Putin's United Russia party wins 355 seats in Duma election; 4 other parties cross threshold to enter parliament

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party won after securing 355 seats in Russia's 450-seat Duma, the lower house of parliament. Electoral chief Ella Pamfilova has released the preliminary results of the election on Monday (September 21). With counting nearly complete after the three-day election, in which no parties critical of Putin took part, results indicated that the presidential party would secure a supermajority even larger than the one it achieved in 2016.

According to the ​Central Election Commission, the United Russia party won 57.83 per cent of the vote, a sharp rise from 49.8 per cent, which it ‌won ⁠in 2021, the last time an election for the State Duma, the lower ​house ​of parliament, ⁠was held. Based on the result, the party is set to hold 355 seats of ​the ⁠450-seat Duma, allowing it to retain its ⁠constitutional ​majority, the commission ​noted.

Other parties clear threshold to enter parliament

Four other parties also crossed the threshold needed to enter parliament: the Communist Party, which won 40 seats; the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), with 25; New People, with 20; and A Just Russia, with four. United Russia has held a dominant position in Russian politics since the early 2000s, coinciding with Putin's hold on power since taking office on New Year's Eve 1999.

Pamfilova said more than 95 per cent of votes had been counted so far, with final results expected to be announced later this week. Voting also extended to Ukrainian territories that Russia has occupied and annexed. On the final day of polling, Ukraine launched a series of drone strikes on Moscow and its surrounding region, killing two people and igniting a fire at an oil refinery, officials said.

Russia vowed to "intensify" its strikes on Kyiv in response. Meanwhile, the defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to "disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens".