Putin’s Party Set to Retain Majority in Russia’s Wartime Election

Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party is on course to retain a dominant majority in Russia’s State Duma after a three-day parliamentary election held against a backdrop of Ukrainian drone strikes, reported cyberattacks and restrictions on anti-war opposition.

Russian news agencies reported that United Russia had won 57.5% of the vote after just over 71% of ballots were counted. The Communist Party was in second place with 14%, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, or LDPR, with 8.7%.

Russia’s Central Election Commission said final results would not be fully tallied until September 25. TASS projected that United Russia would retain at least a two-thirds majority in the 450-seat State Duma, which would give the party enough seats to amend the constitution.

The election was the first parliamentary vote since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Putin was not on the ballot because he is the sitting president. He led United Russia from 2008 to 2012 and won the 2024 presidential election with just under 88.5% of the vote. He is not due to face another presidential election until 2030.

The election took place without a major national party openly opposing the war. Russia’s Supreme Court barred Yabloko, the country’s only registered anti-war party, from the federal party-list election shortly before the vote. Some Yabloko candidates were still allowed to compete in individual districts, but the party said they faced significant restrictions and pressure.

Yabloko said one of its election observers in St. Petersburg “lost consciousness” while being detained at a polling station. The party also said numerous other observers were prevented from entering polling stations elsewhere in the country. Two of its deputy leaders were recently imprisoned on charges connected to their anti-war positions and social media posts.

Independent human rights monitor OVD-Info says more than 2,000 people are currently imprisoned in Russia for political reasons. CNN reported that meaningful political opposition in Russia has been severely restricted, with critics barred from elections, jailed or living in exile.

The Kremlin is expected to use the election result to argue that Russians remain united behind Putin and his war in Ukraine. Putin said before the vote that the result would demonstrate support for Russian troops.

“Your choice and determination will show once again that millions of people are backing our fighters and that we stand together, united by shared values, our historical memory, love for our Motherland,” Putin said in a televised address.

The turnout was therefore closely watched as a possible indication of public attitudes toward the war and Russia’s political direction. The Central Election Commission put nationwide turnout at 56.66% when voting ended, while Moscow recorded what it described as record-high participation.

In the previous parliamentary election in 2021, United Russia won 324 of the State Duma’s 450 seats, before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Communist Party, LDPR and other parties expected to win seats are not considered a meaningful challenge to United Russia’s dominance. The supplied reporting noted that parties including the Communists, LDPR and New People frequently vote alongside the ruling party in parliament.

Pro-Kremlin exit polls released by TASS gave United Russia a lower share than the early official count. VCIOM projected United Russia at 49.4%, followed by the Communist Party at 14.2%, LDPR at 10.7%, New People at 9.7% and A Just Russia at 6.6%.

INSOMAR put United Russia at 52.8%, the Communist Party at 14.8%, LDPR at 9.9%, New People at 8.6% and A Just Russia at 5.5%. After 13.88% of ballots had been processed, the Central Election Commission reported United Russia at 57.54%.

Voting was held over three days across Russia’s 11 time zones and at Russian embassies and consulates abroad. Residents of Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia were also asked to vote. New constituencies were created for Moscow-controlled parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine’s parliament called on foreign governments, international organizations and parliamentary bodies to condemn the elections in the occupied territories and refuse to recognize their results. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry similarly called for the international community not to recognize Russia’s parliamentary and regional elections held both inside Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territory.

The vote’s final day coincided with one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the war.

Russian officials said more than 1,900 Ukrainian drones were launched during the overnight attack, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said around 1,600 drones were involved and approximately 450 were directed at the capital. At least two people were killed, according to Russian officials, and a major oil refinery was damaged and set on fire.

Images showed a large hole in a multi-story apartment building on the outskirts of Moscow, while other footage showed thick black smoke rising from what appeared to be an oil refinery.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the strikes, saying “our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night.” In another statement, Zelenskyy said Moscow should end its war rather than continue building air defenses around the capital.

“Moscow must end its brutal war and choose peace instead of building layered rings of air defense at the expense of other regions,” Zelenskyy said. “Steps toward de-escalation are on the table — in energy and food security. What is needed is political will.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of trying to interfere with the election and said Moscow would respond with intensified strikes on Kyiv.

“In response to the Kyiv regime's attacks on civilian targets within Russia, the Russian army will continue and intensify its high accuracy strikes against military targets in Kyiv,” the ministry said.

Russian authorities described the drone assault as an attempt to disrupt voting, while Ukraine has repeatedly said its attacks on Russian infrastructure are retaliation for Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

The drone strikes came despite diplomatic efforts to end the war. Zelenskyy spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump during the election period, after Trump had urged Kyiv to stop attacks on Russian refineries. The two leaders were expected to meet in New York in the following days.

The election was also hit by a series of reported cyberattacks against Russian voting and communications infrastructure.

Central Election Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova said the attacks appeared to have been conducted by “highly professional, well-coordinated groups using artificial intelligence tools.” She did not identify those responsible.

Pamfilova said more than 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks had targeted infrastructure specifically involved in the electoral process.

“Over the past period, more than 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks have been recorded against infrastructure in Russia that is specifically involved in the electoral process,” she was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

DDoS attacks attempt to overwhelm computer systems with large amounts of internet traffic, preventing them from operating normally.

Pamfilova later said more than 3,000 waves of DDoS attacks on election infrastructure had been recorded during the voting period. The Central Election Commission said Russia’s remote electronic voting system had been attacked 135 times, Rostelecom’s networks 420 times and electronic government infrastructure nearly 2,000 times.

TASS reported outages and malfunctions in Moscow’s electronic voting system from Friday into Saturday. Pamfilova attributed the problems to a “very large-scale and intense” attack.

Russia’s Digital Ministry separately reported an attempted act of sabotage against communications infrastructure in the country’s Far East. Officials said communication lines had been cut but that the damage was repaired and voting was not disrupted. Pamfilova had warned that the incident appeared to be intended to interfere with the election.

Electronic voting was widely available during the election after being introduced in Russia in 2021. Moscow encouraged residents to vote electronically by offering points that could be exchanged for prizes.

Some Moscow voters told the independent outlet SotaVision that they were not issued paper ballots because of alleged technical problems and were instead directed to electronic terminals.

One voter told SotaVision: “They did this on purpose, the b****rds.”

Critics have questioned the transparency of Russia’s electronic voting system, while Russian authorities reject those accusations and insist that elections are conducted according to the law.

Putin voted electronically himself, with the Kremlin releasing a video showing him navigating the online system and casting his ballot.

Pamfilova also said that 74 buildings housing election commissions in 10 regions had been damaged or destroyed during the voting days.

Questions have also been raised about Russia’s updated electronic election infrastructure. Investigative journalists published leaked documents concerning the State Automated Vybory 2.0 system, which was being used fully for the first time in the 2026 federal elections. According to technical documentation cited in the reporting, the system contains tools that could allow final ballots to be altered, electoral rolls to be changed and unverified electronic results to be uploaded.

Separately, reports during the election period described pressure on election observers, alleged coercion of public-sector employees and widespread electoral violations. There were also reports that mobile networks and internet access could be restricted during the three-day vote under measures described by Russian authorities as necessary for security.

The election thus took place under heavy political restrictions and amid attacks on voting infrastructure, while Ukrainian drones struck Moscow on the final day. Although the preliminary count showed United Russia comfortably ahead, turnout and participation in electronic voting are likely to receive particular attention as the Kremlin prepares to use the final result to demonstrate continued public support for Putin and his government.