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo)
Kremlin, September 20: Russians headed to the polls on Sunday for a third and final day of tightly controlled parliamentary elections set to strengthen the Kremlin’s grip on power, as the Ukraine war grinds through its fifth year.
The ruling United Russia party, which backs President Vladimir Putin and has won every parliamentary election in Russia since 2003, is widely expected to secure another victory.
Russia’s Supreme Court struck the anti-war Yabloko party off the ballot weeks before the vote, while all other parties cleared to run back Putin and the Ukraine offensive. While the results are unlikely to offer many surprises, the election is the first since Moscow launched its Ukraine military campaign in 2022 and could offer clues about public opinion towards the conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War II.
Putin has urged Russians to take part, casting the vote as a show of support for Moscow’s troops and an “answer to those who want to weaken Russia”.
As the final day of voting began, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin accused Ukraine said that Russian air defences had shot down more than 1,600 drones, 450 of which were heading towards the Russian capital. “The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections.
The enemy did not succeed,” he said on Telegram. The polls, which will determine all 450 seats for Russia’s lower house State Duma, are set to run until 1800 GMT on Sunday. – Mobilisation rumours – Campaigning has been limited. United Russia’s main challengers — the Communist Party, the ultra-nationalist LDPR, A Just Russia and New People — all support the war and Putin.
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