Overview
- Voting opened on Sept. 18 for a three‑day State Duma election that allows electronic ballots and includes polling in Russian‑held parts of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
- The Kremlin narrowed competition before the vote by removing the liberal Yabloko party from the national list and seeing prominent anti‑war figures jailed or sidelined.
- United Russia is widely expected to keep control of the 450‑seat Duma, and officials plan to treat turnout and results as a political mandate for wartime policy.
- More than 200 veterans of the Ukraine campaign are running on party lists, a deliberate push by authorities to honor fighters and encourage recruitment through high‑profile candidacies.
- Western governments and Kyiv condemned voting in occupied territories as illegal, election officials reported isolated drone threats and authorities said partial results will begin after polls close on Sunday evening.