Russia's parliamentary vote faces limited choices as anti-war parties are barred
Russia's first parliamentary election since the 2022 invasion sees the sole openly anti-war party removed from the ballot, prompting opposition figures to urge voters to support neutral candidates despite concerns the vote legitimises President Putin's war.
Russia is holding its first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, but the field of candidates has been sharply narrowed after the Supreme Court barred Yabloko, the only openly anti-war party, from presenting a national list. While some Yabloko members can still run in single-member districts, the ruling United Russia party and other pro-war groups dominate the ballot.
Opposition leaders, including Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of jailed activist Alexey Navalny, have called the election a “propagandistic exercise” for President Vladimir Putin and are urging voters to back candidates who are at least neutral on the war. Navalnaya said, “Our task is to convey to the majority of Russians — the anti-war majority — that, despite total censorship, fear, and repression, these ‘elections’ represent literally the last opportunity to safely express protest against the policies of Putin and his United Russia party.”
Former Moscow councilor Maxim Katz, now in exile, warned that “there are no decent parties left,” adding that many parties are echoing Kremlin rhetoric on the annexation of Ukrainian territories. Political scientist Ivan Preobrazhensky noted that the Kremlin’s removal of anti-war candidates and promotion of pro-war voices aims to overstate public support for the invasion.
In response, Navalnaya and Katz are promoting a “smart voting” strategy, originally devised by Alexey Navalny, which advises voters to support the most viable anti-United Russia candidates, often from Yabloko or, where unavailable, from other parties. The approach has faced criticism from Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov, who argues that voting for parties already in the Duma risks legitimising the system that imprisons opposition figures.
The election features ten party lists, including United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, Fair Russia and New People, all of which have publicly endorsed the Kremlin’s annexation policy. Thousands of war veterans are also standing as candidates, with some, such as Eduard Shonov, linked to controversial operations in occupied Ukrainian towns.
Analysts say the war’s impact on daily life, including recent Ukrainian strikes that caused fuel shortages and heightened fear of attacks, may be shifting public sentiment, but the tightly controlled electoral environment leaves little room for genuine opposition.