Reuters
source: Reuters
Russia’s ruling United Russia party was on track to easily win a parliamentary election that President Vladimir Putin has cast as a test of support for the war in Ukraine, partial official results showed on Sunday, after Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on the Russian capital.
In a tightly controlled political system which critics say does not tolerate genuine dissent, initial results showed United Russia comfortably ahead with 57.5% of the vote. Other parties like the Communists, the ultra-nationalist LDPR, the New People party and the Just Russia party – who all vote the same way as United Russia on major issues – trailed by a huge margin but were on course to win seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a former president, was quick to declare that United Russia had performed with dignity, a result he said showed that Russians had entrusted it to govern further.
Russian government officials accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the State Duma vote – the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022 – after Kyiv launched hundreds of drones at Moscow and other regions in what the TASS state news agency said was the biggest attack of its kind since the war began.
The drone strikes killed three people in the Moscow region and two more in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, including an election official, according to the region’s governor and the election commission.
