The Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election that, according to President Vladimir Putin, will show that millions of people support his army fighting in Ukraine, although most candidates opposed to the war were not allowed to run.
It is expected that the election for the State Duma, the first since Russia began its large-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, will result in the ruling pro-Putin party United Russia maintaining its dominance in Russia’s tightly controlled political system.
It is likely that the result will be presented by the Kremlin as proof of broad public support for Putin’s policies and, in particular, for his conduct of the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, which is now in its fifth year.
“Your choice and your will will demonstrate once again that millions of people support our soldiers, that we are a people united by shared values, historical memory and love for our homeland, and that no one will be able to divide us or intimidate us,” Putin said in a televised speech before the vote.
An announcement on state TV encouraging people to vote showed Russian military commanders through the ages, before giving way to images of soldiers raising the national flag after winning a battle in Ukraine, with the slogan: “Their voice is the voice of victory. Your vote is the strength of Russia!”
In another move to raise morale and support for the fight to victory, bone fragments from the hand with which he wielded the sword of a medieval Russian prince — who achieved a famous victory over the Mongols — were sent to the front line in Ukraine on the eve of the vote.
In Moscow, Anatoliy Simonenko, 76, said he was calm about what might happen after the election, amid speculation — repeatedly denied by authorities — that a new wave of mobilization could be announced.
“There are some very grim forecasts and others more optimistic. I hope that the result will probably land somewhere in the middle. War is war. It involves spending, defense costs and cuts in various social benefits. Well, it is necessary; there is no way around it,” he told Reuters.
Another voter, who asked not to be identified, said he believed the results were easy to manipulate and voiced doubts about the electronic voting system used in some regions of the country. The election commission rejected such claims as false.
State media showed Putin voting electronically in his office at the Kremlin.
The majority of anti-war candidates were excluded from ballots even before voting began in Russia’s 11 time zones, after the Supreme Court ruled last month that the liberal Yabloko party — which advocates a ceasefire in Ukraine — had violated electoral rules, a claim the party denied.
Some Yabloko candidates — which traditionally win only single-digit support in opinion polls — are still contesting in individual constituencies representing half of the 450 seats in the lower chamber of Parliament.
