Russia election begins with no real opposition amid Ukraine war shadow

Russia opened a three-day parliamentary election with online voting and tight security. The poll is expected to cement Kremlin control amid war, dissent curbs and criticism over occupied territories.Stock photo used for illustrationRussians on Friday began three days of voting in the country’s first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in a contest with virtually no opposition and one that is widely expected to reinforce the Kremlin’s political dominance. Authorities have spread the vote over the weekend, ending on Sunday, to try to raise turnout among 111 million eligible voters, and also allowed electronic voting. The Central Election Commission said turnout was about 30 per cent by late Friday, including online votes.The Kremlin wants the election to project public support for the war and lend legitimacy to its actions, while moving to remove even the slightest sign of dissent. In a message before the vote, President Vladimir Putin told the nation: "Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland." The Kremlin said Putin voted online on Friday and released images of him in front of a computer screen.The main Kremlin party, United Russia, is all but certain to keep its overwhelming control of the lower house, the State Duma. Several smaller parties described as the "systemic opposition", which vote with the government on all key issues, are also expected to retain their presence. Voters are casting two ballots, with half of the Duma’s 450 seats decided through party lists and the rest through single-seat constituencies.People interviewed by The Associated Press voiced differing hopes from the election. Dmitry Kirillin in Moscow said earlier this week that he would like "to see some changes. To see a different party" in power. But Muscovite Alexander Vertukhin said "what United Russia and the communists are doing is quite sufficient; their platforms cover everything." At a Moscow polling station on Friday, pensioner Galina Vavilova said ending the war in Ukraine "is the main thing, of course". "That is the most important thing right now. Everyone wants peace; that’s what it comes down to. So that our guys are safe and sound," she said. Another pensioner, Lyudmila Kalinina, said she wanted life "to stabilise for the better" and hoped for "an end to the big divide between the ultra-rich and the extremely poor, because, after all, many people don’t live a very sweet life." Vladimir Chubarev, a 72-year-old professor, said he hoped "for all the important initiatives our government is undertaking to succeed", adding: "And, of course, for victory."Anti-war voices have been pushed to the margins ahead of the poll. The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political group that openly criticised the war, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia’s Supreme Court and now has only a few dozen candidates in single-constituency races. Some anti-war politicians have also been jailed or forced to leave the country before the campaign. The election comes after a summer of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on oil refineries that triggered a broad fuel crisis. Warehouses belonging to online retailers Wildberries and Ozon were also hit, worsening pressure on the Russian economy and bringing the war closer to daily life for many people. Voting was also affected by security concerns. Local officials said polling stations in the Black Sea resort of Sochi were briefly closed because of a drone attack threat. Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova said one polling station in the Krasnodar region had to be moved after a drone shattered windows there. For the first time, the parliamentary election includes residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow said it annexed after the war began, though it still does not fully control them. Voting is also taking place in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. In the Russian-held part of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, voters were seen dropping ballots into a box while an armed Russian soldier stood nearby. In the Russian-held Luhansk region, 14 polling stations were using backup power after Ukrainian drones damaged electrical lines, Pamfilova said. Separately, Russian officials said Ukrainian attacks earlier this week killed a polling station chief and wounded another in the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia region. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on that accusation.Authorities in Kyiv called the voting in Russian-held areas illegal and urged foreign governments and international organisations not to recognise the election. They also warned Ukrainians that helping to organise the balloting could lead to criminal liability. European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand also described the voting in Russian-held regions as "illegal" and said the European Union condemns it. "These so-called elections represent yet another blatant violation of international law. The European Union does not, and will never recognise either the holding of these so-called elections, sham elections, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or their results," he said. Wigand added that the way the election was being held "underscores the continued and deepening erosion of democracy in Russia" and said the Kremlin "deprives voters in Russia of a genuine choice about the future of their country." He also said Russia had chosen not to invite observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, despite its commitments, and said the EU would continue to support Russian civil society groups, human rights organisations and independent media.As voting continues through Sunday, the election is set to keep United Russia firmly in control of the State Duma, even as it unfolds under the shadow of the war in Ukraine, security threats and strong criticism over voting in occupied territories and the lack of genuine opposition.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 19, 2026 00:00 IST