Putin's United Russia party set to retain power after vote hit by cyberattacks and drones

Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party is poised to maintain its majority in the Russian State Duma following parliamentary elections marred by cyberattacks and Ukrainian drone strikes. The vote, which occurred as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, is the first since the war started and saw no parties opposed to the conflict allowed to participate.

The Communist Party and LDPR nationalists garnered 14% and 8.7% of the vote, respectively. According to initial results, United Russia secured 57.5% of the vote, leading to projections of a two-thirds majority in the 450-seat Duma. Turnout, expected later on Monday, may indicate public opinion toward the ongoing conflict. On the final day, Ukraine launched waves of drones at Moscow and surrounding areas, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze.

Russia vowed to intensify strikes against Kyiv in response, accusing Ukraine of trying to disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens. The Ukrainian president praised the attacks, while NATO and US officials condemned Russia's actions. Moscow also reported a surge in cyberattacks targeting electoral infrastructure, with over 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks recorded.