United Russia, the party backing President Vladimir Putin, is poised to secure a commanding majority in Russia's State Duma election. The Central Election Commission reported that the party had captured 57.5% of the vote with more than 71% of ballots tallied.
The vote marks the first parliamentary election since Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. All parties on the ballot have pledged loyalty to Putin; the liberal Yabloko party, the sole registered opponent of the war, was barred from standing by the country’s top court.
On the final day of voting, Moscow experienced its largest enemy drone attack to date. Three people were killed, and large plumes of black smoke rose from the outskirts of the capital, including a facility at a Gazprom Neft oil refinery in the Moscow region. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the strike as the biggest drone assault on the city, and Russian officials blamed Ukraine for attempting to disrupt the election.
Elina Ribakova, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told CNBC that the results are intended to legitimize the regime, noting that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reportedly received 99.85% of the vote in his region. She warned that post‑election challenges could include a surge of returning soldiers and a stagflation scenario of high inflation and stagnant growth.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a planned meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York during the United Nations General Assembly, signaling ongoing diplomatic activity amid the heightened tensions.
