Russia Begins Three-Day Parliamentary Election Amid Ukraine War

MOSCOW, September 18, 2026 — Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election that will determine the composition of the country’s 450-seat State Duma, the first such national vote since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Polling stations opened across Russia, with voting scheduled to continue through Sunday. Authorities have also permitted electronic voting, while the election is being held across a country with around 111 million eligible voters.

President Vladimir Putin has presented participation in the election as an indication of national unity and support for Russia during the war in Ukraine. In a televised address before voting began, Putin urged Russians to take part and linked the vote to the country’s war effort.

The ruling United Russia party, which supports Putin, has dominated the State Duma for years. The party also won more than two-thirds of the chamber’s seats in the 2021 parliamentary election.

The current election is taking place under a tightly controlled political environment. The liberal Yabloko party, which has called for an end to the war, was removed from the party-list ballot following a Supreme Court ruling, although some of its candidates remain in individual constituency races.

Other parties, including the Communist Party and Liberal Democratic Party, are competing, while several opposition figures have been jailed, barred from political activity or left Russia.

The vote comes as Russia continues to face the economic effects of the prolonged war, Western sanctions and disruptions caused by Ukrainian drone attacks. Reuters reported that some Russians have become increasingly concerned about the impact of the conflict on daily life.

The Kremlin is also using the election to assess public sentiment toward the war and the government’s policies, according to Reuters and AFP reporting.

Voting is also taking place in areas of Ukraine that Russia controls and claims as part of its territory. Ukraine and other governments have rejected Russia’s authority to conduct elections in those areas.

Polling will close on Sunday, with preliminary results expected to emerge later that day and more complete results expected on Monday.

The election is therefore being closely watched not only for the composition of Russia’s next parliament but also for what the turnout and voting patterns may indicate about public attitudes toward the war and the country’s political leadership.