United Russia Set for Landslide Win as Drones Hit Moscow on Polling Day

Russia's ruling United Russia party was headed for a comfortable victory in parliamentary elections, partial official results showed, after Ukraine launched what state media described as the largest drone attack of the war on Moscow and other regions.

With 57.5% of the vote, United Russia was far ahead of the Communists, the ultra-nationalist LDPR, the New People party and Just Russia, all of which generally support the Kremlin on major issues and were expected to retain seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a former president, said the result showed voters had entrusted United Russia to continue governing.

Drone strikes and casualties

Officials accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the vote, the first since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The drone strikes killed three people in the Moscow region and two in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region, including an election official, according to local authorities. A facility at Moscow's oil refinery was damaged, with flames and thick smoke visible as voting began in the capital.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack had been repelled and was clearly intended to disrupt the elections, adding that the enemy had not succeeded. The Defence Ministry said Ukraine had also fired cruise missiles and that it had downed nearly 2,000 drones and eight cruise missiles over the past 24 hours, vowing to intensify its own strikes on Ukrainian military targets.

Cyber attacks and long lines

Election authorities reported waves of cyber attacks on voting systems, though they said the process had been mostly smooth. Central Election Commission chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said the pressure had not deterred voters and had instead produced an unprecedented level of public unity. Turnout reached nearly 57% by early evening Moscow time.

Opposition figures in exile had urged opponents of the authorities to gather at polling stations at noon, and long queues formed in some locations. The impact on the overall outcome remained unclear.

Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot. The liberal Yabloko party, which had hoped to tap into war fatigue, said it feared for its freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior figures before the vote. Its leader, Nikolai Rybakov, spoiled his ballot paper in protest, writing the party's name and the slogan "For peace".

Kyiv, which has suspended elections under martial law, dismissed the vote as a pseudo-election. The Berlin-based NEST think tank said the ballot could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin amid economic strain, with the Communist party and New People potentially drawing votes that the authorities would prefer go to United Russia.