Russia to hold tightly controlled vote in fifth year of war
AI generated
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Russia → hold → war
Russia will this week hold a tightly controlled election in a vote seen by the Kremlin as a barometer of public opinion on the war with Ukraine, which is dragging into its fifth year.
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which → hold → year
Some Russians have grown weary of economic stagnation and intensifying Ukrainian retaliatory attacks, and there are fears in some quarters that Russian President Vladimir Putin could order a mass call-up of new soldiers after the election.
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Putin → grow → election
The parliamentary vote – held from Sept 18 to 20 – will be the first since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022, and only the second nationwide poll since then, after a presidential contest that re-elected Putin in 2024.
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that → hold → 2024
Voting is also due to take place in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia’s army.
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Voting → take → army
The war has killed hundreds of thousands, brought widespread censorship at home, devastated eastern Ukraine and seen Moscow hit with unprecedented Western sanctions.
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Moscow → kill → sanctions
With Moscow having banned criticism of the war, no real opposition parties will be on the ballot, and Putin’s ruling United Russia party is assured to scoop a majority of seats in the State Duma.
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party → ban → Duma
A European diplomat told AFP that while the election was “quite a sham”, it was a “ritual the Kremlin considers essential”, and that it would be striving to “ensure a high turnout”.
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it → tell → turnout
Even if the results are “predefined”, voting still matters, exiled Russian political scientist Nikolai Petrov said.
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Petrov → predefine → ?
“Just like at the time of the Soviet Union, elections should demonstrate (the) loyalty of citizens,” he said.
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he → demonstrate → citizens
For Putin – in power for 26 years – it is important to “demonstrate to elites that he is still supported, still trusted by ordinary people”, Petrov said.
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Petrov → demonstrate → people
Half of the 450 seats up for grabs will be decided by a nationwide vote for party blocs, with the other half allocated to single-member districts across the country.
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half → decide → country
Only parties that support Putin and the war have been permitted to stand on the national ballot: the ruling United Russia party, the Communist Party, A Just Russia, the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and New People.
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that → support → Russia
Russia’s sole anti-war party still active inside the country, Yabloko, was barred from standing.
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party → bar → country
“It’s a choice without a choice,” said 18-year-old Yevdokia.
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Yevdokia → ’ → choice
She had planned to vote for Yabloko, which has called for an end to fighting in Ukraine, but will now vote for New People.
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which → plan → People
The authorities have used the backdrop of the war to ramp up repression to levels unseen since the Soviet Union.
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authorities → use → Union
All of Putin’s top opponents are in jail, exile or dead – like his main challenger Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in 2024.
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who → die → 2024
While Russia’s Parliament has seen its powers hugely reduced under Putin, legislative elections have previously been sources of tension.
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elections → see → tension
In 2011, widespread fraud and the return of Putin to the Kremlin from the role of prime minister led to Russia’s largest protests since the end of the USSR.
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fraud → lead → USSR
In Moscow, there are few signs that an election will even take place in 2026.
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election → be → 2026
Campaign posters are few and far between, save for generic ones from the authorities urging people to participate – featuring the slogan, “Your voice is Russia’s strength”.
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voice → urge → slogan
Mobilisation fears
The vote will serve as a barometer of feelings on a war that has killed hundreds of thousands and undermined the daily lives of Russians, even those living thousands of kilometres from the front.
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that → serve → front
In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up its long-range strikes on Russia – cast as fair retribution for Moscow’s own barrages – causing fuel shortages, billions of rubles in damage and killing civilians.
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Kyiv → step → civilians
Amid persistent rumours, Putin himself has been forced to deny that Moscow plans a new round of mobilisation – similar to the unpopular 2022 call-up of 300,000 reservists – after the vote.
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Moscow → force → vote
Kremlin critics, Kyiv and some Western countries have accused him of planning just that.
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critics → accuse → that
Russian expert Tatiana Stanovaya – of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, which Moscow banned – believes a call-up is unlikely.
“They made so much effort to convince Russians not (to) worry about it...
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They → ban → it
I would be very, very surprised if it happens.”
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it → happen → ?
With his inevitable victory, Putin would instead see “confirmation of his legitimacy”, she said – “legitimacy of his war”.
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she → see → war
The Aporia
