WorldPosted at: Sep 21 2026 6:25PM


Putin's United Russia party secures record 355 seats in State Duma elections, says election chief

Moscow, Sep 21 (UNI) Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party has secured a record 355 seats in the 450-member State Duma, according to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission, extending the party's parliamentary dominance in an election in which openly critical opposition forces were largely excluded.
With more than 95 per cent of votes counted, United Russia had won 57.83 pc of the party-list vote and was leading in 208 of the 225 single-member constituencies, giving it its largest parliamentary faction to date. Its previous record was 343 seats, won in the 2016 election.
The Duma has 450 members, with half elected through single-member constituencies and the other half through proportional representation.
The election was the first parliamentary vote since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and included voting in Ukrainian territories that Russia claims to have annexed.
Parties and candidates openly critical of Putin or opposed to the war faced significant restrictions. The liberal Yabloko party, which had called for an end to the war, was barred from the federal party list, while many opposition figures remained in exile or were excluded from the race.
Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova said more than 95 per cent of ballots had been counted and that turnout was above 59 pc, which she described as a record for a State Duma election of this kind. Final results are expected later this week.
The Communist Party came second with 40 seats, followed by the nationalist LDPR with 25 and New People with 20. The parties have generally supported the Kremlin on the war and major government policies.
United Russia has dominated Russian politics since the early 2000s, while Putin has remained in power since the end of 1999.
The election took place amid continuing fighting with Ukraine. On the final day of voting on Sunday, Ukraine launched a large drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region, killing two people and causing a fire at an oil refinery, according to Russian officials.
Moscow said the attacks were an attempt to disrupt the election and vowed to intensify 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," Russia's Defence Ministry said.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said around 1,600 Ukrainian drones were involved in the attack, with about 450 aimed directly at Moscow. Images showed a hole in a multi-storey apartment building and black smoke rising from what appeared to be an oil facility.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's long-range strikes had a "very significant impact" in the Moscow region.
The attacks came as Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging strikes despite diplomatic efforts to end the war. Zelensky also spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump, who has urged Kyiv to halt attacks on Russian refineries. The two leaders are expected to meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian military and energy infrastructure with drones, describing the attacks as retaliation for Russia's bombardment of Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
As voting entered its final day, Pamfilova also reported a wave of cyberattacks against Russian election infrastructure. She did not identify those responsible.
She said the attacks appeared to have been carried out by "highly professional, well-coordinated groups using artificial intelligence tools".
"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," Russian news agencies quoted her as saying.
DDoS attacks overwhelm computer systems with large volumes of internet traffic, disrupting their normal operation.
Pamfilova had also warned on Saturday that communication lines in Russia's Far East had been cut, which she added appeared to be an attempt to disrupt voting.
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