Fears Putin will trigger new mass mobilisation to bolster meatgrinder frontline forces after his record win in sham elections

Fears are growing that Vladimir Putin could order a fresh mass mobilisation to bolster his depleted frontline forces after securing a record victory in Russia's latest elections.Vladimir Putin's United Russia party won a record supermajority in the Duma (Russian Parliament), authorities announced Monday after a tightly controlled three-day election without parties critical of the Kremlin or the war in Ukraine.Preliminary results showed United Russia - which has dominated Russian politics for 25 years - won 355 of the Duma's 450 seats.The result handed Putin's party an increased supermajority and beat its previous record of 343 seats - giving it a free hand for constitutional changes.The Kremlin said the first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in 2022 showed Russians were united around Putin, who has been in power since New Year's Eve 1999.The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions in Ukraine and hit ordinary lives in Russia more than ever this year.Forty-nine veterans who fought for Moscow in Ukraine are expected to enter parliament to represent United Russia, the party told Russian state media.The Kremlin has sought to promote soldiers who fought in Ukraine into positions of authority when they return, with Moscow glorifying its troops. Members of a local electoral commission count votes in Donetsk Russian soldiers prepare to fire toward Ukrainian positions A serviceman of Russia's Emergencies Ministry sits under a mural depicting Russian President Vladimir PutinAnd fears are now growing that Putin could use the results as a justification to forcibly recruit thousands of new troops.Putin has denied this, but Kyiv has accused Moscow of planning a call-up in coming weeks.In August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence indicated that the Kremlin planned to mobilise another 300,000 soldiers after the elections. 'We believe it will not happen in the central cities. But I don't think they will be able to hide it very well,' he said. Moscow has banned criticism of its military campaign and the only party that called for an end to the war - Yabloko - was barred from running for the federal parliament. It was, however, approved in some regions for local voting.'These indicators, of course, point to the highest level of consolidation within Russian society around the head of state,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing with journalists.Putin had encouraged Russians to vote in support of troops in Ukraine and Moscow also organised voting in occupied Ukraine.Pamfilova said turnout was over 59 percent, thanking Russians for voting despite what she called 'psychological pressure on Russia'.Kyiv hit Moscow with its biggest drone attack of the war Sunday, the last day of voting, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze.'Despite the extreme situation, we were successful in ensuring the maximum security of these elections,' Pamfilova told a Moscow press conference.While nobody in Russia doubted United Russia would win, the election did bring one unexpected result: in the Novgorod region, in western Russia, war-critical Yabloko entered the regional parliament.On social media, Yabloko's Novgorod branch said it received some 12,000 votes - just over six percent of votes in the region - enough to enter the regional legislature.'Peace, freedom and life without fear - these are the values that have struck a chord in people's hearts and souls,' it said.Russia's Communist party came second in the vote, winning 40 Duma seats. The nationalist LDPR party took 25 seats and the New People party won 20.The election result is expected to further tighten Putin's grip on power.The election took place amid the escalation of the Ukraine war with no diplomatic solution in sight. Russia's liberal Yabloko party leader Nikolay Rybakov casts his ballot with a marker writing "For peace" A fire burns at the book market following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine Fears are growing that Putin could use the results as a justification to forcibly recruit thousands of new troops Plumes of smoke rise from fires (right) at an oil refinery following what the authorities say is a Ukrainian drone strike in MoscowIn some regions, voting also took place for the local heads. In Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov - known for ruling the Muslim-majority republic with an iron fist - won 99.85 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said.Opposing Kadyrov is hugely dangerous in Chechnya, which is known for extra-judicial killings.Putin's political opponents are in exile, prison or dead - such as his main opponent Alexei Navalny who died in an Arctic prison in 2024.The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas dismissed Russia's 'so-called' election.'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,' Kallas said.In a joint statement, five countries including the UK, Australia and Canada condemned Russia's 'sham' parliamentary elections in swathes of occupied Ukraine, branding the move 'part of a wider system of occupation'.