Wahltag: Parlamentswahl in Russland von Unregelmäßigkeiten überschattet

The final day of Russia's parliamentary election was overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks and reports of irregularities. The 450 seat State Duma election was held from Friday to Sunday, including in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Approximately 111 million people were eligible to vote, half by party lists and the other half by direct mandates in individual constituencies.

For the first time, voting took place in the four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Saporischschja and Crimea, which Russia annexed after the start of the Ukraine war but has not fully controlled. The Ukrainian government called these votes illegal and urged other states not to recognize the results, while the EU denounced it as a clear violation of international law.

Russian exiles protested against the Kremlin's policies, with the widow of Alexei Navalny, a 2024 opposition leader, urging her compatriots to vote against the war. Navalny was believed to have been poisoned in Russian custody. German voters even cast their ballots in the Russian embassy in Berlin. Anti-war protesters gathered outside the Russian embassy in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, holding anti-Putin banners.

Some Russian election commission members in Yerevan reportedly made "open intimidation" remarks about returning to Russia. Reports of issues with electronic voting in Moscow surfaced, with the head of the Central Election Commission stating cyberattacks targeted the system. The independent Russian news outlet "SotaVision" reported on disruptions affecting electronic voter rolls in Moscow polling stations.

One jailed opposition figure's associate suspected the paper ballot issuance problems were intentionally provoked to encourage electronic voting. Nikolai Rybakow displayed his invalid green-marked ballot in St. Petersburg, calling for peace and freedom. A Jabloko party voter marked his ballot in the same manner. A Jabloko party observer lost consciousness after being accused of disrupting the election and calling the police.

There were reports of Jabloko and Communist Party observers being denied access to polling stations, with sealed ballot boxes opened and insufficient security. Armed Russian soldiers observed voters casting their ballots in a controlled section of Donetsk. Russia denied inviting OSCE election observers. Russian air defense shot down over 1,100 Ukrainian drones in various Russian regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that 450 drones were intercepted en route to Moscow, declaring it the largest attack on the capital. Censorship was claimed to have failed. In occupied Ukrainian areas, residents were reportedly pressured to participate in the vote, with local election commission members going door to door, accompanied by Russian soldiers and security forces.