Polling stations open early Friday in Russia’s Far East, starting a three-day parliamentary election that runs across Russia until Sunday. The vote is for 450 seats in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house, and is scheduled to end at 1800 GMT on Sunday.
The election is the first parliamentary vote since Russia sends troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Sources describe it as tightly controlled: only parties that support President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin’s prosecution of the war are registered to run. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands, and outlets say voting is also organized in occupied areas of Ukraine.
While outlets note that few expect the governing party to lose, they frame the election as serving a political purpose beyond seat renewal. The vote is presented as an opportunity for the Kremlin to gauge public sentiment toward the war as its impacts increasingly affect people. The first voting locations include Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and Chukotka, which are among the earliest time zones to begin polling.
