President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has won a commanding victory in Russia’s parliamentary elections, according to the country’s Central Election Commission. With more than 95 percent of the votes counted, the party had secured 57.83 percent. That is a clear improvement on the 49.8 percent it received in the 2021 parliamentary elections, indicating a significant rise in its vote share over the past five years.
Based on the latest results, United Russia is set to win 355 of the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. That comfortably exceeds the two-thirds threshold of 300 seats, so the party will retain its constitutional majority. This effectively leaves it in a position to pass legislation, including constitutional amendments, without needing support from opposition parties.
The vote was the first parliamentary election held since Russia’s war with Ukraine began. Putin described the election as a test of public support for the war. However, international news agencies have reported that many candidates who opposed the war were not permitted to contest, which raises questions about how far the outcome reflects the full range of public opinion.
Alongside the national parliament, voters also chose members of several regional assemblies and elected governors. Parties and candidates backed by Putin won in many places across the country, extending the ruling camp’s dominance from the national level to the regions.
One of the most striking results came from Chechnya, where Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Putin, was re-elected as regional leader with 99.85 percent of the vote, according to the election commission. He had received 99.73 percent in the 2021 election. His two challengers each managed just 0.05 percent of the vote.
The result will keep Kadyrov in power for a fifth term as head of the region. His close relationship with Putin has long been a defining feature of his leadership, and the near-total margin of his victory underlines the strength of the political alignment between Moscow and Grozny.