United Russia Wins Parliamentary Vote Amid Major Drone Attacks on Moscow
United Russia secures a supermajority in the State Duma elections as a massive Ukrainian drone attack targets the Moscow region, leaving three dead and hitting a refinery.
The United Russia party, led by President Vladimir Putin, secured a landslide victory in the Russian parliamentary elections, securing 355 out of 450 seats in the State Duma. The vote concluded amid a massive Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region that left three people dead and damaged a refinery.
Parliamentary Election Results and Opposition Claims
With over 95 percent of the votes counted, the Central Election Commission reported that United Russia won 57.83 percent of the vote, up from 49.8 percent in the 2021 elections. This marks the first State Duma election since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Alongside the parliamentary vote, regional and gubernatorial elections were held across the country.
Central Election Commission Chairperson Ella Pamfilova stated that voter turnout stood at 59.3 percent and described the election as clean. Conversely, Russian opposition figures living abroad alleged widespread electoral fraud. Yabloko, the only registered party that opposed the war in Ukraine, saw many of its candidates barred from running and failed to clear the threshold for the Duma.
The drone attack was intended to disrupt the elections, although voting in Moscow continued despite the scale of the assault.
Massive Drone Strikes and Energy Infrastructure
During the final day of voting, Russia faced a large-scale drone attack targeting the Moscow region. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin stated that air defense systems intercepted numerous drones across the country, with hundreds heading toward the capital. Three people were killed in the Moscow region after a drone struck a residential building, prompting the evacuation of roughly 400 residents from a 21-story building in Ramenskoye.
In addition to residential areas, a major oil refinery in Moscow was hit. Reuters witnesses reported hearing explosions and seeing smoke rising from the facility. Ukraine has intensified its attacks on refineries and energy infrastructure inside Russia in recent months, aiming to strain fuel supplies and logistics.
