Russian President Vladimir Putin's party won a clear majority, as expected, in yesterday's legislative elections, which were marred by Ukrainian cyberattacks and drone strikes, actions for which Moscow has promised to respond.
No anti-conflict party was allowed to participate in these elections for the renewal of the lower house of parliament, the first since the start of the large-scale offensive against Ukraine in 2022.
Voting also took place in the Ukrainian territories occupied and annexed by Russia. According to official results released by Russian news agencies after three-quarters of the votes were counted, United Russia received 57.5% of the vote, compared to 14% for the Communists and 8.7% for the nationalist LDPR.
The ruling party appears poised to improve on its 2021 result (49.8%) and, according to projections by the TASS news agency, is already certain to maintain its two-thirds majority in the Duma, the threshold required to amend the Constitution. Electoral authorities also expressed satisfaction with the increased turnout (56.7%).
(Unioneonline)