Russia Election
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground left, meets with United Russia party leaders, from left, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin; Putin; Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, background second right, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, center; war correspondent and Hero of Russia Yevgeny Poddubny, second right; and Chief of the Yunarmiya main headquarters Vladislav Golovin, in Moscow, on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026.
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The outcome of Russia’s parliamentary election is all but assured, with the main Kremlin party poised to retain its overwhelming grip on the lower house. The political and economic environment, however, has visibly changed 4½ years after the start of Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. Economic costs of the war are increasing, the damage from Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and logistical facilities have inflicted massive damage, and the public, which no longer sees the fighting as something distant, is increasingly nervous and fatigued by the war. The mounting challenges have prompted the Kremlin to stifle even the slightest signs of dissent ahead of the election — the first since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
