Russia Votes in Wartime Duma Election as Kremlin Tightens Grip

Russia opens three days of voting on Friday for the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in a contest whose outcome is widely seen as settled even as the war with Ukraine reshapes the country's economy and public mood.

United Russia, the main Kremlin-backed party, is expected to preserve its commanding majority in the 450-seat chamber, joined by a handful of other parties that reliably align with President Vladimir Putin's positions. The Communist Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party and A Just Russia are all expected to keep their presence in the Duma.

Ahead of the vote, authorities moved to eliminate even limited dissent. Yabloko, the only registered party that openly criticised the war, was cleared to contest in July but was removed from the ballot weeks later by the Supreme Court, acting on an appeal from the nationalist Motherland party. Individual Yabloko members have since been barred from most single-constituency races for the Duma and regional legislatures.

Several anti-war figures have been imprisoned or forced abroad. Yabloko deputy chairman Maxim Kruglov was convicted in June of spreading false information about the army and sentenced to seven years. Lev Shlosberg, a Yabloko member, was sentenced in the Pskov region last month to more than 11 years for speaking out against the war. Boris Nadezhdin, who sought to challenge Putin in 2024, left Russia last month after being designated a "foreign agent" and barred from office.

Analysts describe the removal of Yabloko as a sign of friction between officials who wanted a veneer of competition to lift turnout and those who feared the campaign could become a referendum on the war. "The risks that the campaign would turn into a struggle for and against peace — that is, a dispute about the war — were quite high, and this clearly was not part of the plan," said Tatyana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

In an address before the vote, Putin framed the balloting as a show of unity. "Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland," he said.

The election unfolds against a difficult backdrop. More than four years of full-scale war have strained the economy, which has slid into stagnation as the initial stimulus from heavy military spending has faded. The government has raised taxes and increased domestic borrowing to contain a widening budget deficit.

Ukrainian long-range drone strikes have brought the conflict closer to ordinary Russians. Attacks on oil refineries triggered a fuel crisis that peaked in June, eased briefly and returned in August. Strikes on warehouses used by online retailers Wildberries and Ozon cost hundreds of thousands of sellers their merchandise.

Polls have recorded a dip in Putin's approval rating, though it remains high. The independent Levada Center put it at 76% in August, down from 87% in September 2025. Discontent has surfaced even among some senior figures. Andrei Klepach, chief economist of the state VEB.RF bank, warned of possible social crisis, saying, "We won't win the competition in this war of attrition." He was dismissed the day after his remarks were published.

Putin has acknowledged that strikes on refineries and logistics hubs caused significant damage but insisted the economy can withstand it, saying Ukraine opened a "Pandora's box" by targeting such infrastructure. Moscow has intensified missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other cities and stepped up strikes on Odesa and other Black Sea ports, disrupting Ukrainian grain exports.

Fears have also circulated that the Kremlin could order a new mobilisation after the vote. A partial call-up of 300,000 reservists in 2022 prompted hundreds of thousands to leave Russia. Since then, the military has relied on volunteers drawn by relatively high pay, though experts warn that flow has slowed amid continuing losses. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly claimed a post-election mobilisation is being considered, which Putin dismisses as "nonsense."

Analysts say the Kremlin's priority is not the result itself but the appearance of broad public backing. "United Russia may be allowed to slip a little … to bring its actual sort of declared results more in line with probably its real results," said Mark Galeotti of the Mayak Intelligence consultancy, adding that the party would remain "absolutely dominant within the Duma." He described the elections as "legitimating rituals to give the impression that mass consensus is behind the Kremlin."

Chris Weafer of Macro-Advisory Ltd. said that while the strikes have affected morale, there is no immediate threat to the Kremlin's political dominance, noting a sustained "rally around the flag" since the conflict began. For the authorities, he added, the public narrative and turnout matter most in claiming broad support for the war.