Overview
- Voting opened Friday in Russia’s far east and will continue through Sunday in a three‑day schedule that aims to reach more than 111 million eligible voters.
- United Russia starts the vote as the dominant force and is widely expected to secure a clear majority under the mixed system that awards seats by party lists and single‑member districts.
- The only registered party that openly opposes the war, Yabloko, was removed from the national list by the Supreme Court and key leaders have been jailed, narrowing meaningful competition.
- The Kremlin is using electronic voting, with President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials voting online, a method critics say invites manipulation and helps boost official tallies above independent poll figures.
- For the first time residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia are voting for Duma deputies, a move Moscow says normalizes its control but that raises international objections and heightens security risks during the three‑day ballot.