Russia begins three-day parliamentary election without an anti-war party

Voting opens across Russia

Russia began a three-day parliamentary election on September 18 to fill all 450 seats in the State Duma, alongside regional and gubernatorial contests. Polling opened first in the country’s far east and is scheduled to end on September 20. Half of the Duma seats are allocated through nationwide party lists and the other half through single-member constituencies.

The contest is taking place without a party openly opposing President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine. Yabloko, the remaining legal party most clearly associated with an anti-war position, was excluded from the ballot. United Russia is expected to retain its parliamentary dominance, while the other represented parties largely support the Kremlin on central questions of war and national policy.

Independent scrutiny is sharply limited

The European Commission said the conduct of the election demonstrated a continued erosion of democracy, systematic repression and the removal of meaningful political competition. It also criticised Russia for not inviting observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Media reports described an unusually subdued campaign, with little open debate about the war despite public anxiety over casualties, drone attacks and rumours of another mobilisation.

Russian authorities are also conducting voting in Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow. The European Union said it would not recognise those ballots or their results and described their organisation as a violation of international law. That position distinguishes criticism of Russia’s domestic political restrictions from the separate legal objection to an occupying power staging its election on another state’s territory.

The result is predictable; the aftermath is not

The election’s immediate result is widely expected to preserve the Kremlin’s legislative control. The more consequential uncertainty concerns policy after voting ends. Some Russians have left the country amid fears that the government could introduce another mobilisation or other unpopular wartime measures once the new Duma is installed. Putin has denied that a fresh mobilisation is imminent, but the reassurances have not eliminated concern.

Attention will turn to final turnout, reported irregularities, electronic-voting data and the official distribution of seats. Claims about fraud or coercion should be tied to documented incidents rather than assumed from the controlled political environment alone. The EU has already established that it will reject the occupied-territory component, while its response to the nationwide result will depend on the final conduct and announced outcome.