Russia holds three-day parliamentary election with only pro-Kremlin parties on the ballot

Voting began on Friday in a three-day election that will determine the composition of the 450-member State Duma and the governors of 11 federal regions. Only parties that back President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine – United Russia, the Communist Party, A Just Russia, the nationalist LDPR and New People – appear on the ballot. The opposition party Yabloko, the sole publicly anti-war party still operating inside Russia, was excluded after initially being allowed to run.

An unnamed European diplomat described the vote as “pretty much a sham” but said the Kremlin treats it as a necessary ritual and aims for high turnout. Russian political scientist Nikolai Petrov of the NEST Centre added, “As in the Soviet era, elections must demonstrate the loyalty of citizens.”

The election also includes deputies for regional legislatures in 39 subjects, with eight of the 11 regional heads elected directly and the remaining three chosen by regional parliaments. Polling stations have been opened at border crossings with Poland and the Baltic states, and voting is taking place in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, a practice not recognized by Kyiv or Western governments.

Putin urged citizens to vote to show support for the troops, saying it would provide “an answer to those who want to weaken Russia.” Meanwhile, fears of a new military mobilisation persist despite multiple public denials by the president. Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia-Eurasia Centre, whose organization is banned in Russia, said a new draft was unlikely, noting the Kremlin’s effort to reassure the public.

Opposition figures in exile have called for anti-Kremlin voters to cast ballots against United Russia, while Yabloko’s chairman Nikolay Rybakov argued that abstaining was preferable to legitimising a system he described as responsible for deaths in Russia and Ukraine.