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Russia elects 450 Duma deputies in first postwar vote
BBC News··17 Sept
Russia is holding an election for 450 deputies to the State Duma, the first parliamentary vote since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Officials say nearly two hundred war veterans are standing. United Russia is expected to keep a loyal majority behind Vladimir Putin. The Supreme Court removed anti-war party Yabloko from the party-list ballot in July.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Voters choose a lower house that will claim a popular mandate for the president and the war.
- Nearly two hundred veterans are on ballots as the Kremlin promotes soldiers' political careers.
- Yabloko candidates still running in individual seats have faced detentions and bans, the BBC reported.
What's Happening
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia has its own political system and process.
- Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said every Duma party backed 170 laws supporting the military operation.
- State TV showed empty lecterns when candidates failed to appear for one district debate.
How Managed Contests Work
- Critics call the vote neither free nor fair; the Kremlin dismisses that critique.
- In July MPs chanted Russia, Putin, Victory at the final session of the last Duma.
- Alexei Navalny, cited in a police case against one Yabloko candidate, died in prison in 2024.
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