{
  "id": 8627947,
  "title": "Parlamentswahl: Wie schneidet Putins Partei bei der Wahl in Russland ab?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/parlamentswahl-wie-schneidet-putins-partei-bei-der-wahl-in-russland-ab",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-20T06:27:43.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/parlamentswahl-wie-schneidet-putins-partei-bei-der-wahl-in-russland-ab/100255907.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Russia's parliamentary election concluded today after three days, with President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party expected to secure its customary two-thirds majority. Despite a domestic economic crisis, war fatigue and widespread discontent among the populace, the Kremlin aims to present the vote as a confirmation of its hawkish stance toward Ukraine. The election, including parts of Ukraine annexed in 2014, expanded to annexed Crimea for the first time. Ukrainian officials described the vote as a \"shoot-to-kill\" operation and will not recognize the official results. Critics argue the election cannot be considered fair and democratic, as all ten parties on the ballot are deemed Kremlin-friendly and support Putin's 2022 invasion. Opposition forces advocating peace were excluded from the ballot. Independent election observers reported various forms of manipulation and violations, or were arrested. Preliminary results indicated higher turnout than in previous years, with Putin's party winning 324 of the 450 seats in the State Duma in 2022. By the end of the second day, the central election commission in Moscow reported a turnout of nearly 45 percent. The turnout on Sunday morning was reported at around 45 percent, compared to 51.7 percent in 2021. Ukrainian observers noted suspicious spikes in published data, particularly in southern Russian Caucasus regions and central Russia. Reports suggest some observers from the banned anti-war party Yabloko were prevented from monitoring the vote or arrested by police. Oddities in voting in St. Petersburg emerged, with election protocols not matching the number of voters counted. There were also reports of prefilled ballots being tossed into ballot boxes. Russian state media claimed security personnel pressured citizens to vote, while the head of the Central Election Commission promised to investigate the allegations. However, she claimed the election proceeded mostly smoothly, despite cyberattacks on the electronic voting system in Moscow being thwarted. Armed Russian soldiers manned polling stations in the occupied Donetsk region, according to them, to protect voters. Over 110 million Russian citizens were eligible to vote, with additional elections held in eight regions for local parliament members. In total, around 2,200 elections were being held across various levels of government. President Putin urged Russians to vote in the war against Ukraine, framing the election as a referendum on the ongoing invasion, which has not yielded the strategic victories Putin anticipated. Moscow faced Ukrainian drone strikes on the final voting day, resulting in at least two deaths from drone strikes in residential buildings. The Russian government is facing rising domestic issues, including the severe economic impact of Western sanctions, high inflation, fuel shortages, and rationing. The war has also caused internal problems, with drones hitting oil refineries causing a fuel crisis in many parts of the country.",
  "summary": "Putin will seinen Kriegskurs bestätigen lassen. Bei der dreitägigen Wahl zur Staatsduma stehen nur kremlnahe Parteien auf dem Stimmzettel. Wahlbeobachter melden mehrere Auffälligkeiten.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": "The expected two-thirds majority for United Russia party allows the Kremlin to claim a mandate for its Ukraine stance, despite domestic discontent and criticism of the election's fairness.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}