Comment: Putin's democracy show can't hide the bad mood
The Kremlin party wins the Duma election as expected. But the population is becoming increasingly annoyed by the consequences of the war against Ukraine.
Russia is experiencing widespread discontent, with frequent warehouse and oil refinery fires, fuel shortages, and internet shutdowns by secret services. The ongoing war in Ukraine, led by President Vladimir Putin, has affected daily life, and the population is growing increasingly frustrated. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a large Moscow refinery bombed on the day of the Duma election, drawing attention to the unpopular war.
The election results, which show the ruling party United Russia winning around half of the vote, are widely seen as staged, with the actual outcome likely to have been predetermined by the authorities. The official final result will be announced by the authorities, as is customary.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
