Russians began casting ballots on Friday in a three-day election that is widely expected to tighten President Vladimir Putin's hold on power, now in its 26th year, as the full-scale war in Ukraine grinds into a fifth year. The vote, running from 18 to 20 September, will fill all 450 seats in the State Duma and elect governors in 11 federal regions, but the ballot offers no genuine opposition to the Kremlin's course.
Only parties that back Putin and the war are participating: the ruling United Russia, the Communist Party, A Just Russia, the nationalist LDPR, and New People. Yabloko, the only anti-war party still legally operating inside Russia, was excluded after initially being allowed to stand. The party had seen a surge of support on social media, particularly among younger voters.
One unnamed European diplomat called the exercise "pretty much a sham," but described it as "a ritual the Kremlin considers necessary," adding that Moscow would work to ensure a high turnout. Independent observers have previously documented the use of state resources to influence results, including busing voters to polling stations, pressuring employees of state institutions to vote for the ruling party, and promoting online voting because it is easier to monitor and control.
"As in the Soviet era, elections must demonstrate the loyalty of citizens," said Nikolai Petrov, a Russian political scientist and head of analysis of transformation processes at the NEST Centre.
Kremlin pushes pro-army narrative
Nearly 200 candidates in these elections have taken part in the war in Ukraine, according to electoral commissions. The Kremlin has promoted them as part of Russia's "true elite," but the initiative is primarily a recruitment tool to boost troop numbers, with few standing any real chance of being elected. Ahead of the vote, Putin urged Russians to show troops that "behind our fighters stand millions of people" and to deliver an "answer to those who want to weaken Russia."
Meanwhile, fears of another wave of military mobilisation are overshadowing the vote. Putin has personally denied plans for a call-up twice in three days in September, and independent Russian media have counted 17 official denials of an imminent mobilisation. In the autumn of 2022, a partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists triggered widespread alarm and a mass exodus of men of fighting age.
Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, which is banned in Russia, said she considered a new draft unlikely. "They have put so much effort into persuading Russians not to worry about this," she said. "I would be very, very surprised if it happened."
In Moscow's streets, few visible signs indicate an election is even under way. The war's economic toll is increasingly felt, with Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian infrastructure causing fuel shortages and losses running into billions of euros. Many Russians feel these attacks break what Stanovaya described as the Kremlin's tacit bargain with the population over the war.
Opposition in prison, exile, or dead
All of Putin's main political opponents are in prison, in exile, or dead. Alexei Navalny, his most prominent challenger, died in a Russian penal colony in 2024. The exiled opposition has urged anti-Kremlin Russians not to boycott the elections but instead to vote "against Putin's party." Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, also called on anti-war Russians to cast their ballots at noon on Sunday.
Yabloko, which critics say outlived its usefulness after the Kremlin allowed it to exist for years to create a pretence of political plurality, disagreed. "You are suggesting that we once again go, like sheep, dancing to their tune, and vote for those who have caused the deaths of people in Russia and Ukraine?" party chairman Nikolay Rybakov said this week.
Voting is also taking place in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops, a move that neither Kyiv nor the West recognises as legitimate. Polling stations have been opened at Russian border crossings with Poland and the three Baltic states. The election's outcome is not in doubt, but the process itself serves as a reminder of the Kremlin's determination to project control at home while the war continues. For Europe, the implications are clear: a Russia that remains politically frozen under Putin's rule, with no internal check on his war policy. As the conflict enters another year, the EU and its allies watch closely, mindful of the growing role of Belarus as a launchpad for attacks, and the warnings from regional leaders that the war could last for years.
